Although it took me longer than expected to write this post, the evening of Nati’s recital is still very vivid in my head…
A little background: Nati has been in Ballet and Tap classes for about 2 years now… for her first recital we were all very excited to see her, but she did not make it on stage! She was petrified! She was scared of all the “staring” eyes while she was on stage, so she remained offstage while the rest of her class danced- we even had the camera all ready to record only to catch a glimpse of her terrified face running off stage… The following recital, 5 months later, she performed on stage and danced and her confidence grows stronger with every performance.
Fast forward to December 15th, 2014. Nati is taking ballet this session with her favorite teacher and she is in a small class of only 3 ballerinas. All classes are held with closed doors, including the dress rehearsal, so we have no idea what the dance is like. Her teacher had told us she was very proud and happy of all the progress they had made in the past couple of months, but we still did not know what to expect…
The only sneak peek we had was from her rehearsal day where we saw how adorable she looked in her outfit, but still had no idea about her dance…
The day of the recital came… Nati was performing to Ave Maria by Beyonce and her class was the next to last performance….
After sitting through 8-10 super cute performances from all the little dancers, it was time for Nati and her 2 friends to perform… The curtain opened and she was the first in line. My heart stopped for a few seconds– she looked so radiant, so happy, so confident. Her smile and confidence looking at the audience filled my heart with joy and pride.
Then they began to dance…. Wow… wow… wow… her lines, her rhythm, her musicality have gotten sooo good!! I am no dance expert, but I see how much progress she has made and know that her technique looked amazing for an almost 6 year old. She danced beautifully- she knew her choreography with confidence, and she even did a perfect split! :)… I was in awe the entire performance and could not stop clapping and cheering for her once the performance was over. When they came out for the final curtain… my eyes got watery… I choked a little… my baby girl had grown up right before my very eyes… Yes, her technique and dance skills have gotten so much better and we will continue to encourage her growth, but what got me the most was her confidence, seeing how much she enjoyed being on stage, no fear… she was soo happy and THAT makes ME even happier and very proud of her.
Rehearsal Day
Nati after her amazing performance. 🙂
Nati and her Ballet/Tap teacher.
Our Ballerina.
Thank you Nati for filling our hearts with joy and pride. Seeing you grow up and seeing how happy you are on stage is admirable and contagious. You continue to amaze me and I love you.
