Beginning Ballerinas Part 1

I have been waiting since Allie was born for the day that she could start taking ballet. I started as a toddler and have so many fun memories doing dance. There is a dance studio close to us that has a wonderful reputation for being Christ-Centered and being a place where the girls truely learn the fundamentals of dance. Allie will be old enough next fall to start taking dance at this studio. In the meantime, they have a 6 week camp that allows the girls to get a taste of dance and see if they enjoy it enough to sign up for classes.  I have been able to take some great pictures and some pretty good video.

 This was Allie's first class. She looked so cute in her tutu! They start the class doing some gymnastics-type skills. Allie's gymnastics training was very short-lived, so she started out a little behind some of the other girls who clearly have been taking gymnastics for a while.

The first class was a little rough but I am so proud of how hard she is working on the things that she couldn't do at first. Here are a few videos from that first class.



The second class went a little better. She was proud of the things that she was getting better at. They started with a reward system know as the "Princess Necklace." Each time they practice a skill, they pick one girl who does the skill the best and lets her wear the Princess Necklace. My Allie is not used to not being the center of the attention. I know that this is a lesson that she needs to learn, but it is hard watching her face anytime that she doesn't get the Princess Necklace.

Here are some videos from the 2nd class:



This video was from the 3rd class. She is now able to do her roll-overs by herself and she is really getting better controling her arms. We still haven't gotten the Princess Necklace and it's starting to hurt her feelings, but I am trying hard to teach her that it is more important that she work hard and have fun. We have really focused on her getting her roll-over and praise her for her hard work.

We have 3 more classes....Hopefully I will be writing soon saying that we got the Princess Necklace!