Our Ballerina

My daughter danced last night at the city’s tree lighting event.  She danced in the Chinese portion of the Nutcracker.  I love the music, and this is one of my favorite parts.  She wore pretty purple silk pajamas with chopsticks and I giant purple poinsettia in her hair.  So cute!

The night itself was a little crazy.  It was super cold, so you had to just sort of gird yourself up to step outside.  Many of the shops uptown were open with sweets and hot drinks to sell.  There were crowds around the food stands and you had to stand in line not knowing exactly what you would see when you go to the front.  Signs would have been really helpful to know what was at the tables and how much the things cost!  We never got anything to eat because the lines were so slow and we had to head back to dance.

The schedule of events apparently got a little off—it sounds like because of the very cold night.  The schedule was pretty packed, too.  As a result, Madi didn’t dance in the roped off arena on the street because the city opened it to traffic at seven on the dot.  So, they ended up dancing in a parking lot while the audience went scrambling for their cars.  With all the fuss and bother of crowds, no food, freezing cold and late night, many of the dancers were off their game.  Watching them burst into the studio after their performances was a spectacle in itself.  You could almost see icicles hanging off blue noses.  One teacher came in, complaining (with a smile) that it hurt just to breathe the night air. 

Our girl danced beautifully, as did everyone.  They are so wonderful and such troopers.  The small town feel is reflected in their cute costumes and families gathered ‘round.  It is a sight to see the town residents filling blocks of Main Street to watch the tree light and the fireworks go off.  As we huddled together to ooh and ahh at the show, I was blessed to look around this little place and give thanks.

Next year, we might go again if either the temp is higher or it snows.