The Journey of the First Year (Part 2 - August 2014)

So, in order to attend the level passing and for her to perform a spotlight, we had to make our first foray into the world of costumes.  I had the worst ideas about what would look good on her.  Mind you, she's only five feet tall and curvy, and it isn't looking like she's going to grow any time soon, so even with heels, it's a challenge finding things that don't either drag the ground or just look entirely too provocative on her frame.  Fortunately, even though I tried to stuff her into an outfit that was completely awful, the owner of the store we went to knew enough about body shapes and costuming that he walked over to the rack, picked one up, handed it to her to try, and it was perfect.  It only had one problem, but that wouldn't be an issue until later.

Shara Cha Cha Rehearsal Footage

Shara Cha Cha Dress Rehearsal

 I was so proud of her!  Proud of both of them, actually, though this is really more about her journey.

Greyson Tango Rehearsal Footage

Shara Cha Cha at Anthony's Steak House

Greyson Tango at Anthony's Steak House

Shara Rumba at Anthony's Steak House

It was a wonderful event, held at Anthony's Steak House.  Watching these old videos, I can smile and really see how much she has improved, though of course I thought she was the best thing since sliced bread.  About that time, she decided that committing to being in the dance company at her original studio was too much, since she wanted to focus more time and energy into ballroom.  When they told us she couldn't reduce her hours at the studio, we had to pull her out entirely.  I was pretty mad, to be honest.  Fortunately, studio has become so much like family that it really softened the pain of walking away from something she had been doing four days a week for as long as she could remember.  She increased her hours at the ballroom studio so she could still count it as her PE for school, which let her get out early her 8th grade year.  As the month progressed, we also got to participate in Texarama Team Match, which is an event for students who have not yet competed individually in a Fred Astaire competition.  Shara loved it!  She said she had found her people.

                                                       Greyson, Shara & her pro-partner        Greyson & his pro-partner