Kaitlyn Ballerina

Today was Kaitlyn's ballet performance, and the funny thing was that she didn't seem nearly as impressed or excited as I thought she would be.  I thought we would have trouble getting the costume off of her, but instead, she kept asking if it was time to be "all done" with it already - it must have been uncomfortable somehow!  The makeup, however, was the highlight of the day.  They had to wear makeup so they weren't washed out by the stage lights, and she kept asking me to put on more and more.

Anyway, I skipped the professional photos because I figured I prefer the more candid (and free) version.  So here is a shot of her class together.  They got to try on their costumes on the last day of class.

They were a fun, cute little group.

The next week we had dress rehearsal at the actual stage.  And I have to admit, this is one of my favorite "artistic" photographs I have taken.  You might not get to see her face, but I love how the light draws your eye around the vast empty space before you come to the tiny ballerina, so that you feel a bit overwhelmed like she does.

Kaitlyn was all smiles while she danced though!

Since they were so young, two of their teacher's daughters came out to help guide them.  Even with their help, I think Kaitlyn only did half the moves in the actual performance, but with this age, they are only expected to be cute aimless wanderers anyway.

It really was quite the production!  When I signed her up for ballet, I had no idea that they would let girls that young into the big production, but it was really fun to see them all perform.

Afterward, I stopped along the walk to the car to get a picture of Kaitlyn in her costume.

"Kaitlyn!  Look at me!"

"I aaam!", she said in an exasperated, drama queen voice.

"No, look at ME, look at the camera.  And smile!"

"No, don't grimace, and why aren't you looking at me?"
"I aaaam!"
"Um, right, look  . . .I'm  . . . gonna get ya!" My vague attempt at making her smile at the game fell flat.  "Let's go over here.  Maybe could you try smiling one more time . . ."

"I give up."

Maybe I should have paid for the pictures.  Or maybe she would have made this same face for them, who knows.
She really did love ballet this year.  Though I think in an effort to let her try a few things and see what she wants to stick with, we will probably try gymnastics next year.