Recital week

Last day of school was Tuesday but the summer really didn't start until today. It was recital week for Ella and Claire. Tuesday was dress rehearsal. That was short and sweet. The girls did the finale first, then Ella did her dance and then Claire did her dance. We were out of there by 5:45 and we got there at 5. Short, painless, easy.

This year Ella got to be in two shows because she is older. The older you get, the more shows you get to participate in. There are four shows total (Thurs, Fri, Sat matinee and Sat night). Ella was in Thursday night, and Saturday Matinee. Claire was in Friday night. :/ As you can imagine, this was highly annoying. I found out that sometimes you need to write a reminder note in January to the owner about who is siblings with each other. That way, your kids will get in the same show for at least one night. Next year, I will be doing this for sure. Claire is still little, so she only participates in one show.

Ella danced to My Favorite Things from The Sound of Music and Claire danced to Marshmallow World by Dean Martin. The theme of the recital was scrapbooking. They were celebrating their 15th year. All the songs were danced to songs from previous shows.

Thursday night's performance went off without a hitch. It was long, and full of a lot of solo's which was highly boring at times, but Ella danced great and got so into some of her turns that she almost fell over. I love my "graceful" ballerina! :)

Friday night, didn't go as well. We didn't know it, but there was a storm happening outside. Claire danced second in the second act. She did so well, and she was so stinkin' cute. The audience loved them. You don't get much cuter than 3 and 4 year olds, looking like marshmallows, tip-toeing on the stage. Trouble started at about the 11th song (out of 30) during the second act when the power went out. The winds were very strong and it knocked the power out for about 20 minutes. The studio decided to wait and see if the power went back on. At this point, we thought that was insane. I spoke to some other mom's in Claire's class and we ambushed the backstage to get our kids. They normally do not let parents back there for safety reasons but we got the teacher to allow us to take our kids. Most of the kids were hysterical, they were very scared of the storm, and it was very late. Not Claire though, she was happy, and bouncing off the walls! We didn't leave right away because the storm was still bad. So we went back into the theater and watched the show. By the time it was ok to go, there were only about 5 songs left. Claire wanted to do the finale. I took her back stage, and she was the only one left from her group. They put her on stage last, she got really shy, did one little wave and then just stood there. The audience went crazy for her. She completely stole the show. It was adorable. Of course, my own video camera was not going at this point because they don't allow them at the show, only during the rehearsal. So I purchased the DVD because of her being so cute. 10 seconds for $35. Probably not worth it, but whatever. :)

The big kids loved Claire backstage. She was the dance mascot pretty much. They loved how little she was, and how cute she was, and how crazy she was! After they are done with the finale, they sit on the stage and some awards are given out. (this is the part of the show where you throw your head back, roll your eyes and wish to god that it would just be OVER already!) Claire ended up laying down on the stage. The kids started rubbing her back and it appeared she fell asleep. Hysterical. One little girl carried Claire off the stage when they were done. This particular show did not end until 11:30. Good think I drove 90 miles in my car that day to ensure Ella and Claire took a nap!

Saturday Matinee was for Ella. Steve went to watch Ella because he hadn't seen her dance yet. Of course, they get there and guess what? NO POWER! The show was supposed to start at 1, and it didn't start until 2:40!!! They pulled in backup generators, only it took forever to do it. Steve said it was hotter than balls in there. Then the show went on for over 3 hours. Steve was DONE by the end of the fiasco. Poor Ella was stuck backstage with not much to do. She was very tired when it was all over. I picked up Ella, we all left the theater cheering, HORRAY! The summer can now begin! Dance is over! Don't get me wrong, we love dance. The girls love it, and they have a great time, but this year was a tad bit trying with the power outages! Hopefully I will get my video up soon, but for now, enjoy the pictures.