Let's Dance

No one was more surprised than I when more than one of my readers requested that I post pictures of myself as a ballerina after I mentioned yesterday that I was hugely into ballet as a child. I'd like to think that it was because they thought I must have been so adorable that they couldn't bear to miss seeing me. Unfortunately, I believe the motivation was more along the lines of "her? a ballerina? No WAY!"

So last night I found myself searching through a box of old photos - ones I inherited when my mom passed away - to see if I could find proof.

Looking through pictures of my childhood brought back some sweet memories. Me on my First Holy Communion. My brother and I at Easter. My mom and I on a trip to Amish country, posing in a horse drawn carriage. My dog Lassie (who was named after the television show, but who was in no way a collie - that's what you get when you let the littlest kid name your dog!)

Some of my fondest memories revolve around dancing. I've mentioned before that my mother was one of the original working moms. She was a teacher, and had to work for a couple of hours longer than my brother and I were in school. He used to go to a friend's house after school, but I went to dance class. Every day. Five days a week. For eleven years. There was a ballet class from 4-5 every weekday, and another class from 3-4. The earlier class was different each day: jazz, tap, modern dance, folk dance, and - God forgive me - BATON TWIRLING.

Officially, I was only enrolled in ballet, but, since I was there early, I used to stand in the back and do whatever the other kids were doing. Thus, I became somewhat skilled at all the disciplines. I can still twirl a mean baton. I can also turn my legs out at the hip (hello arthritis) and put my feet in first position. I know all about arabesque and ronde de jambe attitude. If I ever stand on my tiptoes, in my head it's still relevé.

Anyway, I enjoyed the stroll down memory lane, so thanks for that. Now, so that you may mock me (because I know that's really what you want to do) here are the photos. Keep in mind that I don't own a scanner, so these are not the best quality. These photos were professionally taken before a recital, but I had to take a photo of them with my new digital camera, which I haven't really learned how to use yet, so they don't really represent the wonder of me as accurately as one might hope.

This costume was my pride and joy. My grandmother made it, by hand (no sewing machine!) and it took her weeks. I LOVED it so much and I think I still have it packed away somewhere.

Andy, I hope you're paying attention. A deal's a deal.