Competition Results!

We have all been so darn busy! This past weekend was Sarah's first competition. It was held in Athens, GA. We drove up on Saturday morning (about a two hour drive) and immediately went to work putting on make-up, doing hair and changing into costumes (not me, Sarah!). It was crazy with all of the girls running around, some not as comfortable changing clothes in front of the others. However, some, mainly the older girls with more experience, didn't hesitate to shed their costumes to jump into the next!

Sarah danced in 4 dances; 3 on Saturday and 1 on Sunday. We stayed at the Hilton across the street from the theatre, which was very convenient! We shared with another Mom and her daughter, the same young lady that Sarah was in the Nutcracker with. The girls get along great and I enjoy the Mom's company. It always is fun watching the girls enjoy the socializing of the competition.

The best part of being a member of the dance company is that the girls range in age from 7 to 18. Some of the older girls have become like Sarah's older sisters and take great care of her. They look out and protect her and make sure she stays with them when she isn't dancing. I am so grateful for their responsibility! The majority of the girls know how to interact with the younger ones and know how to "tone" down the teenage talk!

This competition was the first that Sarah was asked to wear false eye lashes! Oh Boy, what a treat they are to put on! If you aren't careful you can glue the eyelashes to the wrong part of the eye. Talk about Tammy Faye Baker!!! Anyway, I think I did a pretty good job on my first outing. I did have several extras, "just in case"!

Grace wanted to come for the competition even though I warned her it was going to be lots of sitting. She still wanted to be there. Grace was great, though she did get a little bored on Sunday. The final awards were given on Sunday night so we didn't leave Athens until after 8 PM. We got home about 10:30 and were just exhausted. Not only did the excitement and hard work (sitting mostly for me!) tire us out, the time change really threw us for a loop!

Because school was on Monday morning I had planned to have Dave take Analiese and Matthew, while the rest of us slept in for awhile. Blame my old, addled, menopausal brain, but I TOTALLY forgot that I had an 8:30 meeting at the Board of Education. When did I remember? At about 7:30 AM right when the closing of the garage door woke me up. Jump out of bed? You bet I did and I FLEW into the shower, got out, woke up the girls (who were extremely confused!) and all of us got out of the house by 7:50--YES, 7:50!!!!!! The girls weren't even counted tardy because the principal decided not to count any of the kids tardy because of the time change. Oh what luck! I even made it to my meeting with time to spare!

Anyway, I digress. The girls all performed beautifully! Sarah had a great time up on stage. You could really see how her confidence has so increased. She still has some skills she needs to work on but let me tell you, she is an awesome dancer! This competition included several large studios. One dance had a total of 80 dancers! It is always interesting to see how the other studios dance and what kind of costumes they wear. Our dance studio director's focus is NOT on showing off the girls bodies and I have never felt uncomfortable with the costumes Sarah wears. That is not the case with some of the other dancers. It is really disturbing, to me, to see girls, some as young as 5, with their bellies exposed and their butts wiggling up on stage.

Here is a link to view the photos of the competition: www.itcinema.com
(Choose event photos, then "Bravo, Athens, GA March 7-8") The numbers for Sarah's dances are: 100 Bandstand Boogie (Jazz), 108 Dance Machine (Jazz), 119 I Stand (Lyrical) and 232 Suite Country (Tap).

For her dances, Sarah and the other girls, earned 2 silver and 2 gold trophies. Two of the dances; I Stand and Bandstand Boogie received, "How Sweet" awards from the Judges! We are so very proud of them all!

We have another competition this weekend; BalletFest. Sarah will perform in two dances: Its Delovely (my favorite!) and I stand. Then the last weekend in March we go to ANOTHER competition and perform everything we did this last weekend! Thanks to all of you who sponsored Sarah and helped with her competition fees!

It was comical this weekend to see the girls with their Moms. Here was daughter running to her friends and becoming involved in the moment. Behind her is Mom carrying the dance bag, the garment bag, the makeup bag and the food bag--oh and not to forget, her own purse full of odds and ends! Just add "Sherpa" to my already full job description!!