State of Affairs: Gymnastics + Dance

We had a bit of a hectic end to gymnastics and dance this year with the year-end gymnastics show and the dance recital both scheduled for the same weekend.  Ack!  There were some gymnastics shows late on Friday and then they ran throughout Saturday and part of Sunday.  The girls only needed to be in one show (thank God) and we were able to sign up for the same one as friends (bonus.)  So that went down very late Friday afternoon.  The kids were all superstars.  Emily was so excited to show off her newly acquired backbend and kickover.  And handstand - bridge - kickover.


(Backbend, which leads to a tick check by me.)

The floor performances for the gymnastics show are in groups based on your level.  There's a dance element with stunts and for the older kids, it's meant to be a bit entertaining, somewhat funny.  Allie's group performed to Spice Up Your Life (Spice Girls) so you can imagine the choreography with that one.  In years past, I've seen them rehearse the year end performance but this year, I didn't really know what to expect.  Let's just say that Allie was fantastic and I was laughing so hard, I was crying.  It was perfection with just the right amount of animation.  One of the coaches came over and told me that Allie had just made her night.



The next afternoon was the dress rehearsal for the dance recital and once again, I was ill prepared, running around the morning of, texting Grammy:

"What kind of pink tights do they need?  The email said more info next week.  Did you get more info?"

"WHERE ARE ALLIE'S GLOVES?"  (They were handed out at the recital.) 

Allie's hip hop routine for Girlfriend was up first.  I was blown away.  But maybe my mom goggles were on?  No.  She continued to sparkle through all of her dances.  And then others from the studio confirmed it for me.  It was kind of a weird feeling as it highlighted how much I had missed this year.  Allie has always liked dance and done well but this was so much more than that.  Her dancing has matured significantly in the past nine months.

I do want to add that Emily and Anna did very well at the recital too.  As a parent, I don't like comparing my kids.  The fact that they are identical triplets who right now share some of the same interests makes it that much more difficult.  It's hard because when one is praised, it can be viewed that the others aren't worthy of praise, but that isn't the case.  Emily is very flowy when she dances, which is perfect for ballet.  Her thin, long legs remind me of a colt.  Anna is very determined and graceful.  And I'm extremely proud of all three.

So for next year, the girls want to continue with gymnastics and dance.  Emily was moved up twice (say what? I know) in gymnastics and will be in the same class as Allie.  Who knows if that will last though as Allie only has a short list of items (front walkover, back walkover, windmill) to work on.  All three have mentioned jazz dance class but unfortunately, it appears that the jazz class runs at the same time as CCD.  Anna is wavering on whether or not she wants to take any dance classes now next year.  Emily and Allie will continue with ballet and will now probably add tap, as jazz is not available.  I was a bit surprised that Allie didn't want to continue with hip hop but I can definitely see the appeal of jazz.  It will be another year or two before competitive dancing begins at this studio.  They just don't do it with the younger kids.

I hope to have dance recital pictures up sometime this week.