Ballet Intensive

This week, Abigail is attending a ballet intensive at Central Ballet in Greenville. She is one of only two six-year-olds in the class, and we really had our concerns that this might be a bit much for her at her age. However, she has a gift for ballet, she loves it, and she wanted to do it. So we decided to go for it.

I am calling it my ballet-cation week. I brought a comfy chair and three good books and lots of food and hydration materials. I was the only mom of the 40 or so girls there who stayed for the entirety, and I will for the whole week being as Abigail is so young and not quite ready to do this on her own yet.

However, during the hour lunch break, Abigail was eating with her friends (she has two very good friends who are fourth graders which worked out perfectly!) and she was okay with me walking to the library and the coffee shop. That's huge for her.

Having to be at ballet with her for five days is no small task. I had to do a lot of finagling to get people to watch kids and the farm. But I worked it out, and in the end, it will be a break for me. 

She had a couple of moments that overwhelmed her -- like when they did their "partner" class and the teenage boys were doing the lifts. She opted to do her lifts with her teacher, Ms. Lori Ann as you'll see in the video below.

I tell you what, there is nothing like seeing your children excel in their gifts -- especially when it is something that you have no experience with and know nothing about and is totally out of your comfort league. Ha!

Here are two quick videos I took today. There are three main "sessions" in the camp. The first is a two-hour window where they work with a visiting professional ballet dancer on choreography for a dance they will perform at the weeks' end. Then there is an hour class where they do partner work. And then there is a barre class.