Tiny Dancer

When Cordy was enrolled in soccer this spring, Mira started asking when she could sign up for an activity. I offered her several options and she chose ballet. I found a nearby class that was designed for three and four year olds and was only eight weeks long. Even if she hated it, we wouldn’t be out a lot of money for the experience. Perfect.

Mira did well in the class, although we ran into the same problems in class that we see at home. When she hasn’t had a chance to get to know someone, she’s generally shy and charming. But once she feels comfortable, Mira’s full personality bursts through, and this kid has a LOT of personality.

It took about three weeks for Mira to show her true colors to her ballet teacher. She became bossy, demanding that she didn’t want to dance to “princess” music and had to do things in the order they did them the week before. (Sigh...) She told other little girls they were doing things wrong. (Gah!!) Her bossy personality got worse when they had a substitute teacher one week. I nearly died from embarrassment as she ordered the poor young sub around on how to do her job. (Nooooo!)

Thankfully her teacher was amazingly patient with her and wouldn’t let me yank my kid out of class for being disrespectful. (Oh, how I wanted to, though!) Instead, she gave in to some of her demands, letting Mira feel in control, and in doing so Mira did pay better attention and didn’t do too bad as a dancer.

On the final day they performed a “recital” for the parents, using the music that Mira found acceptable: Peter Pan – no princess music for her!

Did I record it? Why yes, I did.

Am I going to post it here? Why yes, I am.

(Was I a dummy and didn’t understand that I needed to turn my new iPhone 4 sideways to get the best video shot? Why yes, I was. Sorry for the narrow video clip – you might need to enlarge to see it better.)

Mira’s not hard to spot. She’s the biggest kid with the mop of curly hair on her head.

Mira’s Ballet Recital from Christina M on Vimeo.

Gotta admit, she’s cute. I’m so proud of her for being brave enough to perform.

Now if only she wasn’t so stubborn.