My Little Ballerina

Pookie continues to enjoy anything ballet related.  She gets very upset if she knows I am going to teach and she isn't coming.   I have tried to get her to sit on a mat while I teach, instead of in the sling, because at 24 pounds she is getting heavy for just one shoulder.  She will sit on the mat for a while and then every so often she starts doing her stretches, or she will go over to the piano bench and use it as a barre to do her leg lifts and plies.  It is so cute and I have a hard time not watching her.

This morning we put on a ballet outfit - as pictured above.  She now has very specific ideas about what she wants to wear.  She felt really great in this outfit and was all excited that I was going to take some pictures. 

Although I am excited to enroll her in a ballet class, I have mixed feelings about her really getting into it.  I had such a hard time with the body image aspects, as well as never feeling like I was good enough... even when I was.  Because I did so much dancing I never got to do other activities and never was able to participate in sports or other things.   I want Pooks to be able to try lots of different things, before she settles on one or two activities to focus on.   

I have had many students who do so many activities sometimes 2 or 3/ night.  Their parents push them to excel in everything and yet they can never get very good at ballet because their schedules don't allow for adequate practice.  They often seem tired and distracted, or some of them are hyper active.  I think it is really important to find a balance that works for your child.  One of the reason's I like the idea of homeschooling is because kids have the time and focus to do other things without being worn out from hours of school.   I have several homeschooled kids and they really are different (in a good way) from the other kids.  

My Little Ballerina

I danced for many years, up until I was 26. I trained for a while at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet school. (Got my Advanced RAD, did the Solo Seal and bombed, and did up to Intermediate in Cecchetti - for any of you that know what that all means) I went to University for dance and got my RAD teaching certificate.

Anyways all that dancing didn't do too much for my body image, which was why I wasn't gung ho for Pooks to follow in my footsteps. However she LOVES ballet! She loves dancing, she loves her ballet books, she loves watching ballet on youtub, she loves watching me teach.

I taught her how to do a plie, develope (stick your leg in the air), some arm positions, galoping, "tippy toes", skipping (which for her is marching on her tip toes) and jumping. She loves doing these things. She even taught herself how to do a backbend from looking at a picture of a ballet dancer doing one.

Once a week she comes and teaches with me for 15-30 minutes while I wait for her Dad to pick her up. She sits in her hotsling and quietly watches, occasionally signing more or pointing at something she likes.

It is pretty neat to see how interested she is in it without me pushing it on her.  Her Dad is a musician too so I think music & dance are just in her.