Ok. So I don’t have any video of this one. I have a good explanation, really! Dress rehearsal started an hour after Girls on the Run was over, so I had time to get home, tell Yanni what to make for dinner, get Imani dressed and hair pulled back, and race out the door to get to rehearsal on time. Which we did. . . without a camera! I videotaped the rehearsal with my cell phone, intending to return Saturday night with two cameras. . .only on Saturday, we were implored not to use flash photography, nor videotape the performance!

So I sat through most of the first half of the program holding Chanya, my wallet, and two cameras. While Joy held a single rose I’d run out to the lobby to buy right before the curtain opened.

Imani had a unique ballet class this year. There were three girls and three boys by the time of the recital, so they learned a cute little partner dance. It involved clapping on beat and it featured pas de chat, according to the program, or ’step of the cat.’ During rehearsal, it was clear that most of the other children had forgotten the dance. Not so Imani, as it was proven when they started over.

For the actual performance, Imani held her head up and led the dance for her classmates. They were among the youngest dancers in the recital, so it was just adorable.

The program was pretty long–2 1/2 hours, featuring every class from beginning ballet to tap, jazz, and character, which is a class for girls who have been in ballet for a few years who want to learn folk dances and the like. There were some girls from Girls on the Run in the recital, and the older sisters of some of Joy’s classmates. It was exciting to sit with Joy and point out girls we recognized. Most of the girls from Girls on the Run had several dances in the recital. They did such a good job!

I was also excited to see adults dancing. We even saw the women who played the wicked stepsisters in Cinderella dancing with the most advanced ballet class en pointe! There were also classes that inspired me to think about taking a dance class some time. Tap or jazz couldn’t be that hard, could it?