First Ballet Performance

Practice leotard, sweater, shoes, tights and bag...$100

Lessons for 3.5 months...$150

Recital Tutu and Headband....$18

White leotard and tights...$45

2 Tickets to Swan Lake performance...$5

Flowers for ballerina...$15

Babysitter for baby brother...$17

Seeing your ballerina melt down before, during her dance and perform 60 seconds of the whole recital.....priceless?!?!

After weeks of doing great going to ballet, a fabulous dress rehearsal the night before and being incredibly excited all day...ballet recital night came it was a bomb! 

Peyton feel asleep on the way to pick up John and so she napped for about 45 minutes in the car. Rule of the day....when Peyton naps in the afternoon she wakes up miserable and cranky and sure enough...it was bad. She finally woke up and got out of the car and just started sobbing which defeated all the work I did to put her make up on and keep her from touching it for the past hour before we left. She agreed for me to walk her backstage and we sat there forever talking, reassuring, talking, pleading, bribing and finally I was able to leave. I prayed a prayer that she would be able to do it, calm down and have fun and then just before it was about to start I see someone holding her and looking for me. I walk down in front of the whole theater during the welcome message and head backstage. I talk to her, convince her to dance for me and I would stay back stage and watch her and wait for her. She went and essentially stood on stage looking for me the whole time...take a look....she is on the far right...behind some kids looking off the stage for me the whole time...

After her brief but very moving performance...she rushed into my arms. She was proud of herself but I could tell that she was not going to leave my side. I had mistakenly read the program and thought that the little kids only had the one dance besides the last part where everyone comes out and bows. The helpers asked if I wanted to stay backstage with her...probably to see if I would convince her to do more and I said no, not realizing that there was another dance for her class and we went and sat in the audience and watched. I am kicking myself for not seeing if she would have done the second dance but I didn't know there was one and I didn't want to sit backstage for an hour to have her go out and bow. 

She LOVED watching everyone and sat very still and then we left at the end. She did give me and John a hug and told us she loved us in the middle of it which was pretty sweet.

When we left she received her flowers I got for her earlier in the day and she was very proud of them. We tried to take some pictures and then came home. Not how I thought the day would go at all! I wish I had stayed yesterday during dress rehearsal and taken a video because I know she did great then but how would I have known that today was going to turn out how it did!

Oh and because my plan to take pictures outside before the performance was ruined due to some unforeseen circumstances, I tried to get some pictures when we left...which as you can see did not work and I essentially got some of the crappiest pictures I could possibly get of my ballerina. I think I might make her wear her outfit another day and let me take real pictures of her.

Oh well....she did look pretty precious in her tutu and....tomorrow we are hoping for better success at sports day at school and then we are off to ballet again on Saturday....


Update....someone posted some pictures from the rehearsal the night before and I have a cute one of her dancing....I know there were several other people who stayed to take pictures so I am looking forward to seeing those....