Dance Recital, 2010

Today was Hannah and Lizzie's dance recital, for their first year in "real" ballet. Last year they were in pre-ballet, which involved a lot of dress-up and freeze-dancing. This year, they had to work hard to put together a program with actual ballet steps.
At least that was the plan.
I think they did really well, although I am their mother. If you want to see a video of the dress rehearsal, skip to the end of this blog entry. If you can make the video larger, I suggest you do that, otherwise it looks like tiny people dancing. I did try to get some close-ups of the girls, but for some reason I got the camera on them when they weren't doing anything (intentionally -- the dance was done with two groups.)
Anyway, we managed to get through the day with only minor drama. Just as we were about to leave, Hannah got a hole in her tights, so I had to find the extra pair and get her undressed and dressed. I tried spraying the small hole with hairspray, but that only made it bigger.
Luckily I DID find the spare pair and we managed to get to the theater only about 5 minutes late.
Here's Lizzie backstage. Their outfits look like pianos and they wore bows in their hair.

Here's Hannah warming up. Oh, this picture reminds me that we've been spending a lot of time at the pool, so the girls are already pretty tan. That's not make-up. Although Hannah DID enjoy the amount of makeup she did get to wear ... and the amount of gel and hairspray it took to keep her hair in place:

Lizzie with Julie (who dance with them last year) and Devynne: Hannah (looking waaaaay too grown up) and Bridget:

Right after the show with their flowers. The girls got lots of flowers including chocolate roses from Aunt Tina and lollipop roses from their teacher Miss Bridget. We gave Miss Bridget a jewelry tree in the shape of a ballerina. The tree held a small bag and we tucked some special charms into the bag. The girls really loved their ballet teacher this year:

At home the girls showed off their dance again to Aunt Terry, Shelby and Aunt Tina. Aunt B also came to the recital, but she needed to get home after it was over. The rest of us came back here for ice cream cake (oreo!) and lemonade:

Notice the sneakers Lizzie is wearing :)

I did take pictures of Aunt Terry, but she blinked in every single one of them, so you'll have to be happy with Beanie and Shelby. Thanks for coming ladies ... it meant a lot to Hannah and Lizzie (and their nervous mom!!):

And without further ado, here's the video. I taped the dress rehearsal, and it was pretty much the same as today's performance. Hannah is to the right of center (as you are looking at it) and Lizzie is to the left of center. They are one group, and the other three girls are the other group. I'm especially proud of Lizzie's dance moves as she tries so hard to be precise. And Hannah does a great courtesy at the end. She's always one to finish strong!!! Enjoy!!