the ballet performance

 

Schuyler Young in her first credited performance as a "Sea Anemone".

 

That's our Sean Anemone, centre stage in yellow to the left of the main dancer.

 

 

$15 a ticket.  Seems reasonable.  You would expect such an event would draw a handful of parents and direct relatives but this place was packed!  There were maybe two hundred people and standing room only around the edges.  We had, shall we say, low expectations but, once again, it turned out to be so much more enjoyable than expected.  The story was something about a girl who meets a mermaid who takes her under the sea and then to a market and then the whole things turns out to be a dream.  It was the underwater bit that sucked us in as the tiny dancers strutted their stuff as various sea creatures flocking around their unlikely guest.  Watching these kids was actually inspiring.  The sheer determination, joy, and energy they put into executing the sequence of their dance was something to behold and learn from.  Most of them were so focused on remembering what to do next, they forgot there was a daunting, huge audience out there taking in their every move.  We bought our little dancer some flowers to congratulate her on her performance.  The whole thing lasted until about 9pm or so which is WAY past Schuyler's bedtime so she was a little crazy and haphazard after the show but it was all good.  Charlie was happily ensconced in his bed with Ms. Tina on watch duty so all was well when we got home.  We scrubbed off make-up and went to sleep dreaming of mermaids and sea creatures.