Cora Ballerina

Last year at Cora's school there was a ballet unit of sorts in place of P.E. for the last several weeks of school. A dance instructor from Ballet Idaho came in twice a week to teach the third graders some basics. I think this was being done at a few schools. As the year wound down, Cora brought home a letter. It said:
"Congratulations! Your child has been selected to receive a Ballet Idaho scholarship. Echo Waldron-Noble or the Artist-in-Residence with Ballet Idaho, has identified your child as one of thirty outstanding students chosen from more than one thousand children to receive a full scholarship for the summer term..."

Wow! I never thought of Cora as a potential ballerina. She gets pretty nervous about doing anything in front of an audience. But I wasn't surprised that she'd been doing well at whatever they were learning at school. So far, she's been pretty darn good at everything she's tried, from art to reading to piano. She hadn't taken any dance classes yet. I know I'm a slacker. But we've been scraping by on student loans for our children's entire mortal existence. That's the excuse I'm sticking to.

Anyway, at first Cora was resistant to the idea of going to ballet class. She didn't want to take the scholarship. She knew that could only mean one thing - dancing in front of people...

With some "gentle" encouragement, she decided to give it a try. I couldn't see passing up the opportunity. The only thing we had to pay for was her tights, leotard and slippers. Seemed like a pretty good deal to me.

The class spanned a month, with twice weekly, hour-and-fifteen-minute lessons. Cora really enjoyed it. It helped that there was a girl from her 3rd grade class there.

At the end of the session they had a little recital, as promised. There was a boys' class with 4 kids and the girls' class had 14. They got to wear these costumes the teacher had in her stash. They looked so pretty. My favorite color.


They demonstrated all the techniques they had practiced. Cora is in the front, second from the left.

Sorry about the blurriness. I was trying to deal with Oliver and find the right setting for my camera. Oliver won. Oh well. I guess it adds kind of a pretty touch to the pictures, right? Hello?



I wonder why Cora's leg is extended and the other girls' aren't. But doesn't she look precious anyway?


Creeptacular!


Cora and some of her friends after the show. They invited parents to bring refreshments.


She looks so much different with her hair in a bun. One thing the teacher told the girls the first day of class in regards to hair was that "pretty girls don't need bangs". She said that because apparently ballerinas aren't allowed to have bangs. So I'm guessing they have a "no uglies" policy as well? I should have raised my hand and asked the teacher if she thought I should go back to having bangs.

Silly ballerina...

It turned out to be lots of fun for Cora. I was impressed at how much they learned over one month. But I think if she wants to take more classes it won't be through Ballet Idaho - too dang expensive! I'm glad she got to participate, and this seemed to be the perfect way for her to get a "free sample" of ballet.