Her first recital!

Ava had her very first dance recital this morning. She woke up all excited for her big day. I meticulously got her dressed, shellacked her hair, and prettied her already gorgeous face. She could not wait to get to her dance studio.

Once we got there, I took her into the dressing area to put her in her beautifully hand-made costume. It is a beaded corset top with and flirty little tutu that she could not have been more precious wearing. This thing is exquisite. I plan to shadow box it for her room after her spring recital is over.

After getting her dressed, we headed to our seats to wait for the show to begin. It was a very small recital for the youngest dancers in the studio. The four year olds and up all do a big production of The Nutcracker at a local high school the weekend prior to the younger girls' recital.

After watching a small piece preformed by three of the older students, it was time for Ava to make her debut. She climbed up onto the stage and prepared to take her spot. She made her way over only to find another dancer mistakenly standing there. Now, if you know Ava, she is very particular about things being exactly right. She immediately realized her friend was in her spot. She lets out this giant whine that I hear over and over throughout any given day. I was so afraid the next level of frustration would be soon to follow. Meaning, she would begin to sob about her spot being taken. I quickly shot her a "Oh, don't you dare even think about crying!" look as her dance teacher quickly rushed over to diffuse the situation by directing the girls to their correct spot.

Finally, they began their dance. It started as you would expect first-time little dancers to react when forced onto a stage in front of a hundred staring audience members. Girls missed their cues and forgot choreography. At one point, the girls pair up with one another. Ava's partner turned to the wrong person, though, leaving her all alone. I almost broke down in tears seeing her standing there because I knew she was really upset that the other dancer messed her up. I thought she was about to lose it, too. Suddenly, the other dancer that had been left all alone ran over to pair up with her. Whew...disaster averted!

The rest of the dance went off with your typical recital mishaps. Girls still distracted, falling, etc. It was about as precious as it gets with them.

Here is the video of the entire thing! She is the third from the left if you can't tell.