Dance, Dance, Dance

My beautiful dancer.

 Mason had her first dance recital on Saturday.  After 12 weeks of practicing, dance classes, and new dance shoes, we were excited to see if it paid off.  She had quite the entourage – Meema, Nana, Papa, Kristin, and the rest of us.   I was a bit anxious.  She had not been enjoying the jazz dance portion, and we had a feeling that, at the very least, she would refuse to skip at the end with the rest of the girls.  Jeremy even told her that if she danced all the other songs, she could opt out of the skipping at the very end.  We were hopeful that concession would help.

Sad face dancer.

 She made it through the ballet song…  barely.  And despite her telling the teacher at the beginning that tap was her favorite, she did not even make it to 30 seconds into the tap routine before she was in Jeremy’s lap pouting.  Honestly, I was a bit disappointed at first.  The two other girls in the class did a great job, and I really wanted Mason out there showing us what she had learned.  But the pressure was too much.  Too many people.  In the end, my daughter is super shy.  That is a hard thing to grasp.  It’s hard to feel responsible for pushing her into something with which was she uncomfortable.  At the beginning she really was excited about the class.  I guess she was expecting something different because it soon became a struggle each and every week.  We finish what we start, I kept telling her.  All of that culminating in the recital. 

Little brother wants to dance too.

 By the time refreshments were served, Mason was all smiles.  I’m sure she is relieved it is all over.  I guess I am too.  We’re going to take a break from classes for a little bit with her.  Focus on having fun and building some self-confidence!  Really, though, I am proud of her for sticking it out.  She showed up every class and at the recital, and that’s half the battle.  She loves to dance at home, and I love watching.  That is enough for me!