Not a Basketball Mom

Earlier this year, we made the decision, along with Abigail's ballet director, to allow her to compete in ballet. Abigail has been coming out of her shy-shell, and we all thought that performing in a new place, out of her comfort zone, would stretch her as a person and a dancer.

The Director (LoriAnn) and my friend Patty (a retired ballerina) both warned us about these competitions. They are not designed for ballet dancers. They are designed for a lot of boodie-shaking and tricks. However, we went into it without caring what Abigail scored. It was simply about being able to overcome butterflies, step out, and do her best. It was about trying something new. Seeing what she loved. Pushing herself. 

And that is exactly what she did. Here is a video of her performance. It was the best she'd EVER done the dance. (This was in the opinion of LoriAnn, Abigail and myself.) LoriAnn choreographed this dance, and I think it was simply beautiful and so age-appropriate:

In the end, Central Ballet garnered a ton of awards in a classy and professional way. I was so proud of the elegance and beauty of our dancers and how they refrained from "doing the dance thing" that so many other companies did. Here are the awards from our "bigs": 

And here are the awards from our two "littles", Abigail and her friend Bailee. Abigail and Bailee both scored in the same category. Abigail finished 4th in their age-group and Bailee finished 5th. They were not separated by genres so they were competing against all types of dance:

Even if you weren't proud of Abigail for finishing fourth, you can't help but be proud of the fact that she spoke when the host asked her her name, her company, and who choreographed her dance. For our little shy girl, this seemed next to impossible even a year ago:

I wanted to digress and to take a moment to discuss irony with you. I find it incredible ironic that right next door to the dance competition, there was a basketball tournament going on. I walked in and snapped a quick photo:

I kept hearing all these whistles and tennis shoes squeaking on the gym floor. These are sounds I love. Without even knowing there was basketball going on, I could hear it and nearly feel it. Basketball people are my people. I get the way to dress and the way to stand and the way to cheer. I get it all. 

And somehow, I'm in the dance section. I would have never picked this. I would have never dreamed this up. I would have put money that I'd be sitting in bleacher cheering on a basketball or volleyball player. 

And yet I'm doing ballet. I'm braiding hair and asking one of the older girls to do Abigail's make-up (cuz goodness knows I can't do that.)

And while the "scene" feels foreign to me, being with my daughter doing the thing she loves, brought me more joy than any basketball game ever could. 

Even if I still get what a lay-up is way more than a French word I can't pronounce. :)