Roar Of Love

At the age of 3, the boys were both involved in Gymboree or Kindermusik or something so I thought it only appropriate to get MK involved. Gymnastics would have been my choice simply because there is a lot of movement and I thought MK would enjoy it. MK had her own thoughts. She insisted on ballet. I know nothing about ballet but decided that I would follow her lead because, honestly, I know nothing about gymnastics either. We decided on a local dance studio that is well known in our city for their production of the Roar of Love. The Roar is a ballet based on CS Lewis's The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. This production is held once a year and is essentially the "recital" for the dance students.

Last night was the big production. MK's debut was perfect, she danced, she smiled, she did her ballet hands, she twirled and, as quickly as she made her appearance, her scene was over. It was one of those "don't blink or you will miss out" kind of debuts....short and oh so sweet. We were all so proud of her! And, the boys, well they were taken with the entire performance. They were a little reluctant about attending the ballet. There were two components that led the boys to believe the ballet was a stellar performance - 1) the ballet was based on a book that I read to them last year and they have seen the movie - they loved both and it made it easy to follow the ballet. Plus, there was a little sword action involved. 2) some of the music was from Star Wars - you know that you have possibly seen too much Star Wars when you hear the theme music playing and can recall the scene from the movie where the music was used. They were most impressed. My parents, Ryan and Emma were pleased as well. I think they all expected a recital yet it was a production full of very talented dancers. Ryan has even said to me more than once how he just was not expecting it to be that big. It really was amazing.

**MK is the little one in the center, tiny pic I know but it gives the feel of the show.

Curtain call.....well our little dancer was not so pleased during this portion of the show. Remember, our little one is not even a fan of people singing to her on her birthday....she does not like loudness. Couple that with the fact that it was 9:00pm, well past her bedtime and she was not a happy camper, AT ALL. The curtain call began and I had been told by another mother that the little ones would not participate in this portion of the show. However, to our surprise, they did, in fact, participate. MK, our precious little Cherub, looking so sweet and delicate in her costume, came out on stage holding hands in a line with her fellow Cherubs. She got to the center of the stage and that is when I saw it, the lip. The lip was poked out, the chin was quivering, the tears were streaming and the louder the clapping and cheering got, the more upset she got. I could read her lips as she was screaming, "Mommy! Mommy!" It was a most pitiful sight. Realizing that this was not an ideal situation and that our little ballerina was scared to death, I quickly stepped out and met her as she was coming off stage. A big kiss and an even bigger hug later, she was all good and ready to go get a celebratory donut from her favorite "Krisme Kreme."

This morning came and our little Cherub awoke. The first words out of her mouth were, "I cry and cry because I no like that clapping sound!" That, and she made us promise not to clap for her at her ballet class ever again.