Recital 2010

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A highlight each June is the girls' dance recital! This year the theme was Dancin' in the USA. The show opened with the 6-9 year olds performing Miley Cyrus' "Party in the USA" and then each following dance number represented a diffent state. Brenna danced to "Waking Up in Vegas" and "Something About the Sunshine" which is from a recent Disney movie. Molly danced to "Charleston" and "Private Idaho" by the B52's. Brenna had more last number - a tribute to Michael Jackson where her class and another did Thriller. After a terrible rehearsal, the show went off well. Molly still very much enjoys it but there is a possibility that we may have seen Brenna's final dance. She didn't enjoy her numbers this year and it showed. Oh well, we'll just have to wait and see what Sept brings to see if she returns to classes . . .

Recital 2009

The girls' dance recital was so much fun! Brenna danced to a medley of "Mama I'm a Big Girl Now" and "Welcome to the 60's" from Hairspray for tap and "Omigod You Guys"from Legally Blonde for jazz. Molly did a tap routine to "Anything You Can Do" from Annie Get Your Gun. Jazz was "Oklahoma." Both girls then donned black dance clothes and velvet capes for the big Finale which was "Phantom of the Opera."

As you can tell, the theme was Broadway musicals. Other numbers used songs from The Lion King, Mary Poppins, Sound of Music, Guys and Dolls, Sweet Charity, Mamma Mia and Grease. We loved it all!

Dance Recital Preview #2

Okay - I'm loving Brenna's costume! Her class will be tap dancing to a medley of "Mama I'm a Big Girl Now" and "Welcome to the 60's" from Hairspray for their jazz number. It was visitor day at her class and as much as we enjoyed watching them, it was even better when the teacher gave out their costumes and let them try the dance wearing them. So cute! Aside from Brenna's go-go boots being a bit to tall (an easy trim) it worked out well and the girls looked adorable.

They will be doing a jazz dance to "Omigod You Guys" from Legally Blonde. They've decided to switch costumes for that and use one from last year (yipee! no additional cost!) and add some accessories. The Finale will be Phantom of the Opera and both she and Molly will be in that number this year.

This is a great little class. There are 11 girls from 8 different schools. All are 9-10 years old and most have been together for 3-4 years. I think Brenna likes having this group of friends because they are not the kids she's with day in and out at school. It's nice to mix it up a bit.

Sneak Peek

Molly came home with her recital costume this week. It's early but since they came in the teacher decided to send them right home. Molly loves it and so do I! (I think the boot covers are hilarious!)

Molly's been dancing with this teacher for 4 years now and she seems to have a spot spot for my little darling. Candi said for some reason she's always wanted to put Molly in a cowgirl costume but was waiting for the right year. Since the class started jazz this year, it seemed a good fit.

So for tap she'll be doing "Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better" from Annie Get Your Gun. Jazz will be "Oklahoma."

It's going to be a fun show!

I'll post Brenna's costume and numbers when they come in.

Dance clip

Molly's class is trying jazz for the first time. How can you not love 6 year olds rockin' it to a song from Hairspray! I just keep telling myself that somehow it all comes together by the time the curtain opens on the recital in June! (This won't be their dance though. They don't start those until January. I'm hoping the teacher decides to use it though because they love the music!)

And this was about the only one I got in Brenna's class. The older they get, the faster they move. Everything came out blurry, backwards, etc.! She has a nice class and the girls really get along well. This is her 4th year with them and I think she likes having friends outside of her school class.

First Feis

Brenna danced in her first Irish dance competition today (a feis - which is pronounced "fesh" for those not in this dance loop!) She surprised me by repeatedly asking over several weeks if she could compete so I was happy to let her give it a try. Frankly I think she was mostly wanting to do it so I'd get her the school's beginner costume. You can see from the pictures it's an embroidered shirt, black kick skirt, black tights and a black shawl with the embroidered symbol of her dance school.

This feis was held in Virginia and there were hundreds of kids from all over the Mid-Atlantic region there. I had heard it was not only fairly local for us but also well-run - an important factor for those of us not having the foggiest how to do these things!

She was registered for only one dance - a reel - and was really nervous. Last night she kept saying she didn't want to dance after all and what would happen if the judge didn't like her steps. The kids dance two at a time but each kid is doing different combinations as each dance school has their own particular choreography. That's got to be confusing! I just reassured her that her first few competitions were like practices where she shouldn't even worry about placing against so many other girls who have already competed in several feisanna. (See? I'm getting the hang of this lingo!)

Well go figure! She placed 4th in her division in that dance! (1st-3rd get trophies and 4th and 5th get medals)

Needless to say she was thrilled with her award ("It's the highest medal, Mom!" she said. I like her way of thinking - she hadn't even considered the trophies.)

We also bought her a special Tshirt to remember the occasion. It has the logo of the feis on the front and a partial list of competitor names on the reverse (you pick the program page featuring your own school and they add a star next to your name) She's in seventh heaven now!

Last Day

Brenna had a little party on her last day of Irish Dance and the kids from her class and the one after theirs combined to do a little performance for us. They were great and Brenna really enjoys it. She has promised to practice all summer so she can go back next year to a higher level class.

Dance Recital

Last night was the girls' dance recital. The theme was "Seasons" and every dance number related to a holiday or calendar season.

I had posted a photo last week of Molly in her ballet costume. Here you can see the skirt change that they used for their tap number. It was "Jingle Bells" and it was the crowd-pleasing first number of the show. Ridiculously adorable! And not to be biased, but she's the best in her class. Just ask Nana! (wink wink!)

Racing around I never did get any more pictures of Brenna in her pink costume but this is the "football" outfit she wore for the finale. She really enjoys her dance classes and I like that it's a whole group of girls outside of her school friends that she gets to hang out with. Here's a quick clip my brother took on his camera. It's dark but you get the idea! (Brenna is just right of center most of the time. Just look for that blonde ponytail!)

Dress Rehearsal

I love this time of year!! The girls had their dance recital dress rehearsal the other day and the show will be Saturday night. They are old pros at this by now - Brenna's 5th year dancing and Molly's 3rd - and they love it (as you can tell by Molly's smile!) Break a leg darlings!!

Another Day - Another Parade!

This is a busy weekend for Irish dancers! After a good night's sleep after yesterday's parade, we headed out today for the big one in downtown DC. The weather cleared up so it was cool but not wet at least. Brenna again had a great time. Her school is the only one that doesn't make their kids wear full costumes for parades. At first I was disappointed but I'm sure they were much more comfortable in their sweats today!

We parked a fair distance away and walked past all the setup to drop Brenna at her spot. We backtracked along the route a bit to find a good place to watch and rest a bit. Molly had just settled on the curb when we saw a friend who is also an Asst. Police Chief in DC. He snagged her and settled her into one of the motorcycle sidecars in the police group leading off the parade. She was estatic!!

So with both girls in the parade, Dean and I spent the day running up and down the route keeping tabs on them and making sure everyone was where they needed to be. It was exhausting!

We went straight from there to the girls' skating lesson so now everyone has legs like jelly! It was a great day though!!

Today's Parade

Brenna was very excited to be in the Gaithersburg parade this year! Look for that blonde head in the middle front!

Dancers

Today was one of my favorite activities - Visitor Day at the girl's dance classes. They are working hard on their recital dances (although thank goodness there are still several weeks to go because they still need lots of work!) and they should be great. Brenna's tap number is really fast and complex but she's happy with it. Molly's tap number ends with a Rockettes-type line (not high kicks though) that is adorable. A bonus was Brenna's costume came in so they were able to model them for us and try out their routines wearing them. It really looks cute and she loves the color. It has some short shorts under the baby doll top - stylish and age appropriate I think. I'll post a photo of Molly's when hers comes in.

Grave Injustice

Today was costume ordering day at dance class. The dance teacher was showing all of the parents the music they'll be dancing to and the costumes she's chosen for the recital theme "Seasons".

Both girls have cute costumes - Molly's will be a pretty blue with white fur at the neckline, wristbands and headpiece. (That costume also came in red and even though all the adults wanted red, the girls picked blue and who's about to argue with 16 5-year-olds!!) She'll be dancing to Winter Wonderland for ballet and Jingle Bells for tap. Jingle Bells has a Rockette-like kickline that they'll be doing that will either be totally adorable if they pull it off or hysterically funny if they don't!

Brenna's costume will be deep pink and looks like a sort of old fashioned bathing suit and/or a funky swing top and bike shorts depending on how you look at it. That works well because she's dancing tap to "We've Got the Party" by Hannah Montana and "Fabulous" from High School Musical for jazz. That just about put poor Molly over the edge though that Brenna "gets to do two cool songs! Isn't one enough for them?" I told her that she had to wait until she gets older for the dance teacher to pick "cool" songs. I guess it's just hard to be a younger sibling and know about popular things and not be able to participate.

Visitor Day

God gave me little girls so I could spend my days in dance classes. It's so much fun to watch them dance!

One more Recital post

The girls had their dance recital Saturday evening. They were wonderful! Sadly my camera fritzed out on me and nothing that I taped in the "movie mode" came out. Big bummer because I had Brenna's Yankee Doodle jazz number that was fabulous and the Finale to Dreamgirls that was great too. All I wound up with was a single shot of the Finale. . .

Brenna's there just to the right of center. They were all wearing tiaras and shirts with gold stars and their names. It was a nice little show with just enough dazzle without all the razzle! Both girls want to return for next year so watch this spot same time next year for more dancing!

Dress Rehearsal

Here they are - my dancing dolls! This will be Brenna's fourth recital and Molly's second so they have declared themselves old pros and today's rehearsal was a piece of cake. I managed to sneak in and video Molly's class performing and Brenna's tap number. I'll try to get those uploaded later.

Here is Molly's number - it's a cute song!

And here's Brenna. This was at the end of a 2-hour session and they look pretty pooped. She has a jazz number and a long finale dance as well. I'll try to tape those at the show on Saturday.

Dance Recital songs

The theme of the show is "Movin' to the Movies" and every class is dancing to a song from a movie. Brenna will be in a tap number and a jazz number as well as the Finale. Molly will do only a ballet number. Given that the show is only an hour long (oh how I love this place better than the 3.5 hour show of the other studio we first tried!), that means we'll be filming most of it!

This is Brenna's song for the Finale. Dream Girls.wma All I know is that it involves tiaras and much posing! The funny thing is that the two classes performing with the oldest girls (teenagers) are Brenna's group (7-8 yo) and the other 6-7 year old class. Brenna's class has a very patriotic costume (she won't let me show anyone yet!) which should be okay but the other group is dancing to something from Pirates of the Carribean and their costumes are very "pirate wench" looking. That ought to be interesting for this number!

Her tap song is from the Molly American Girl movie. It's called "Victory Sisters" and it's quite long. The teacher's daughter dances in this class so their routines are always a step above in some ways. Sadly many of them can't keep up and it kind of ruins things. Brenna's been practicing though so I hope she remembers all her steps! Victory Sisters.wma

Her jazz song is sort of a swing version of "Yankee Doodle" and we don't have the music for that yet. I'm hoping she gets a copy soon because I know she needs to work on that a bit more. Same costume (another perk of this studio - no huge costume fees!)

Molly is dancing to a song from Charlotte's Web (and old version though, not the newer movie) called "There Must Be Something." 01 Track 1.wma It's really precious. It's about being friends which is especially nice since 8 of the girls in the dance class are also in Molly's PreK class at school.

It should be a cute show!

Dance Videos

Now they work! I had a little trouble registering the email address I used but now it's done!

Shelly inspired me to post some video clips. Here is Brenna the first time her dance class heard their tap song for the recital (they had learned some steps but not to the music.) It was a lot faster than they expected but they're doing great learning it. Watch Brenna here though - I think she was stunned! Her arms never move and she looks shell-shocked but she does pretty well.



Here's jazz class. I fear she gets her sense of rhythm from me. But again, darn good for 1st year jazz! This isn't their recital dance - just some step combinations by a few of them. Excuse the part where she dances right of the screen - Molly was distracting me! :)



Here's Molly's class doing "A You're Adorable" as a warm up:


I'll try to get some better video after they learn their recital dances better.

Dance Visitor Day

Today was Visitor Day at the girls' dance classes. It's always fun to watch them dance and get a glimpse of their recital routines. Molly's class will be doing a ballet number to a song from Charlotte's Web and Brenna will be doing a tap number to the Miss Victory song from the American Girl movie "Molly on the Homefront" and a jazz number to a song yet to be finalized. Brenna's class in particular has come a long way in their skills. The teacher is wonderful and is very disciplined in the way she teaches all of the fundamentals. Brenna's 2 numbers are really difficult so it's a good thing they have a while before the recital!

I'm trying out some new digital software so here are some photos I took in collages. I'm hoping doing my scrapbooks digitally will help me get up to date! You can still click the photos to make them bigger.

Lords (or Ladies) of the Dance

They made it! The dancers are in the talent show. They'll have a rehearsal on Tuesday and a dress rehearsal the following week and then the show is on 2/1 during Catholic Schools Week. Let's hope they can learn the routine enough by then and that their teacher isn't offended by how badly we butchered her piece. See they hadn't finished learning the full dance in the last session of classes and the new session hadn't started before tryouts so we sort of took liberties and finagled a few steps they did know into a decent dance. Whatever works I say - and it must have worked.

Brenna is also slated to sing the National Anthem with her Brownie troop and the kindergarten Daisies. Suffice to say that dancing is her better talent! Well actually she has a cute little voice, but something about thirty 5 and 7 year olds warbling the world's most difficult vocal piece is a bit unnerving. They tried it at their Investiture in November and luckily we parents will smile at anything! I hope they get some practice in for that as well.

Molly's class wasn't eligible to try out.

Good thing because I'd be afraid, be REALLY afraid, of what she'd decide to do for an audience!