January Show!

Yesterday was the big show!  Things have been crazy, and I haven't been keeping the updates as current as I would like, for two reasons really.  The first is that we have been SO busy, and the second is that other than rehearsing for last night, and our bi-yearly "team meeting" to plan for the next year and a half, Tiny hasn't really been up to much.

Yesterday was a long, long, long day for her.  She got there at 10:45 for hair and makeup, and was really excited that they didn't have to make hair helmet for her this time, since it was an exhibition rather than a competition. 

 

That's her bored face.

The dress rehearsal ran until about 4:30, and the show started at 6:30.  It didn't end until a little after 11:30, and we just couldn't scrape up enough energy to make the after party, so we packed up the magical trunk of mystery (she got a rolling makeup case for Christmas) and snuck out.

 By the way, a HUGE shot out to Heather, the Singing Seamstress, for not only her original work on the dress, the gorgeous additions to the dress, and all of the alterations to various costumes, but for the perfect last minute vest she put together for Tiny's partner, which really made them look extra professional on stage. 

 She looked like a doll that came to life!  I didn't see many people with that level of matching costuming, and it really added a nice touch.  He said it will definitely be nice to have, in case they need to match again in the future.  (He even let me put some crystals on the lapels!)


The choreography was scary, and she may take a few days to heal the last of her bruises, but she did a fantastic job!  We get a DVD once the company is finished processing them, and I'll post her performance on the private youtube channel as usual.

She got roses.

I know she's really excited to get back to focusing on her competitive Bronze steps tomorrow.  There has been a new development at the studio with instructors, and so she will now get to rotate among three partners:  Richard, her first instructor, Matt (the one from the above pictures, and two of her competitions), and Daniel (from the other competition back in May).  Her next scheduled event is a Mini Match at the end of this month.  After that, she has a Level Passing in February, Regional Team Match in April, probably a studio Starlight in June, Texarama Regional Competition in August, and the big star on the tree:  Nationals in April of 2017.  

Level Passing 8/20/15

So, tonight was the Level Passing party.  Shara did her six main dances, and scored 95's across the board.  I think she was passing out of Preliminary Advanced Bronze and into Intermediate Advanced Bronze.  Once she finishes Intermediate Advanced, she moves into Final Advanced and then she goes into Silver.  Once she starts Silver, she should also be starting International.  I believe she is entering Final Advanced Bronze sometime in the beginning of next year, but don't quote me on that.  I am way too tired tonight to post much in the way of detail about tonight's event.  Tomorrow we go back to work on the comments the judge suggested, and another bout of choreography.  She finally worked most of the soreness out from last week.  Some of those lifts are a little brutal for a first timer, but she's getting it!

Okay, in order:

Waltz

Rumba

Swing

Cha Cha Cha

Tango 

Foxtrot

She starts her second semester of college next week, so wish us luck maintaining sanity!

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