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| Caroline and I after Rehearsal Three |
If I can get through this post without bursting into tears, I’m going to feel extremely accomplished. Because this past week has been the most incredible experience in my ten years as a dancer.
Rehearsal Three was the best of them all. I actually managed to “sign in” on Wednesday, though I totally forgot to sign out. I guess my taking leave was made apparent when they locked up that night…. Anywho, I had a fabulous time scouring the school for duct tape, doing leg swings with Sarah and taping the straps of a thousand different costumes together. Advanced Modern used the in-school studio to work on our lifts, which looked stellar, despite many-a-week since our last practice. We performed Redeemed with WOW energy, so much so that I could feel it through my mom’s phone. That was after we found the spider on the stage and ran around, screaming like little girls. And then we laughed about it. Really, really hard. I got to see several of my 2A kids, who looked especially lovely in all of their anticipation. And then, Caroline and I decided to take a picture for Instagram, though it turned into more of a “latergram,” since we had to be in Miss Bethanny’s backstage gag reel first. Yay for “the Love clap!”
Friday’s rehearsal went just as well. After greeting every teacher I could find, we PERFORMED Primavera (appropriate emphasis on “PERFORMED”). It was beautiful. And then we went back to doing bits and pieces of Love for the photographers. Not as beautiful but just as much fun.
Yesterday morning, I was up at quite an unnatural hour, preparing for the day ahead. I met Abby and Elizabeth in the high school parking lot, and we made our way to the back entrance. Then, Abby and I moved off to the dressing room, where we claimed our counter-space. After warming up, the Training Division met onstage to pray. Insert “Congratulations on ten years of [studio name]” here, as a thoughtful video played for the audience and Moriah’s testimony was shared. I feel so blessed to have been a part of this celebration!
Our first performance of Love Take Me Over was phenomenal, with the teachers clapping in the aisles, encouraging the audience to join in, and a flawless, celebratory image of our ten-year anniversary. After the piece, Abby and I hopped into some black clothes and dashed over to stage left to help Rachel and Mary get their little ones onstage. Once their dance was complete, Bethanny and I donned our bright pink shirts and did Jesus Loves Me with our ballet/tap kiddos. That dance was incredibly adorable. <3 Besides these, one of my favorite pieces from Recital One was “Cinderella,” in which the girls’ dads danced along with them. Needless to say, we all had to reapply our mascara.
In-between recitals one and two, Miss Bethanny came by our dressing room to help with make-up and hair touch-ups. I’m very certain that there is NOTHING that she CANNOT do. Also during that time period, we chowed down on the ten dozen cookies that I managed not to burn on Friday– yum…!
Our second run of Love Take Me Over was just as good as the first. After Intermission, the Ballet 2As danced their hearts out, too– SO beautiful!
During the gap between recitals two and three, I ate a yogurt parfait, looked over the fall schedule and took some really hilarious pictures with the Training 2s and 3s. I joined the dressing room in watching Frozen, talked to Miss Jenna and–all in all–had a wonderful break.
And then Recital Three began. I couldn’t help feeling a tang of sadness as we performed Love for the last time. I feel that in completing the dance, I lost a very important part of me. I don’t know what it was about that piece, but it was special, and I’m counting on another opportunity to perform it somewhere else.
Redeemed was amazing. Just… amazing. I just… I can’t even…. And Allison’s senior solo to “Oh Danny Boy”? I was starting to fear that I hadn’t brought enough mascara to last me through the day! “Marian the Librarian,” the Intermediate Pointe piece, was absolutely awesome, as was Contemporary Jazz’s, “She Walked Away.” And “Thoroughly Modern Millie”? Miss Bethanny and crew… you really outdid yourself with this one.
And then came Primavera, my most challenging dance this year. The amount of energy and passion exerted in that piece was incomparable. I got off the stage feeling–physically–dead as a doornail but emotionally alive and free. I wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry as Miss Sara hugged me and said, “Beautiful job, Hun.”
After the curtains closed on a very amusing final bow, the stage blew up in screaming, yelling, cheering, clapping and–of course–dancing. And then I knew, for sure, that I was going to cry.
Recital is always bittersweet, with it marking the end of another fantastic year and all. But each Recital Day is also always better than the last. I’m so incredibly thankful for my teachers, sisters and especially my family who are an unfailing source of love and encouragement. My life wouldn’t be… well… my LIFE, without this day. I love it. And I love my studio. And I’m just so, so, SO blessed. <3