My Family Zoo: Amy's Formal Demonstration 2010

On Saturday Amy participated in her ballet studio's "Formal Demonstration", which was a production of The Wizard of Oz and was performed at The Grand 1894 Opera House in Galveston. For her ballet dance, she was part of the Lullaby League dancing to "Brahms Lullaby" and for tap she was a Psychedelic Pony dancing to "Hippy Hippy Shake". I helped backstage again this year, which was even more chaotic than last year! We had this tiny, tiny space in which to dress our girls and keep them occupied. It was absolutely crazy! Poor things barely had room to sit, much less play games, draw, or otherwise entertain themselves. But we managed and overall the girls did very well.

Amy did great on her ballet dance, but unfortunately she learned something new during her tap routine. She learned that when you are cute and you do the "hippy hippy shake", the audience may laugh. And for her, a very impressionable child, that was a bad thing. She almost stopped dancing all together after she heard the audience's reaction. She told Bill and me on the way home later that night that the people were laughing at her so she "slowed down". Poor baby! I wasn't sure what to say to her! But it helped that yesterday we went with friends whose daughter was performing in the Sunday performance (she also performed on Saturday) and actually got to sit in the audience and watch; when you are a performer or backstage helper, you miss everything, so this was a great opportunity for Amy and me! Being in the audience allowed Amy the experience of watching those cute little girls and the audience's natural response of joyful laughter. I think she realized they weren't laughing AT the girls, but were instead just laughing because of how adorable they were. At least, I hope she understood. I know I caught her smiling and giggling at one group of little girls who were shaking their bottoms and hopping about on stage!

The show was amazing! It was long, but filled with incredible dances and acting scenes. There was even a real dog for Toto and a real PONY (the "horse of a different color")! I could not believe the talent of all who participated, but especially the young men and women performing the lead roles. Most, if not all, are under 20 and yet perform like professionals. They could sing, dance, AND act! It was impressive!!! It was so awesome to be a part of it all!

Here are some pictures of my little cutie. The ones of her dancing on stage are from rehearsal night (the only time we are allowed to take pictures of their performance), and the ones in the dressing room and with her flowers (obviously) are from the actual performance night.

Lullaby League Dance (Amy's on the left):