 |
| Avery, Autumn and Laney at dress rehearsal | |
|
While Patrick was off hiking, Laney danced in her very first dance recital. As the tradition goes, all of the Hammond School of Dance students tapped their way down to the Mandeville Auditorium for a review of the past year's hard work. Laney is in the 2-4 year old class, and they performed a tap dance to "The Bunny Jamboree" by Kimbo. Don't bother looking up the song because it will sink into your brain and you will have an earworm for the next few days. One of my best friends, Amanda, has her daughters enrolled in the class and we were (thankfully) able to conquer this mountain together. There was a mandatory full-costume/hair/makeup dress rehearsal Friday night at 6pm which is such a fun hour to be out and about with a 3 year old. The girls looked adorable in their costumes, but we skipped the hair and makeup routine for the rehearsal.
 |
| Doing makeup and hair backstage |
 |
| Lip gloss kiss face |
 |
| Nervous smile before the performance. |
Saturday night was the big performance, so we made a day of it. Amanda and her daughters met Laney and I at the nail salon for mani/pedis. Then I hit Target to snap up 3 ballerina Barbies to award our little dancers after their big performance. I put pin curls in Laney's hair and did some makeup, which was so exciting for her. She proudly displayed her kiss face over and over in the mirror. When it came time for the dancing, Laney was definitely nervous. She came out on stage with her friend Avery, escorted by the teacher's son Nate. Laney participated in about 30% of the dance until she noticed the girl next to her on stage. The girl standing to her left was trying to catch a little bitty feather from her costume that was flying around in the air. After watching the girl try to grab the feather, Laney decided to join in instead of dancing. As the dance went on she forgot the steps and squatted down and played with her shoes. My favorite part was was when she clapped for herself at the end of the performance. Laney was precious and precocious, and I loved every laughable minute of it. Worth every penny of the $20 per seat we paid to sit in the seats less than 10 minutes.
 |
| Big happy smiles after the performance |
I was especially thrilled to share the experience with my sister since we are both Hammond Studio alums. The dog-and-pony-show was one of our favorite times of year, and I have to say that the dressing room at Mandeville still smells the way it did 30 years ago. That smell makes me think of glitter, sequins, feathers, and hairspray, and it took me back to very happy times in my life. So glad that my daughter gets to have those memories too.
