Sparkle's First Ballet

Sparkle had her first ballet recital last weekend. Her dance studio put on the ballet "Sleeping Beauty" specially adapted to include little kids.

Sparkle and nine other girls rehearsed every week all semester long for their few seconds of stage time. They were the youngest kiddos on stage - young enough that they looked cute when they wandered around the stage forgetting where they were supposed to go and what they were supposed to do.

Sparkle was excited about wearing makeup for the first time. She wasn't too keen on the base and mascara, but she loved the blush and lipstick. We arrived at the theatre at the same time as some of the other girls in Sparkle's group. The theatre is the auditorium of a local high school.


Here are all ten girls.


When it was time for Sparkle and co. to go onstage, some of the big girls led them down the hall to the wings backstage.


This was Glitter's first time to watch a ballet. She watched with silent attention, even though it was way past her bedtime. She was really excited to see her sister on stage, and when Sparkle didn't appear right away, Glitter asked where she was. At intermission, we fed Glitter some candy from the concession stand, which is starting to become a tradition for me.


Ballet really isn't Wander's thing. Before the only times I've been able to drag him to see a ballet has been at the outdoor stage where he can lay down and close his eyes and take a nap. So I wasn't expecting Wander to enjoy the show, although I told him that he was required to attend to show support for Sparkle. Surprisingly, Wander actually enjoyed the first half of the ballet (the part with Sparkle) and admitted that it wasn't as tortuous as he had expected. After the show, Wander was proud to present Sparkle with a special bouquet of flowers. He was one proud daddy.


After the last show (there were two performances) we got to keep the costume. Sparkle spent the entire following day wearing it.