Ballet

Aria started ballet last week. Yay! She is very excited. When we took Aria out of preschool, we decided to take some of the money and spend it on classes for her. This only seemed fair. This summer Aria took swimming classes (the same one twice, to get her used to the water) and she loved them. The pool we take her to (Mt. Scott) didn't seem to have swim classes during September, so we decided to take off a month, and see what October brought. It turned out that October brought two classes. The summer classes had been half-an-hour a day, every day, for two weeks. During the fall, the swimming classes were mostly twice a week, for five weeks. So we signed her up for Tuesday and Thursday swimming clases.

The other class we signed her up for was ballet. I gave her the option of several different classes, and that's what she chose. No surprise there. She loves dancing around, and I think Zoe from Sesame Street--in her pink tutu--is her favorite character. The classes she takes are through the park bureau, and she's going to the Laurelhurst Dance Studio. A few weeks ago, mom and I went to The Leotard with Aria, and bought her a cute leotard with attached tutu.
Of course, we also bought her the ballet slippers, letting her choose the color of both. Mom had already called the studio and they said it was up to us what she wore. Everything was so cute on her! But too expensive to buy just for dress up. Will totally go back for their clearance items, though.

Last Monday afternoon, Mom and I took her to the studio for the first time. We walked in and around the wall that divides the entry from the studio, and saw the large expanse of dance floor. Carefully walking around it, we went into the back office where several other families were already gathered with their little girls. The class was for 3 to 6-year-olds, but I don't think there were actually any 3-year-olds there. In fact, the teacher seemed to already know most of the other girls from previous classes. We quickly changed Aria in her outfit, and the teacher let the girls run around daning with scarves until class was supposed to begin.

Mom and I had been a little slow to get our bearings, and thus all the chairs lining the floor were taken. The teacher--Miss Erika, I think--kindly informed us that there was more seating upstairs. I was a little disappointed that we wouldn't be right on the floor to see her (and concerned that she wouldn't know where we were) but the view was awesome from the balcony, and I liked the pictures I got, though without the flash many were blurry. But it was kind of a nice effect, especially when she was dancing with the scarves. She also quickly figured out where we were, and occasionally flashed up that brilliant smile of her's.

Back to the class. They are doing dances from the Nutcracker, with some kind of performance (I think) at the end. It lasts for eleven weeks, once a week, 45 minutes each time. I think the discipline will be good for Aria. And the teacher's really good and...strict (but in a good-natured, working with little kids way). At one point, she threatened to tie one girl's hands behind her back if she didn't stop playing with them. I think I like her.

So we have ten more weeks of Aria constantly asking for the Nutcracker to be played on iTunes so she can dance to it. Ten more weeks of coaching her on first position, en point and all the other ballet-esque words I can't pronounce when I read them in her books (but hopefully will be able to in ten weeks). I'm in mommy-of-a-little-girl heaven right now.