The Circle of Life...or Isla's 1st Taste of Show Biz

Isla had her 1st dance recital yesterday.  She has been taking a ballet / tap combo class since January and despite missing the 1st half of her 1st class (my fault) and throwing up at her 2nd class (My fault too.  I feel so bad that I didn't take her complaints seriously.) she loved her classes.  Unfortunately we had to miss quite a few classes due to travel and illness and make-up classes we couldn't attend, so Isla was a little behind on her routine.

To catch up, Isla worked very hard this past week, practicing every day for 30-45 minutes with a you tube video her teacher made.  Practicing wasn't the easiest or most enjoyable activity for either of us.  I felt like a "Toddler and Tiara" mom occasionally, saying terrible things like, "No, you can have a hug when you finish the routine." or dramatically demonstrating her moves with a big cream cheese grin on my face, but as the week went on Isla became a lot more confident and the routine started to shape up.

We did one quick run through for Daddy and Ike yesterday and then I got Isla all dolled up in her makeup and bun.  (Putting make-up on a four year old is next to impossible.) I dropped Isla off at the theatre and she was pretty grouchy and a little nervous on the ride over.  We kept the conversation light and I casually mentioned my experiences with dealing with stage fright, as well as a show she had seen about a ballerina who overcomes stage fright.  Once Isla saw her friends she perked up and I left her to do her dress rehearsal.

Isla's performance - A jazzy ballet routine to The Circle of Life with 6 other little girls all dressed as lions - was towards the end and my nerves were running high by the time she got on stage.  She did an AMAZING job!  It was her best performance yet.  Very clean, using all her music and dancing space and having a blast.  We screamed and cheered and had a blast watching our little star. 

The Finale

After it was over Isla was walking on air!  She wanted to go back on stage and do it all again and was thrilled to share her experiences with us and call her Granma and Grandpa and share every detail.  (One of the cutest parts of the conversation was when she explained to Granma that the 'Julia' backstage with her was not Granma's granddaughter, but her friend from class.) 

Flowers from Daddy!

Andrew gave her a big bouquet of purple flowers and she was thrilled with those too (the smell like candy.)  On the way home she started planning her next recital.  A Star is Born!

Rawrrr!