Turkmen Dance

Kelsea's ballet class made a video for a church in Turkmenistan.

Pointe

The battle to fit Kelsea for Pointe shoes has been long. No local ballet stores carry a size that fits her, on place even told her she would not be able to find shoes in a size she would need. Her feet are long, wide, and flat. Not a very helpful combination.

Gaynor Minden was there to help. We downloaded their foot tracing pages and mailed them in for our order.



We've been really nervous about the fit.



They're on. Here we go.



So far so good. They appear to fit nicely so far.



We won't really know for sure until she attempts to get up on Pointe. We'll have to sew on the ribbon and adjust the elastic. I'll update next week and let you know how she does.

Jesus, The Most Beautiful Name (long post)

The girls worked so hard on their costumes. Kelsea had three dances with her class, plus a trio and a duet with friends. Nana made all the costumes for her class dances.

Kelsea and her friends worked hard on the costumes for their duet.

This is the design Linda Harford helped them with.


The girls in the trio got together a few times to create their costumes.






The day of auditions arrived and the girls were just a bit nervous.



Here they are listening to the critiques of the judges.



I am usually more frantic at the dress rehearsal to get the last minute touches done for Kelsea. Whether it's new tights or making sure the camera has batteries, something usually gets overlooked. This year was good. Everything was in place. I took all of my pictures this night so I could move around and get a closer shot and so I can relax and enjoy the show on the big night.







During the dress rehearsal they were given last minute instructions like remembering to smile, if there's a loose string on a costume, or if someone needs to adjust their dance for the stage. This gives them the chance to polish and fine tune their dances.



Here is Kelsea and Beth during their Duet.



This one is from "Screen Door on a Submarine".



Everyone did such a beautiful job. Here are my favorite parts from the rest of the night.

I love Grace and Christina's dresses.



I loved this dance. It was so beautiful. A lovely reminder of grace and forgiveness. Each girl did such a cute job at playing their part. I loved the saucy "gangstas".







The boys always give her flowers at the end of the recital. It's sort of a tradition.






Kelsea with her ballet teacher, JoAnn Stevens.