She was a whirling dirvish at three years old. Never out of a big twirly skirt; always in the mirror playing dress-up. My little girl, my baby... her energy was always at full speed; running through the house crashing into things, falling down the stairs and tumbling. My little girl had so much energy that it scared me as a young mother.
I put her in gymnastics so that she could just run and tumble as hard as she wanted in a safe environment. She was a star of her class at 3 years old. The gymnastic teacher asked me to put her into an advanced class because my little girl was so adept at each move. I remember grinning from ear to ear as I watched my child graduate with top honors in the program.
One day while my child waited her turn for a short gymnastic routine, she started twirling madly in place and hopping up and down. The mother next to me declared, "That's a dancer if ever I saw one!"
I looked and watched with new eyes and saw my child with not only the coordination of moves but also a graceful execution of her body. Her arms and hands were so beautifully placed... like a ballerina. I started talking to the other mom, and she told me that she was involved with a local ballet school in town. The woman gave me the name of the school and said that we should try it out.I had never seen a live performance of ballet. I had only seen the Nutcracker on PBS where I enjoyed the music and the graceful moves of the dancers. So, I thought, "...why not?"
At the time, I didn't know that this dance program was the best ballet school in our region. I just thought my little girl would have a blast in a tutu! When we arrived to register, one of the teachers took her hand and led her into a windowed room full of little girls and boys. All of the kids were jumping around with no direction at all until the teacher walked into the room.
And this is where it began. And this is how my little girl became a dancer, a ballerina.
I love the ballet. The power of the dancers is something hard to explain to a person who has never watched a live performance. The sinewy muscles and sweat and the execution of the moves will make you understand that these ballet dancers are pure athletes.
My little girl grew up and auditioned for the Boston Ballet's summer program where she went away from home for the first time and lived her dream. She still twirls madly and still runs through the house at top speed. And, as I watch her on stage, her beauty and grace brings me to tears of joy for the ballet, for the performance and all things artful.
BOSTON BALLET SDP AUDITIONS:
from Jan 16 - 17th (see ballet website for details)
Montclair, CA - Inland Pacific Ballet
Winston-Salem, NC - UNC School of the Arts
Hartford, CT - The Hartt School
Calgary, Canada - Alberta Ballet
Santa Moncia, CA - Westside School of Ballet
Mobile, AL - Mobile Ballet School
Philadelphia, PA - The Rock School
Toronto, Canada - Canada's National Ballet School
Tokyo, Japan - Shinjukumura Live
Contact: Patrick Schneider, Summer Programs Manager
Boston Ballet School at summerprograms@bostonballet.org
http://bostonballet.org
or call 617.456.6269
Note from WET River Trips: The arts across the country are in trouble because of dwindling revenue and lack of support from the government. Support the arts in your community and give a monetary gift to your local ballet, symphony, opera and more.
Photos: Boston Ballet & Kickstep.com
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