Dancing Diva

Yesterday was Kyras 1st dance class in a little over a year. Previously she took ballet at a little studio in Kettering. When I say little, I mean the waiting room was so cramped that children and parents had to squeeze between each other while passing children in and out of the studio between dance sessions. If you bent over to help your child with their shoes, the parent next to you would get a nice view of your rear end. The teacher, well, I wouldn't call her little but I would say she was a little old fashioned?

Before I became the mother of a ballerina, I was under the impression all ballet teachers were trim, fit, had a healthy glow about them with a cheery disposition (yep similar to Mary Poppins) and wore at least a splash of pink. NOPE, as normal I was mistaken and apparently a bit stereotypical.

The day we walked in to meet her old teacher, the studio was small and cold located in the middle of a busy parking lot and the teacher wore a silver haired bee hive like hair do, Tammy Faye style make up black sweat pants, a black long sleeve shirt, and black high tops. I had received numerous recommendations on her but was less than impressed with my initial meeting and perception of the dirty studio.

We rushed through the door and Kyra was pretty much pulled into her class with the door slammed behind her. No wonder she cried during almost every dance session. Not sure why I didn't notice this before last night.

Last night was almost magical. We walked into Kyras new place of dance, 20 minutes closer to home, and there were smiles all around. The waiting room was clean, carpeted, twice the size of the previous, and the teaching assistant carried a pleasant demeanor and welcomed us with a smile. All the little ballerinas came in with their pink leotards and friendly parents.

The dance area was CLEAN, the walls of mirrors seemed to sparkle and the wood floor had a glass like appearance to it. The room seemed as if it filled the building. Kyra was almost immediately at ease in her new surroundings.

The initial class we planned on attending was Acrojazz. However when we arrived, the previous ballet class was coming to an end and many of those dancers stayed for the acrojazz class. After acrojazz Kyra immediately wanted to know why all of the other dancers got to take 2 classes and she only got to take one. After trying to make sense of it for 5 minutes I let her try the next class, level 1 ballet. She did great and decided she wanted to keep taking ballet. As we began to pack up from her ballet she realized some of the girls were staying for tap and of course....say it with me...SHE WANTED TO STAY FOR TAP. hahah. No way! I'm not paying $200 a month for dance class when she has a brother who only wants to take Soccer. What do I look like, a mom who wants to work and not sleep for 60 more years?

We came to an agreement, after I told her there was a 2 dance class limit and she had to pick. Kyra decided ballet and tap would be her classes.

Sooo...I found myself making 6 phone calls today to dance store (very few local options) trying to find tap shoes. Why would it be so difficult to find tap shoes?? Because the wonderful studio we are now a part of uses a SPECIAL kind of shoe...right, of course it does.

Now remember she just started 2 other classes which require 2 different pair of shoes, WHICH her wonderful father got to run out and pick up on lunch. Unsure of exactly what the heck an acrojazz shoe might even look like. Funny note, since we won't be taking acrojazz any longer and she wore the shoes, I find myself stuck with acrojazz (gymnastic) shoes.

So here I sit, with a little girl who I thought would be a soccer fanatic, completely eager to immerse herself in the world of dance. She has 3 leotards, will have 3 different pair of shoes and seems to quickly be becoming our little dancing diva. Sure hope I learn quick enough what the mom role of this diva thing will require. Oh wait, i already learned....my $$$$$. :-) It's worth it. Seeing her face light up when she knows I'm watching her do something she learned and is proud of, I would pay millions for that smile.