Yesterday was certainly an interesting experience. Princess Stomping Foot did her first dance competition. We had to check in by 8:30am, so most of the families drove up and stayed the night before. We really didn't want to make a weekend of it, so we drove down in the morning, danced, got the trophy and drove home. We had fun watching the other dancers. The Princess' group was almost last out of their section, so we got to watch a lot of other groups. Some of them were just tiny little things (3-4 yrs old), and some of them were much more advanced in their skills than our girls, although they were the same age. Some of the moms were talking about the difference in skill, and how that compares to the time put into it. The studios that really focus on competitive dancing require a big time commitment of the dancers, whereas our girls are only in this class one day a week for one hour. I have read that this type of intensive competition training can be detrimental to ballet technique, so it's not something we will seek out.
The competition was pretty much what I had expected. I have watched TV shows about child pageants, and this had a similar feel. Our girls all had stage make up on, but you would never know it standing next to some of the other dancers. The costume that seemed so short and tight when we first saw it, was completely modest in relation to some of the things
being worn (and sold in the lobby as dancewear). The moves that seemed a little risque when done by a 9 year old were positively bland in comparison with some of what was done on that stage. I was sitting with some other moms near where our girls were. We wanted to be able to keep an eye on the kids, but also see the stage. The Rusty Knight and The Boy Wonder (Nintendo DS in hand) were at the very back of the ballroom. During one dance, I turned to one of the other moms and said "I'm glad that I am not next to my husband right now- he is probably having a fit." (and he was!) He says that some of the little girls dances make him feel like a dirty old man for even watching them. This was supposedly much more mild than other competitions, but there was quite a bit of bumping, grinding, booty wagging, shimmying and hip thrusting.
The new studio that we are moving The Princess to put this competition on, but their dances/costumes seemed more in line with our values, so that's good. Their littlest kids Hip Hop class danced to Who Let the Dogs Out?, and wore baggy nylon sweat suits. To me, that's appropriate for that type of age/class. I guess I just think that kids need time to be kids. You can learn proper technique, and do entertaining dances without sexualizing little children. One of their ballet dances had the most adorable kimono style tutu dresses. I am really happy that we chose to move her where/when we did. I have also heard that some families from our studio have already started there, and several more are considering moving. She may just end up knowing more kids there than we thought. The girls did a good job, considering that this particular group of girls has never danced all together before. I was surprised that they didn't schedule a rehearsal for them, or even take them in the back and let them run through it a couple of time before they went on, but since the teacher doesn't even teach there anymore she was pretty nonchalant about the whole thing. Towards the end of the dance, the girls all got a little disoriented (actually, the Princess started the wrong section, and I think she threw the rest of the girls off since they were kind of following her), but they still got first place. The way they do the scores, you get a score of a certain amount of points, and depending on what category you are in, so many points get you 3rd, 2nd, or first place. So, there can be more than one first place in each category. Not only did they get first place, but they also got the highest score in their category. Of course, the other two groups in their category were much younger girls. The kids were all thrilled to get their trophies, and The Princess has already found a place on her shelf for hers. I wish that I could say it was fun, but we'll never do it again. (Actually The Rusty Knight told me he hopes she sticks with ballet, because it's the only thing that doesn't "end in hoochie") But, the new studio puts this o
n every year as their "home" competition and their dancers are all required to attend. I'm hoping that next year we can make a weekend of it and enjoy all of the stuff that they have going on, because it did sound like fun. On the way home, we stopped at Hadley's and got some goodies. There's somethign irrisistable about a place that carries health foods, candy, locally grown produce, gifts, and oddities such as Ostrich eggs all in the same store. Next time, I am going to have to get one of those hollow Ostrich eggs. We spent the rest of the day recovering from our very early morning.
The good news is that having such a long drive gave me time to knit. I started a pair of socks for The Boy Wonder to knit in the car. I'm using the sockyarn that I got in Big Bear on the 4th of July. I'm using the smallest needles that I can (I think they are 000's), and hoping that makes these last a little longer. It does seem to be a pretty firm fabric. This yarn patterning is really neat- it knits up into a camouflage design. Actually, I will probably look for more of this type of yarn for his socks. It's thick enough for me (I love my son, but I am not knitting dental floss socks for him), it's a more coarse wool with nylon in it, but because they put Aloe on it it, it still feels soft, and hopefully they have other manly colors.
I still haven't finished up the sleeves on the Shetland Shorty (or finished seaming Wren), but I am working on my last market bag. I'm still not sure if I like the pattern, but I will finish it and see how I feel. I have an idea of how I want to do the handle.
