Cinco de Mayo

Our dance studio participated in the local Cinco de Mayo parade today. It was so much fun! The kids had a blast and the community really showed us some love as we drove down the parade route.  

Planet Dance at Relay for LIfe

Our dance studio had the opportunity to perform at a local Relay for Life event yesterday.  This was our second year dancing at the event and it was a great success.  I was able to perform last year with the dance team and this year both Isabella and I danced with our hip hop classes.  She had been feeling a little under the weather but like the true performer she is she pushed through and did a great job.  Here a some pictures I took before we took the stage. We will be performing again next Saturday at the local Asthma Walk.  I'm hoping that Mr. G will be able to get some pictures of us on stage. He was busy video taping the performance and trying to keep Ian happy in his stroller with promises of cotton candy and soda when we were all done. 

Here I am with some of the girls I take hip hop with.  Isabella took the picture thats why we are all bent over and squished together.

This is Miranda and Sylvia.  Miranda and Isabella go to school together and take dance together.  Sylvia and I are in taking hip hop together too. Who says moms can't get their groove on?

Irene, Sylvia, Christine (she teaches the dance team, ballet and jazz, and takes hip hop), Jacob (he teaches tap and takes hip hop) and Lexie (she is an extraordinary dancer and we danced together on the dance team last year)

Christine and Jacob, they are brother and sister and the best dance teachers I know.

The three of us right before we take the stage.

Jacob and Irene.  Irene and I went to the same high school together and attend the same church.  She takes hip hop with me too.

Jacob and Isabella.  She took tap with him last year and thinks he is the bomb.

Miranda and Isabella. I dont think they ever met a camera they didn't like. They are in the same class at school and take hip hop together. This is their second year dancing together.  They are very talented if I do say so myself.

Wanna dance?

Today is the first day of the dance classes.  I've dusted off my dance shoes and put a new playlist on my ipod.  I am beyond excited about this year!  I will  be teaching 2 preschool ballet classes this year and assisting 2 preschool tap classes.  Last year when the season started I was just going to be a teachers assistant. With over 20 preschoolers enrolled in one class it was decided to split them into 2 classes.  That's when I was approached about taking one of the classes all by myself.  I was honored to have the opportunity to do it.  My 8 ballerinas did a great job at recital and I was smiling from ear to ear like a proud momma during their performance.  I couldnt't have been more pleased with them.  They did such a great job.  So as we begin a new year I feel a little more prepared and confident in myself as a teacher.  I learned a lot last year and I'm hoping that I do an even better job this year with both classes.  Being a dance instructor and working for a dance studio is a childhood dream and I am so blessed to be able to have this amazing opportunity.  It's going to be a great year. I can feel it in my toes.

More Recital Photos

So here are the professtional photos of  Isabella taken at picture day in her recital costumes.

This is her hip hop costume. Don't you wish you had a head to toe silver sequin costume in your closet.

Here is her tap costume.  I love the fringe skirt! 

Recital Photos

Just wanted to share a photo of my favorite dancer at our recent dance recital.  I can't believe how grown up she looks.  Makes me scared to think about what she will look like as a teenager.   She danced in 3 numbers that night (tap, ballet, and hip hop).  She did such a great job and I am so proud of her.  She really knows how to have fun and give it her all on stage. Here she is. (I hope to add photos of her in her other costumes as soon as I scan them)

This is Isabella after the recial was over. She is wearing her costume for her hip hop number.

Let's Dance

 Isabella in past recital pictures. Above: (2009 hip-hop, Remember the Time-Michael Jackson)

Above:  (2009 ballet, Heal the World-Michael Jackson)  Below: (2007 preschool tap, Jungle Book)

So this time of year is quite busy for Isabella and I.  It is the time of year that we spend all of our evenings at the dance studio rehearsing for the BIG SHOW.  It's my favorite time of year and it's also the most busy.  I mean with Thanksgiving, Christmas, and dance recital a haute housewife can only pull herself in so many directions before she feels a little run down.  This year is a big show for me. Not only am I in a tap number, I am also in a jazz number with Venus the dance team, plus I also choreographed a ballet routine for the preschoolers. I am most proud of my work as a choreographer.  It has been a dream come true for me.  I did it all by myself. Picked the music, put the routine together and chose the costumes. I have put my heart and soul into this little routine and I am so proud of the 8 little ballerinas who are performing it this Saturday.  Now don't get me wrong. I love dancing!! By nature I am a dancer. I have always loved to dance. Growing up I would spend hours in my room making up routines to music on the radio. I loved to watch American Bandstand and Solid Gold.  I loved to watch award shows just for the dance numbers. I loved to dance. I still do. At 36 years old I am living my childhood dream.  I will dance for as long as my aging body will allow. I think Isabella loves to dance almost as much as I do.  It has been a great experience for us as mother and daughter to not only have a passion for dance but to perform for our friends and families for the past 4 years.  It was even nicer having her as my assistant with my preschoolers.  She will be a great dance teacher some day. I look forward to many more recitals and one day watching her dance classes perform her choreographed routines.