After 6 months of hard work and early Saturday mornings we finally got to see the fruits of Mayah's labors. We went to Burke High School in Omaha to watch Mayah and at least 100 other dancers from the Kitty Lee Dance Company perform. Upon arrival, the whole school was rigged to extract every last penny from would-be spectators. They had carnations, roses, purses, ribbons, hair bows, and miscellaneous other souvenirs that deserving little girls just couldn't resist. What better way to show support and recognition for their efforts than to spoil them with armfuls of the stuff when they finished?
Then we entered the auditorium to learn that all video taping and photography was banned. Of course they had their own "professional" version of the tape that you could buy for a mere $45, which of course wouldn't zoom in on your kid, and would include all of the other performances in the very lengthy recital. Needless to say, and as evidenced by the videos in this post, we are not the type to passively follow those kind of rules. The first video was a pretty shaky and the angle was a little too wide to see much of Mayah. At that point, Clint was still trying to hide the fact that he was video taping and didn't spend much time actually looking through the viewfinder... but we got braver on the second song, and ended up zooming in and following Mayah a little closer. If you can't tell, Mayah is the front girl on the far right for the tap dance, and the middle girl in the right column for the ballet number. Once again she was the shortest in the group...but living up to the award they gave her, she was by far the "most adorable dancer."
She said she was feeling some butterflies before the performance, and wasn't so sure about performing in front of about 500 people...but in the end she LOVED it, and said she didn't want to get off that stage. She loved having fancy hair and make-up, and I have a suspicion she'll be anxious to do it all over again in the fall.
We were sure proud of our little Mayah, and I couldn't help the tears from streaming as I watched her. How cute is my kid?
3 comments:
Mayah looks so cute! Mike was sitting here while I was looking at it commenting on how MUCH she looks like you, Amie. He said he hadn't noticed it as much until now and how pretty she is... and how fortunate for her that she probably won't have to deal with many freckles! ;)
Where have all the posts gone??? I know you were in Utah, but you've been back for a while now. Don't make me call you, cause I WILL!! ;) Hope you guys are doing good. We miss you all!
I just caught your blog. As a former dance studio owner, let me tell you why photography and personal videos are not allowed at recitals. While you are obviously proud of your daughter, so are the parents of every other student. Now, let's consider the ensuing madness of 200 -300 parents vying for the perfect angle for their precious video, or figuring that they have the right to bring extension cords because they want to tape the whole show for their child to watch later and the camera battery just won't quite cut it. It has been known for these loving parents to fight, yes really fight, for that perfect spot. Next, you have those who will need to set up their tripods, or maybe stand during their student's performance for the perfect shot, and otherwise disrupt the show for all other audience members.
That is why dance teachers began banning the cameras. This also teaches students (and hopefully their friends and families as well) theater etiquette. Some things are just not done at a live theatrical event. Society today often forgets basic rules and so that is why people are reminded to turn off cell phones, pagers, as well as no photos or videos. Of course, some can't resist or feel that they are above the rules. Remember you just taught your daughter that rules don't really need to be followed.
As far as buying a video.... you did your daughter a disservice. I used to be surprised at the number of parents who told me that their child loved to watch the recital over and over from start to finish. While you may have been only interested in your daughter, she was caught up in being a member of a much larger group of dancers. Even though I owned a studio, I didn't watch the video, except to see if there were major errors on it. However, many parents said it was the most popular summer video for the kids. As far as the cost, come on. You take classes at Kitty Lee Dance Studio. You are already paying top dollar, why be cheap now? You are at a very good place and your daughter will learn a great deal in the years to come.
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