first day of official dance class for dd

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-12-2003
first day of official dance class for dd
4
Tue, 09-28-2004 - 9:50pm
alleria had her first official dance class tonight, it was absolutely precious. she's been begging to go to dance for over a year now, and i promised her that if she really practiced hard and showed me she would stick with it i'd buy her lessons for her b-day. well thank god i meant that b/c she went WILD! she's practiced every day for the last 4 months or so, so i finally got her hooked up with some lessons.

on the way over there she was so excited she was actually trembling, she looked like she was going to jump out of her skin! we got there a little early and caught the tail end of a 8-10 yo tap class, and alleria FREAKED OUT. she started sobbing and begging to go home, saying "i don't know how to dance like that mommy, i don't have any movies for that!" (she has ballet instruction movies but has never been exposed to tap, lol) i reassured her that we were there for ballet and hip hop, the dances she knows how to do, and that even if she screwed up everything would be ok. she was still terrified, she wanted this so bad that when it finally happened she could hardly take it, poor baby. but the teacher was great and finally convinced ally to show her what she knew.

the teacher put on some music and ran dd through the first 5 positions and plies and frappes, and alleria did really well. i have no idea what's 'normal' for a begginer to know but the teacher seemed floored by what alleria knows and can do. i really don't know what's expected or common (ballet is not my thing at all, that's ally's and ally's alone, i just buy her the videos, lol) but apparently she's good.

we're doing ballet and hip hop, so the teacher asked what she can do in the way of hip hop. i told her we don't have any videos for that so alleria just makes her own stuff up. so she put on some music for that and taught alleria some basic steps, and i swear to god her jaw was on the floor! we've always known alleria has a gift for dance and rhythm but i never thought that much of it, i figured she's on the good end of normal and that was the end of it. apparently not, lol. the teacher kept saying "she's never off beat!" and i'm going "geeze lady, i've known that since she was 6 mo old, what's your point?"

so then we got down to talking money, which there's precious little of. we were planning to do the 30$ a mo thing which gives us two classes (ballet and hip hop) once a week. the teacher wouldn't hear of it! she said "how often can she come?" and i'm like "well, we can only afford the once a week deal." she goes "no, i asked how often can she come?" she ended up telling me to bring alleria as much as i can and she wants to, which is an 80$ package for the 30$ price. her actual words were "i see a child with the desire and talent to be really good at this, i'm not going to make her miss out on that just because mom has to buy groceries." lol.

she also put alleria in the 8-10 yo old class. the kids ally's age are going stuff that she was doing a year ago, so there's really no point in having her in that class. she fits in the older class much better. i was a little worried about that until the class started, but after i watched her go out there and strut her stuff i knew that was the right choice. the older girls were so sweet to her too, they completely took her under their wing and kept playing with her hair and telling her how good she was doing. she danced her heart out for an hour and a half until i finally had to drag her away to bed. when we got home she told me that she had to pee the whole time but she held it in b/c she was so afraid that she would miss something :D it was so cute to see her exhausted and sweaty but loving every minute of it, lol.

i know this comes off like a total brag but i can't help it, i'm really freaking proud of her and i have to tell someone!

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-13-2003
Tue, 09-28-2004 - 10:13pm
hey Clarity,

good for her!!!

I took ballet, jazz, and tap from the time I was 4. I loved it!!!! It teaches good discipline as well, and of course is a great workout! I hope she has fun with it, I can't wait for my dd to be old enough to go in a class, I just hope she wants to!!!! Hip hop classes were long after my time, I can dance ballet circles around people, but put me on a dance floor, and I 'm lost

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iVillage Member
Registered: 05-08-2004
Wed, 09-29-2004 - 1:21am

That sounds like such fun!


You know something you said caught my attention. Has Alleria always been able to mimic from videos and Tv? Matt(7) is one of those annoying people that are good at EVERYTHING he does. I believe some of it is because of his ability to mimic so well. It doesn't matter if it is dancing, singing, playing a sport...just show him a video or movie and you would think he had been doing it for years!


I know it sounds silly but I am worried about the time when he runs into something he just can't do. I keep waiting kind of cringing everytime he tries something, but the little bugger just gets it everytime! lol


I think it is wonderful that the dance teacher recognized such talent! Before you know it you will have competition trophy's and ribbons all over your walls!

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iVillage Member
Registered: 01-06-2004
Wed, 09-29-2004 - 8:50am
That is great that she finally can do what she loves doing.
Hope each time she goes is as much fun as the last time :)


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iVillage Member
Registered: 10-12-2003
Wed, 09-29-2004 - 10:00am
yup, she's always been able to do that. when she was barely 4 i had the radio on and a "hit me baby one more time" (uggh) came on, and alleria burst into the exact moves britteny spears does in that song. i have no idea where she saw it but it was obvious she did. i started letting her watch some mtv after that and she would stand right in front of the tv and do whatever they did exactly how they did it. soon she started begging me for movies lol.

she can't do that with everything (lucky matt!) but she can with anything dance or art related. she watches bob ross and i swear to god she does better at painting whatever he did than i would!

she has absolutely no athletic talent though, she still can't even catch! lol.

kwym about being worried about what will happen when he CAN't do something, but you got to figure he has enough self confidence from all the things he can do good to not be crushed. i'm worried to death about when alleria eventually screws up and falls on her butt, and i think she is too, at least a little bit. but it's always a good teaching opportunity if nothing else!