Pre-ballet

Emma loved dressing up as a ballerina for Halloween as you may remember. So late in the fall I registered her for pre-ballet. The first class was supposed to be last week but it was canceled due to the blizzard. So two days ago we went to the first class.

Emma slept an unusually long time on Tuesday afternoon so at 4:10 I had to wake her up. Little miss cranky proceeded to whine her way through getting dressed in her pink tights, black leotard and pink skirt. The outerwear (coat, hat, boots, etc) situation was a whole other round of fun! :) Then we were off to a local elementary school. We made it into the gym just as class was starting so we quickly put on her ballet slippers and Emma was ready to go. Except that when Miss Mary (a sub as it turns out) invited Emma to join them, Emma buried herself in my coat. Emma refused to join the 5 other girls out on the circle until I asked her if she wanted me to go with her. "Yes." So I walked her out to the circle and started stretching with the class. Emma kept her feet curled up underneath herself, but after a couple of minutes I snuck back to the side of the gym. Emma watched most of what was going on and did not participate much. When they were lining up, I went over to help Emma. That was when she moved away from me and found her own spot. (yay!) Emma seemed to prefer the galloping and skipping portion to the dancing portion. She kept falling down (on purpose) every few steps and then stayed sitting when the girls were learning plie, passe, and releve. I am sure that being woken up did not help her state of mind! Still, she seemed to enjoy herself and I think it will prove great for her balance and coordination!
At home Emma liked having me do plie, releve and passe while saying the words. She absorbs so much through watching first. I can't wait to see her next Tuesday (and the many Tuesdays that follow until the recital in April)!