Ballet & Halloween

Loren has been obsessed with all things ballet for months now, and the past few days have put her in ballerina heaven! Yesterday we attended Tacoma City Ballet's Haunted Theater. When we entered the theater, they had about 6 young girl dancers wandering the hall dressed as ghosts reminiscent of the twins from The Shining. I was concerned that Loren would be scared but, always the ballet lover, she zeroed in on the fact that they were wearing ballet shoes and fell in love with them! When one of the girls came and sat next to us in the waiting area (attempting to be spooky), Loren turns to her and say, cheerfully, "Hi! I'm taking ballet class tomorrow!" The rest of the haunted theater tour was low-key, they'd anticipated the young kids, and we ended in the theater where we were treated to a 6 dance ballet performance. The stage was a marked out space on the floor and Loren was allowed to sit right on the edge of the stage. As soon as the ballerinas began dancing, an ear-to-ear grin developed on her face and didn't fade for the rest of the experience. I wish I had been able to get a photo of that smile... The finale of the performance was the 1958 song Beware of the Blob and after bows and curtsies had been made, the kids in the audience were invited to join the dancers on stage. One of the toe-shoe dancing ghosts that she loved, came and asked her onto the stage. I heard about that for the rest of the evening. After the performance, we were able to get a couple of photos of Loren with some of her "Shining" girls.

   

The topper to ballet heaven this week was the start of Loren's first ballet class. There's even going to be a Snow Angel in the recital in December! I think I may be as excited for the recital as Loren is! Loren was a bit hesitant to join the class... for about 5 seconds... She held my hand on the way into the class, but let go and ran in with the rest of the class as soon as she saw the full length mirrors and ballet barres on the wall. Parent's weren't allowed to sit in on the class, but I still snuck lots of peaks from the doorway. I giggled almost the entire time, they were SO adorable! I can't wait to see how she progresses.

 

And of course, the Halloween costume: