I do hope that all you lovely dancers had a fantastic holiday; I know that I did! Yesterday, being the first Nutcracker Performance, was also a very special day…
I arrived at the center at nine thirty in the morning to check in. Miss Kiara greeted me and sent me downstairs to the dressing room. It was packed! Angels and sailors, soldiers and mini-mice… but no Party Girls! Emma suddenly appeared from behind a rack of clothing and lead me to the “Party Girl Area.” In reality, we also took over a bit of space that was first designated for “Angels and Sailors,” but seeing that they didn’t need it, we were alright.
Half an hour later, after practicing in “Studio Bee” (where Fritz begged me to dance with him while I just rolled on the floor, laughing), we took to the stage for a two hour rehearsal. Here, we met our “stage parents,” who are professionals. Interestingly enough, we were only needed for 45 minutes– everything looked great!
I took my lunch up to Studio Bee, soon after, and returned to the dressing room. We played lots of games, read books, talked– anything we could do to pass the time! Finally, it was one o’ clock and we jumped into our costumes. We returned to the stage for an hour and a half dress rehearsal, however it only took us 20 minutes to complete. From there, I went home for a few hours to rest for Performance #1!
And then, it was time. I went back to the center at six o’ clock to re-dress and scurry backstage. At seven o’ clock, the curtains opened and I danced my heart out! It was such a wonderful experience, dancing with a group of professionals. In reality, I was quite sad when everything was all said and done, but there is always today…!