The Gift with Ballet Emmanuel

Peace, relax, joy, dance. Four words– very simple words. Four simple words with extensive meanings.

Peace – noun
a. An agreement
b. A calm, quiet situation
c. A state when you are calm and have no worries
d. Knowing that you know that you know your dance

Relax – verb
a. To rest and allow yourself to become calm
b. To be comfortable
c. To make rules/controls/conditions less strict
d. To dance freely

Joy – noun
a. A feeling of great happiness
b. Something that makes you really happy or pleased
c. Dancing

Dance – verb
a. I suppose that only a true dancer could define it

These are the words that my dad gave to me last weekend, just before our first performance of The Gift with Ballet Emmanuel, and I’ve kept them in mind and heart ever since.

Last Sunday, dress rehearsal was bad. Yep. It was bad. But–as I’ve said many times before–bad dress rehearsals make good recitals. The second run was a whole lot better.

Before each of our two shows, we warmed up with the Ballet Emmanuel company members. If I had to term it, I would say it was a really quick, really entertaining master class with no specific instructor.

In the pre-show, Snow Scene went surprisingly well, considering the tweaks we made to accommodate our five-person group (as opposed to the usual six persons). Afterwards, we were able to watch the full show, too, which was absolutely stunning. It was incredible to witness one of my dance teacher’s performances; inspiration left me totally speechless.

Saturday of this weekend, after multiple hours of Faith rehearsals, we rehearsed at our second church for the third show. The pre-show was to take place in the lobby, which was new and different, but also pretty special because Training 3 was able to connect with our audience in a personal way. After the run-through, the Training Division gathered upstairs to warm up, taking turns teaching [and yelling oh-so helpfully] and picking out music from Moriah’s tablet. The performance itself was just destined for greatness after that.

Yesterday was our last show, which brought on an odd combination of emotions. I couldn’t wait to be on break, and yet I was sad to see Snow Scene go. I’ve enjoyed the piece immensely, and I would like to thank Miss Mia and my T3 girls for that. Peace, relaxation and joy rained over the audience, who exploded with applause before the last music notes had a chance to die out.

Not a bad way to start Christmas, if I do say so myself. Happy holidays, lovelies! Drink lots of cocoa, eat lots of cookies, and don’t forget to stretch while you watch those classics on TV. 😉