Yes, I know I have been promising this forever so here it is :)
The second show, definitely went smoother than the first (as is always the case). I was MUCH calmer and had the kiddie herding and quick changing down to an art form :)
When it was time to walk onto the stage, I did have that same sinking feeling that I had 7 years ago when I walked onto the stage one final time. It was definitely a bittersweet performance!
I’m guessing you probably want to see what the heck I’m talking about so I’ve included a video of our part. As much as I would like to say we were the fabulous dancers in the beginning, we are the dancers in blue at the end (our MC announces us as the Alumni)
And if you'd like to see the entire finale (Owners, then teachers, then current ensemble, then alumni, and then the babies :)) You can see that here :)
It was definitely not our best performance, but we had a BLAST dancing together again! :) Before we left, we of course had to take a few (ok quite a few more) group pictures!
Alumni, and then alumni with our fabulous teachers! :)
Then after the recital I headed over to visit a few minutes with everyone at the cast party and snapped a quick picture with two of my favorite people: Ms. Emily and Ms. Robin
It was such a fabulous weekend and I am looking forward to the 25th in a couple of years! :)
When it was finally time for the show to begin on Saturday, I was very excited, but also very nervous! Not to mention, Alex was getting to see me perform for the first time ever! :) In fact, look how nice he looked…
Us before the show
If you can’t tell…he’s lost like 30 pounds! He’s killing me on the diet thing (although if I lost 30 pounds I would be a little too skinny)
I threw on this dress because it was A.) Easy to get off without messing up hair and make-up and B.) it was the only solid black thing I brought home (and I had to wear black to usher the babies on and off the stage)
Anyway, I LOVED being backstage! So much goes on back there, and there is nothing like being able to watch things from the wings…I was definitely in my element :)
Hanging out with my old dance BFF’s backstage :)
Hanging out with the teachers
The owners’ sons…aren’t they precious?
As part of the story, they talked about how it was funny that both of their first-borns were boys and how they went through stages of whether or not they wanted to be at the dance studio. However, when they got older and girl crazy, they LOVED being at the studio so to represent that stage, they did a dance with some of the girls to the country song “Where the Girls Are”…it was precious! (See below – they are on stage left)
Then, it was our turn to dance! We took a video of it, but it didn’t turn out as well as we’d hoped, so I’ll share the video from the Sunday show when I do my Sunday recap.
Anyway, afterwards, we took lots of pictures :)
First a group shot….
Then a shot with our fabulous teachers
Then me with the older girls (some of them even taught me!)
Then with the BFF’s
Then the teachers…
Mrs. Em – One of the owners/instructors. She taught me jazz when I was little and then tap the rest of the time. I also assisted with a lot of her classes growing up and helped her with a managing a junior high dance team. I was always closer to her than any of the other teachers (not because I didn’t adore them all…Mrs. Em and I just had a lot in common!)
Mrs. Robin – Owner/Instructor – My acro teacher when I was little and my ballet and pointe teacher from then on out. I helped her teach a few of her ballet classes and boy did I have a new respect for what she did after that :) I love her!
Mrs. Susan (a.k.a. “Sweet Sue”) - Instructor/Amazing Choreographer – She started teaching Jazz at RCPA when I was in the 7th grade so I had her as a jazz teacher from then on and eventually I tacked on modern with her. I also babysat her children often and helped her with choreography for quite a few plays so we have a whole history outside the dance studio :) She is fabulous!
Ms. Janet – Office Manager Extraordinaire! She started in 2000 and is still going strong. I had lots of time to bond with her during recital week when I helped her in the office! :)
Anyway, after we left, my family and I headed to Steak n Shake…a fun little diner type restaurant in town. It stays open all night so we frequented often as teenagers :)
My parents and grandparents at the “adult table”
The kids’ table :)
Alex and I
Then we went home and got some rest before it was time to do it all again! :)
The Friday evening before the recital, the studio had their usual dress rehearsal and then the alumni got together for a little Alumni Reception afterwards. It was a long and crazy day, but we had a blast!
The theme this year was “If It Weren’t for the Girls” in which the owners told their story about the life of the dance studio and how much all of the students have meant to them. I read the script when I was at the studio and I had a difficult time holding back tears so I knew I needed to be backstage in the chaos so I didn’t have to listen to it.
To make it even better, they decided to not use our normal Master of Ceremonies and Ms. Emily, one of the owners and teachers who always writes the scripts, decided it would mean more if she was the one to tell their story. She did and she did an amazing job! :)
Here she is being the superwoman that she is (M.C., Stage Director, Teacher, and with her daughter dancing on stage…mother)
The rehearsal was disastrous, but it always has been…somehow it always comes together before the show! The only time we’ve come close to a perfect rehearsal is when all of our shows sold out and we had to turn our rehearsal into a show and somehow I ended up on the front page of the paper the following morning
But that is definitely a story for another time ;)
Anyway, after the rehearsal we learned our alumni routine. Mom came and snapped a couple of pictures, but it is always tough trying to get clear pictures of us moving around :) Honestly, it is probably a good thing because we spent much more time laughing than actually learning the routine ;)
Then, we headed over to the studio for our alumni reception. It was great getting to catch up with everyone! Our age group fell right in the middle of the 20 year span so we had danced with every one of the girls there at sometime or another….needless to say, it was very special for us!
Unfortunately I am not in many of the pictures since I was playing photographer, but I did get one picture with one of my former dance teachers turned fellow dancer, Nicole.
Sorry I look rough…it had been a long day! :)
That project I mentioned that I was (tearfully) working on…it was a photobook for the two owners with pictures from the past 20 years! I (we) presented it to them at the reception and they loved it…in fact, both started tearing up :(
In fact, you’re more than welcome to see the book as well
After we presented them with the book, we decided we needed a little more practice on our routine…and boy did we! By that point, we were so tired and were having way too much fun to concentrate on the dance so it was far from our best work! See for yourself!
Note: Yes, I know I messed up on the second time…again, it was late! haha
Note: You might want to turn your speakers down…we’re really loud!
You probably heard our dance teachers mentioning that the young ones were in the front first….then the older ones moved up front…huge change haha
Anyway, we had a wonderful time dancing together again and I think we did pretty good for only learning it about an hour earlier (and maybe only did it 5 times total!)
Before we left, we all snapped a picture together…I love it!
Dancing was always so much more than just a hobby for me. It was a passion. I loved everything about it: the attire, the art, the technique, the practices, the performances….everything! Because of this, I adored being at the dance studio. Although I had to be there many hours a week for classes, I would often find myself hanging out there even when I didn’t have to. Honestly, I probably spent more time there than in my own home. It was literally my “home away from home”.
When I graduated, I knew I would miss dance, but I never thought about actually missing the studio itself. After all…it’s just a building right? I soon realized that it was so much more than a building to me…it was home and I missed it dearly.
Although I have stopped in for several visits since I left, I haven’t gotten to spend any real time there…that is until this week.
I know how crazy it is at the studio around recital time so I promised that I would come help out while I was home. As soon as I walked in on Monday evening, it took me back to 7 years ago….I was home.
The glistening competition trophies in the entryway that we had worked so hard for, the soothing lavender walls covered in the same images I had admired as a child, the sound of music and “5,6,7,8” wafting through the doors of the classrooms, and little ballerinas spinning around in the lobby….it was like I had never left.
Even though I had only planned on going for a couple of days, I ended up spending every afternoon there. Every day I would arrive at 2:30, pull into the same parking spot that I always parked in from the time I was 16, walk right in, get to work, and stay until they closed up at 8:00. I spent hours answering phone calls, dealing with parents, sorting and handing out pictures, programs, and t-shirts, and even critiquing some dances. I was exhausted every night, but honestly I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Because, well, I was home. Is it sad that I already miss that place terribly?
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