Creative Movement

All summer, Hadley was anxious to get back to her weekly ballet classes. She did a couple of week long camps, sure, but that just wasn't enough to satisfy her love of being in Ms. Stephanie's studio with all of those other little girl dancers. 

In September, her wish came true as she got to begin her next series of weekly classes as part of the "Creative Movement" group - a pre-ballet class. Each Thursday afternoon, Mommy toted her and her brothers to the studio so this princess could dance.

One of the best parts for her is just putting on that tu-tu, which she likes to don sometimes when we aren't even going ballet or long after we've gotten home from practice. This giant Christmas one that I ordered for her from someone local who makes them turned out to be much larger than I expected. Hadley, of course, loved it in all its fluffy glory.

Though she looked pretty cute in that big ole' thing, Mommy said we'd have to change into something else for her actual ballet class, and poor Hadley just couldn't understand why Miss Stephanie and the other dancers might not appreciate this oversized, puffy skirt at practice. It did seem a shame to only get to wear it at home, so we made a bargain. Hadley got to wear it to the studio to show her teacher, and then we'd switch to a smaller tu-tu while Mommy held the bigger one until after practice - the perfect arrangement.

Unlike in her previous "Mommy and Me" dance class, this time the parents didn't get to sit in the studio with the kids. Instead we had to try to squeeze in and get our best views of our daughters through the small window in the waiting area. For the last practice before Christmas though, we got invited in to be a part of the experience, which was nice.

Though ballet has been a wonderful and joyful experience for Hadley this fall and winter, it has been also been very difficult for me. Getting everyone ready and out the door, entertaining the boys for an hour in a cramped space right around Reid's nap time, and trying to rearrange our homeschool schedule to accommodate her extracurricular activity has stretched me (which is part of why I don't have more pics). However, I really felt like it was important for her to have the socialization, especially with other girls since she spends so much time with her brothers.

That said, usually, the dancers stay in "Creative Movement" until age four, but thankfully, since Hadley was such a good listener and did so well, Miss Stephanie said that she could be promoted to Ballet I in January, a few months shy of her fourth birthday. This has provided so much more freedom and meant we could sign up for a Saturday morning class, making it much easier on me because Dave or I can trade off with the boys. It also gives her more of a challenge in an area where is growing well. More updates on all of that to come in June once she wraps up her first session in a "real" ballet class.