Yesterday was a very long day. Bailey had the dress rehearsal for her year end ballet performance, Sleeping Beauty. She is a member of the Royal Court and opens the show.
Her class is made up of six girls, including herself, and they are partnered up off and on through out their dance. Their teacher left after Saturdays regular rehearsal for a summer long trip to PA leaving them without an instructor. Last night they were short one girl, the missing girl is someone else's partner in the beginning of the dance and Bailey's partner at the end of the dance. They also intertwine around each other three different times during the dance, I can't explain it I just know that the girls are mixed up missing one person. Needless to say things did not go well.
We were at the Performing Arts Center from 3:30 to 8:30, we were actually released at 7:45 but since the girls actually only got to run through their dance once with no instructor help and had no idea what to do being short one person I cornered an instructor and asked her if it was possible that the girls could go over their dance again with a bit of help. You know, since Thursday is the performance and they don't know how to do the dance being one short. They got to run through it one more time with someone reading instructions off of a piece of paper. The dance was better the first time. The school has a strict policy that if you don't make it to a dress rehearsal you will not be allowed to do the actual performance, this does not bode well.
As a parent I am extremely irritated. I completely understand the teacher's situation and why she is spending the summer in PA. The school should have compensated for that, there are several other instructors who could have, should have, stepped in and pointed the girls in the right direction. I realize the girls are 7 and don't expect perfection, far from it. I expect and hope for her to have a good time and to learn ballet, something she absolutely loves. She was not loving it last night, none of the girls were.
The hard part is that Bailey loves her teacher. I am undecided about next year. The school is across town, about 30 minutes from the new place. There is a pricier more established school closer, much closer. The closer school is about 2 1/2 times as much per month and the classes are twice a week opposed to once a week but I think she will learn more.
Yes, I am seriously considering paying quite a bit of money monthly to keep her in ballet. Ballet is her thing. She loves it and is serious about it, even at 7.
I just have to make sure I can work a soccer schedule around it. Sometimes having a husband who works swing shift sucks donkey butt.
