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| 2008 |
D is for Dance. What else could possibly be going through my mind two weeks before my kids are in the Nutcracker for the sixth time? When my then three year old daughter came to me and told me she was going to be a dancer and to sign her up for classes, I never suspected where we would be nine years later. She started her preschool ballet dance class at a little dance studio in town. They encouraged her love of dance and did lots of charity work, too. The kids danced in nursing homes twice a year and had a big spring production on a local university stage. My daughter gobbled it up. She never had a moment of stage fright. They always made her the leader on stage, because she marched right out in front of the crowd.
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| Anne is in the middle. (2008) |
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| 2009 |
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| 2009 |
By 2010 we had moved on to a larger, more professional dance studio, and that is where we still are today. This dance studio continues to encourage dance for all body types and fosters healthy body image/self-esteem values. There is also lots of room for growth into many types of dance and dance fields. Anne gets to interact with semi-professional and professional dancers on a regular basis. She also gets to perform in two large-scale (at least for our city), full productions each year.
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| 2010 Anne Alice and Wonderland |
When we moved to this dance studio, they had a boy dance class. Dean signed up for it and has been in dance ever since. Then, Goldilocks signed up for dance. For a brief time, Tim also performed as a fencer in a few performances.
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| Beauty and the Beast 2011 |
As the years have gone by, Goldilocks and Tim have moved on to other pursuits. Anne and Dean have stayed with dance. Dean loves to perform on stage but is sometimes worn out by the classes. He is the only boy now in a sea of girls and struggles with cerebral palsy on a daily basis, but he dances on. He even made it on stage weeks after a knee dislocation in 2014.
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| 2014 |
Anne loves dance. She wants nothing more than to dance her way through life. Some people really know what they love from birth and she is one of them. For the second year in a row, she is in full Tween Company at the dance studio. She dreams of owning a dance studio of her own someday. It will be exciting to see where her journey takes her.
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| 2014 |
So, I am a dance mom. I spend many hours shuttling my kids back and forth to dance classes and working backstage during performances. I hide in the wings and watch them shine. I love to see the delight on their faces when it is curtain call time. They just glow. So, as I face my kids' sixth season of the Nutcracker with 25+ hours of dance rehearsals and performances next week, I look on with joy that my kids found something that brings light to their eyes and a spring to their step. It is all worth it.
That's really neat that your whole family participates together.
ReplyDeleteI was wondering if you would use dance for letter D. It was great to see the progression of pictures. I hope they continue to love it for years to come!
ReplyDeleteMy boys haven't taken dance, though I wouldn't be surprised if my daughter asks soon. She loves music and dancing. I also loved seeing the progression of pictures.
ReplyDeleteSome kids are just born to dance! And those that are, are such a delight to watch because you can just see their joy! Sounds like your family has embraced the dance journey :-)
ReplyDeleteEnjoy every moment of the Nutcracker season. I have such fond memories of dancing in the Nutcracker for several years.
ReplyDeleteI love that the ballet studio used have the little ones dance for seniors in nursing homes - what a great idea!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE this post! There is nothing which brings me more joy than seeing someone loving something with a passion. It never matters what that passion is - whether it is dance, art, cleaning...it is the passion which brings the joy. I loved seeing the photos through the years :)
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