Making chex mix in the oven is a practice in patience. And, surprisingly, one my children handled quite well. This is their reward:
Then it was back to dance class on Saturday. We were anxious to see if Olivia would be more comfortable this time. We had even made her a DVD of the dance so she could practice at home.
She started out very comfortable, leading a crazy ring-around-the-rosie marathon around the room.
Then they headed over to the bar for warm-ups and she stopped doing… anything.
No plies:
No releves:
She did turn around, though. But refused to do any actual ballet.
Not even with some one-on-one attention from the teacher:
It wasn’t an obstinate disobedience, but rather, she just preferred to study the movements of others rather than moving herself.
Then, at the very end, behold! Butterfly wings!
And a little bitty, teensy weensy plie:
(The knees are supposed to be apart, but we’ll take what we can get.)
And, as usual, she absolutely excelled in the scarves:
This morning, however, she put on her ballet shoes, asked for her dance DVD, and became quite the little ballerina!
Releve!
The concentration!
Plie!
Ending pose:
But will she perform like this in front of her teacher next week? Debatable. She still won’t recite her alphabet on command.
She really is a very inhibited child. She wants to be sure she has everything perfect before showing others what she can do. That’s actually the purpose behind this dance class. We want her to be more comfortable with trying new things and become more free and relaxed around non-family members.
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I see YOU in the first picture Beth! In the mirror!
Hopefully she’ll warm up to the idea of “dance class” In the meantime, the ballerina in your living room is a cutie!
The first Dance picture Technically, the second picture.
I was much the same in my first ballet class. I ended up quitting when they forced me to leave my stuffed bear on the side! At least she’s sticking with it and having fun at home.
You should share that chex mix recipe!
Give her a few weeks to warm up to the class. I was also a child that needed to practice at home to get it right before participating with the class. I was lucky enough to have a wonderful teacher who understood. She encouraged without pushing and the only requirement was that we have fun. When it comes time for the recital, the little ones always steal the show, even if they only stand there and wave.