The Big Dance Recital Post

Hello!  We returned home from our last minute Florida Keys vacation last night and I plan to tell you all about what we did, where we ate and our favorite Key lime pie, but first, I wanted to share some photos and recap from the girls' dance recital.





As I've already mentioned, the girls' dance recital consumes an entire weekend.  And I'm okay with that.  I love watching them dance, they enjoy the stage and it's nice to see recognition of their hard work for the year.  A full dress rehearsal takes place on Saturday afternoon, and I decided to squeeze in a photo shoot beforehand.  (You can see those photos here.)  My adult tap class was also dancing in the recital so I needed to get ready as well.  Technically, I could have skipped my '80s hair but I wanted to do a test run to see if what I wanted to do would work.




Can you hold that for a minute?  I wasn't ready with the camera!





I was wiped out after the dress rehearsal and couldn't figure out why it seemed so difficult.  The girls are older but the clasps on the costumes were difficult and they needed assistance.  I kept thinking that it seemed easier when they were five years old even though they needed help with everything at that point.  And then I really thought about it and they were only in two dances back then and didn't even have to change costumes.  Now, they are in eight dances and there's a lot of changing going on.  Rehearsal day is more running around for me because everyone sets up backstage to change but no one stays back there.  If you're not getting ready, you're hanging out in the auditorium watching the other dances.  Because of this, there was no one backstage to help the girls if they needed help.













The girls performed their two competition dances in the first recital, which is mainly the little kids, and then their recital was in the afternoon.  They had a ton of time to change in between dances at the first recital.  Everything all kind of worked out for the second recital and I didn't have to go back there to help with every single costume change.  Their friends were there to help and another mom we know had told us she was staying back there so she helped out too. What did they need help with?  Costume clasps and removing barrettes.  I have to say having a network of moms is invaluable.  There's a group of us and we are all friendly with each other, and our kids know all the moms well enough to ask for help.  It takes a village.





The girls were amazing and I'm so proud of them.  They really do give it their all.  It's not about being the best.  It's about trying your best.









What made life easier for us this year?

1.  Having the girls use bags with built-in garment racks.  My pack mule days are over.  (I talk about and link the bags in this post.)

2.  Layering tights!  We've been doing this for a couple of years now and it does save time.  Tan tights go on first.  When they need to be in pink tights (ballet only), they pull them on over the tan tights.

3.  Hair nets.  The girls are required to use hair nets for competitions and we've been using them at the recital as well.  These are the ones we use and they last through many uses.  We've been using them for 2 years and they are still in good shape.  (These hair nets look like they should go over your entire head.  They shouldn't.  Make your bun like you normally would and then think of the bun like it's a head and place the hair net around the bun.  I put part of the hair net around the bun and then twist it and wrap it around the bun again.  Use bobby pins to secure it and tuck in any edges.  It really does help keep the bun in place.)


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