taking the stage

On Valentine's Day, Ryann participated in her first dance competition.  Some people give me those wide questioning eyes when I say she is on a competitive team, but honestly the competition aspect means very little to these girls at this age.  Sure they know they can in theory win a trophy, but ultimately it is just good for being a part of a team and pushing her to work hard and care about something.

That morning we had quite the struggle over her make-up, because she had zero interest in wearing the false eyelashes.  So I gave up, and thankfully another mom came to the rescue once we were at the competition location and put on the rest of Ry's eye make-up for me.  The competition was actually running nearly an hour ahead of schedule, so we didn't have to wait long before it was performance time!  I was so nervous as they walked on stage, worried that Ryann might freak out or something.  That auditorium was huge, much more expansive than anything she has ever been in.  But the fear was completely unnecessary.  They got up there and rocked it.  I was so proud of those girls.  It wasn't perfect, but they worked hard and kept smiles on their faces and had a good time.

I honestly don't know how they 'placed' or scored or what not.  I was so dang confused during the awards ceremony.  Ha.  But they did well enough!  I thought that all 8 and unders competed against each other, which they did in some areas, but their actual dance was judged based on age, and since they were the only 4 year old group there they were scored against themselves.  It works.  The only real mishap of the day was that Ryann was supposed to go up to collect the trophy for her class, but they were all confused and another girl ended up doing it.  So naturally Ryann cried through the rest of the awards ceremony and I had to go retrieve her from the stage.  :o)

I don't know if we'll stick with competitive dance for Ryann.  She likes taking dance class and loves getting to hang out with her little girl friends.  But she HATES practicing her dance.  I'm over fighting with her about it, so unless she shows me that she really really wants to do it, we might just switch to rec classes next year.  She's 4, we'll figure it out, we'll all survive.  :o)

Great job Miss Ryann, mommy loves watching you dance so much!