Aren’t kids the cutest?

Last night was the annual pre-school Christmas show at the dance studio where I teach ballet to dancers ages two to eleven. This was the first performance of my students for this studio; I was really excited s l a s h nervous. I really wanted them to do a great job so the director and the parents would be happy with me as a teacher. I have taught dance for several years in Dallas to older dancers but that in no way prepared me for this performance which turned out to be an important learning experience for me.

Follow up:

For this little show at a local retirement home my dancers, the youngest of my classes, we had practiced reciting a poem to which we had set movements for two months. During class they had their poem memorized perfectly and knew every step...without any help from me; so I was pretty confident that they were well prepared.

The mommies did a great job getting them all there on time with their hair perfectly coifed and all the right Christmas-y clothing. Not a one had forgotten their pink tights or their ballet slippers and everyone...mommies, dancers and I were very excited. Eight little dancers walked out on the stage with their special bell bracelets and huge red bows in their hair and not one of them...including the two year old was crying. The audience waited in anticipation, the music came on softly and...you guessed it, they froze up and forgot everything they were supposed to do! Actually, seven little dancers went totally "tharn" while the last little girl shouted her poem at the top of her lungs while doing all of her dance steps. AND, despite their sudden attack of stage fright the performance was anything but a disaster. In fact, it was downright adorable.

I learned several key lessons yesterday. First...I have to remember to remind the little ones to speak up. Everything becomes smaller when you're in a new situation. Second...I learned to never go to a performance without a huge supply of stickers. Thank goodness I had enough for my class...and all the other performers too. It was so good to see all of the sticker sporting dancers happy and excited and super-hyped about the next time they got to go on the "big stage". Finally I learned that sometimes you have to just to sit back; not let your ego get in the way; and enjoy the fact that kids are kids and sometimes they perform great and sometimes they want to just stand there. Their performance was not about me or my skills as a teacher. It was all about them having a great experience. Unexpected stuff can always happen during a live performance but I feel that as long as my dancers had fun and walked away feeling good about the show then I did my job. They were all just super happy and precious. I couldn't ask for anything more.