As many of you Dancing Readers know, this year marks the 20th Anniversary of my mother's dance studio. So, as a countdown to the recital on May 7 & 8 (please everyone come down and see it!) I am posting a pic plus story, a day, from the past!
"Cats"
I feel so bad that I do not have a pic of the entire group. I know there is one at the studio but I live 2,000 miles away so this will have to do!
The year was 1997 and there were 72 dancers in this routine!! Let me say that one more time 72 dancers in this routine!! (Seriously, my mother is psychotic.) All 72 of us wore these lovely white crushed velvet unitards. It must have just looked like it was snowing to the audience! The older girls had pink in their ears and rhinestone chokers collars and the younger girls had blue in their ears with big bows on their collars. And don't think for a minute that my enormous boobs looked good in this get up! When I get to Oklahoma I promise to update this post with a new group pic!
If you look closely in the back right hand side of the photo you can see one of our props. Yup, that's right. Big 'ol bouncy balls. (Again, my mother is psychotic.) Did she give her high school students these bouncy balls, NO! that would be too easy... she gave them to the younger kids!! Oh, the torture of these rehearsals!! We spent hours upon hours at the Plainview Gymnasium rehearsing so that we could all have room to move!
Sure, if you follow dance competition, you are thinking to yourself that people put their entire company onstage together all the time. Yes, they do! However, they usher in and out each age group and then they dance maybe eight sets of eight together at the end. Not my crazy Mother!! We were all dancing onstage the entire 4 freakin minutes all 72 dancers!! (All together now, my mother is psychotic!)
Oddly, this routine brings back some of my very fondest dance memories. The four girls in the picture were my group that started the whole routine. And I am not sure why but Kari just had the hardest time pretending to be a cat waking up. She always looked like she was getting a flea off her ear or something. Erin, Caroline and I would get the giggles at this and it was all over! As much as I have always complained about the big number rehearsal! I have nothing but fond memories of this crazy psychotic episode of my mothers work.
*Oh, and this also happened to be the year that we moved recital from The Goddard Center to the Washington Theater. We had outgrown the stage and needed room for all those furry little friends!!
Whatever you do, please DO NOT post the God Bless the USA number, I have an image to uphold :) Which now I'm sure you'll post! What about our very first number, the purple leotards with the white feathers? I'm pretty sure I had a perm in that one.
ReplyDeleteThese are cracking me up though.
Just now getting a chance to check these out and I must express how jealous I am. I never took dance, and I truly regret it. So many of my girlfriends did and I always felt a little left out, especially because I WANTED to. But by the time I really wanted to (middle school, maybe?) all the other girls were so advanced that I was too embarrassed to start in a beginner class.
ReplyDeleteI sort of joke about it now, but it really is a major life regret.
Laura, we would have welcomed you with open arms! In fact, Mom has a girl graduating this year that only started last year!! She went from just taking Hip Hop to everything over night!! That takes guts!! I sure couldn't do it!
ReplyDeleteJessie Baby- No one is safe... no one. But I think Baby Kate is gonna catch more than you with these pics.
i remember that each dancer had her own "ball" with a number on it. during the performance each girl would come around near the side curtains and pick up their special ball. the moms working at the recital would be ready to hand them their special ball with their number on it. at one point, during the recital, the balls were everywhere back stage and the numbers were all mixed up! the backstage moms had a great time with this number. also, one little dancer had so much false eye lash glue that she could not blink!
ReplyDeleteHaha!! I can just imagine someone with their eyes glued shut!! Sounds like just like us!
ReplyDeleteAnd OH THOSE BOUNCY BALLS!! I love that they were numbered! I had no idea!