Nutty for Nutcracker

Believe it or not, Christmas is in the air already here in Prosser.

This year, we had a first for our family: Anna wanted to be in the Nutcracker, performed by our very own Prosser School of Ballet. We went to her performances this weekend.
She auditioned a couple months ago and got the part of a Little Mouse. Of course, as a completely unbiased mother, I have to tell you, she was the cutest little mouse you ever saw.
If you haven't spent much time with Anna, you may not know that she spends most of her day singing and dancing ... and flipping around the living room doing all the moves she learned in gymnastics. When I mentioned auditioning for the Nutcracker originally, she was instantly interested. At the audition she sat wide-eyed, silent, and attentive. When it was her turn, she gave it her absolute best. She remained focused at every rehearsal (for little mice there were only two regular rehearsals and two dress rehearsals) and for both her performances. I never knew a three-year-old could have an attention span like that.
I expected her to get burned out, to get bored of practicing and performing. One night I went to pick her up around nine o'clock from practice. "No, I can't leave yet," Anna told me. "I have to practice one more time!"

Needless to say, when I asked her if she'd like to start ballet classes, she was over-the-moon with the idea. She'll probably get started after Christmas. Next year, if she's still as interested, she might be able to expand her Nutcracker repertoire to include a lollipop or a ginger girl or, her ultimate goal (don't ask me why!), a soldier.

We'll see how it goes.

I'm trying not to be a stage Mom, but I did have fun putting glitter on her face and watching her practice.

Maybe I need to sign up for adult ballet classes so I'm not tempted to live vicariously through my munchkin ballerina daughter.

(By the way, notice the flowers Anna is holding in the last two pictures. Her very-proud daddy gave them to her after the show. She was tickled.)