Bella's First Dance Recital

For the past year at age 4, Bella has been taking a combination tap/ballet dance class at our local dance studio, Dance Connection.  I selected this particular studio for Bella after doing meticulous research and discovering that the studio produced dance graduates that have gone on to be Broadway performers and professional dancers for acts like Rihanna and Paula Abdul. Not that I expect my 4 year old to become a professional dancer, but hey! A mom can dream!

Anyway, back to the big day of the Spring Recital.

Pre-performance with no stage makeup yet...

...with ample stage makeup (yes, those are smokey eyes, ladies)

The show had nearly 50 acts and Bella's class was the second-to-last act. At 3-5 minutes per dance, I knew it would be nearly impossible for Bella and Maddie to sit through it all, so we intentionally took our time getting to the theater and timed it so we were there for only the later half of the show. This was also Bella's first onstage performance so I was trying very hard to keep her relaxed and free of any anxiety that might be brewing in her head. I myself started having flashbacks of stage-fright after watching the first few acts.

Forty minutes later, after Bella and I enjoyed casually watching the show, we were escorted backstage with the children to prepare. Bella quickly joined her excited classmates while moms tried to tie tap shoe straps on restless, wiggly children. I reached my hand into Bella's dance bag to retrieve her tap shoes when my heart sank; I pulled out her ballet shoes and a water botttle. No tap shoes. My heart started racing as I checked and rechecked the bag. Still no tap shoes. Bella sensed my panic and herself began to silently withdraw in desperation. I whimpered my dilemma to a nearby mother who told the Dance Director. What ensued amidst the chaos and cacophony of noise was a well-coordinated fire drill starting with a mere finger snap from the Director followed by a scattering of her minions.  Soon I was shushed from the backstage area as the girls lined up to go on stage.  Bella stood speechless looking at me, still with no tap shoes on.  I waved a quick good-bye, blew her a kiss, and prayed she wouldn't start crying.

"How could I be so stupid?" I chastised.  But there was no time to think.  The girls would be on in less than a minute and I had to race around to the front of the theater to my front-and-center spot in the audience.  I met Maddie and Jin in the seats.  My brow was thick with sweat, my shirt damp with perspiration.  Jin sensed my nervousness and immediately helped to get the camera ready.  We had one chance to get this right.

The curtains closed and the lights went dim as the next act prepared to position themselves.  We waited sitting on the edge of our seats with camera poised and ready.  Then, the curtains opened and the blaring lights illuminated the stage....

And yes, Bella had tap shoes!  Apparently she borrowed some from another girl who danced before Bella.  It was obvious from the quick and well-coordinated actions of the Dance Director that she had experience with similar circumstances.  Whew!  Afterwards, Bella was all smiles, posing gallantly with her friend, Jada and her classmates:

Bella receives flowers for her smashing performance

Bella with her classmates

After a near-disastrous day, the Dance Director came to the rescue to make Bella's first dance recital a memorable occasion.