Christmas Recital - Video!!

At LAST! The videos from the Christmas Dance Recital! I know it's taken me three days to get this posted, but I have literally spilt blood trying to get this up. I woke up at 4am this morning and decided to get it finished once and for all!

I'm a little frustrated at the poor quality of the video. You can't really see faces, so I'll describe where my kids and I are at the beginning of each dance. There were ten dances total with kids ranging in age from 4 years to teenagers, but we only taped the ones my family was in. Now I'm wishing I had them all!

The Opener - Lollipop by Mika

Megan is the little blonde girl in the center front, wearing a turquoise sweater and pink mini-skirt, holding an orange lollipop. She has a couple of little solo parts in the song, and had a blast doing that. Nathan is second from right, wearing a red sweatshirt with a blue scarf, holding a yellow lollipop. I know it looks like he has braids... but it's the hat he's wearing, not his hair. :D

Check out the Coffee Grinder move by the boys at the front near the end of the video.



Intermediate Clogging Class - Gummy Bear

Nathan is on the far left wearing Orange. Megan is second from right in Blue. Scottlynn (Crazy Lady's youngest daughter) is third from right wearing Pink. These kids had such a fun time learning and performing this song and I think they did a great job! It's hard to believe that my kids have only been clogging for 16 months. I'm absolutely thrilled with the progress they're making, and they absolutely love it!



Lyrical Class - Song for a Winter Night

Megan starts on the far right. She is the tallest blonde girl in this class. Scottlynn starts on the far left. I think. I have a really hard time telling girls apart when their hair is all pulled up!



Adult Clogging Class - Chocolate

From left to right: Sara in Blue, Erin in Yellow, Amidey (The Crazy Lady) in Green, My Lameness in Red, and Jessica (my fave Sister Out-Law) in Orange. We had soooo much fun with this song. This clogging class is literally the highlight of my week. I love all these ladies and can't wait for class to start again in January!



And NOW.... the REST of the Story!

Remember This Comment from the Crazy Lady the other day?

"Btw - It was fun pinching your butt!"

Here's the incident she was referring to. What the HECK?! I guess she was trying to make sure I would smile through the performance! Well... it worked!


All I can say is, it's a good thing my husband didn't see her do that!

Something happened before the camera started rolling that I desperately wish had gotten filmed: Jessica started out on stage and nobody followed her! Somehow she didn't get the memo that we weren't quite ready. When she realized she was all alone up there, she did a little curtsy and then ran back behind the curtain wondering what the heck was going on?! HAHAHAHAHAHA! Sorry Jessica! Love you!

Like I've said before... the laughter is one of my favorite things about clogging. Good times. Good times indeed!

Anyone in the area who wants to sign their kids (or themselves) up for clogging or ballet/lyrical dance classes, just contact The Crazy Lady!

Christmas Recital - Coming Soon!

Dude. I am still learning about converting and uploading videos... so bear with me on the delay. I really am going to post the video, but I want to do it right. So hopefully sometime tomorrow I'll get them up!

You're just a. . . MEANY!

Megan is my dancer. I call her Angelina Ballerina (if you are unfamiliar with the story, click here), because she is always dancing in and out of the studio, from pirouettes on the softball field to clogging naked in the bathroom after a shower. She lives, sleeps, and breathes dancing. Of all my children, she alone is completely confident and at home on the stage.

Today she was helping me in the kitchen, and I noticed from across the room that her movements slowed until she was standing there, the broom forgotten in her hand. Her twinkling eyes had a faraway look in them, and then, her face stretching into a beatific smile, she lifted her arms above her head, elbows slightly bent, so that her fingertips just touched high above her head. There's a French word for that pose, I'm sure. The forgotten broom fell to the floor with a loud SLAP! but Megan didn't notice. Then, she bent at the waist, and her arms came down as her knees bent into a deep curtsy for her adoring fans.

I chuckled and applauded, and she snapped out of her daydream, looking a little startled, and then laughed with me.

I said, "did you know that you can get your name changed by filling out paperwork and going before a judge? We really could change your name to Angelina."

Megan's eyes widened a little, then looked uncertain. "Could I just change my middle name?"

"Sure. Megan Angelina N********. What do you think?"

Megan's flawless brow creased in thought. "But I like my middle name the way it is!"

She retrieved the broom and continued sweeping absently. Then, "Mom? Can a person have more than one middle name?"

"Sure," I said. "Some people in other countries, like Mexico, have three or four middle names."

Megan beamed. "That's what I want! I want to change my name to Megan Elizabeth Angelina N**********!

Tonight, Megan was telling her dad her big plan. Tom's eyes twinkled as he smiled. "But Megan, if you did that, your initials would be M.E.A.N."

This of course, brought on much giggling.

"And even worse, " Dad continued, "If you married a man with the last name of Young, your initials would be M.E.A.N.Y!"

Megan's eyes shone with tears of glee as she twittered in the circle of her dad's arms.

"But Dad! If I add Geraldine as another middle name, my initials could be M.E.G.A.N!"

Wow. It's hard to keep up with intellects like that.

Dance Recital Video: Adults!

The following video is my adult beginning clogging class dancing to "We Go Together". Erin is on the left, Jessica begins in the center, and I am the tall blonde on the far right. I wish. Ahem. I would have been the tall blonde on the right, had I not had knee surgery on May 6. Instead, I am sitting on the front row whooping and hollering obnoxiously while Amidey dances in my place. (I wish that was me though.)



Do these women rawk or what? So much fun to dance and to watch as well. Way to go girls!

Dance Recital Video: Ballet!

Megan is also in ballet, and her class did two songs.

"We Are Siamese" is her first song. She is the blonde in the back left - under the "A" at the beginning of the song. She is at the front of the stage at 2:15 with the words "plenty of milk for you, and also some for me".



The second song is "Daughter of a King". Again, Megan starts on the back left under the "F", and then moves all around during the song (one disadvantage of being tall - she'll never be on the front row). A prize for anyone who can keep track of her for the whole song!



Megan loves dancing so much that she wants to be a professional ballerina and dance teacher when she grows up. I should have named her Angelina!

Dance Recital Video: Kids Clogging!

Here's Nathan and Megan's first clogging dance: "Thank You For Letting Me Be Myself"





Here's their second dance: "Get Your Head in the Game"



Pretty good for first years, dontcha think? Say yes.

Spring Dance Recital !

May 31 brought us to the pinnacle of our dancing year - the Recital. Because I wimped out and got knee surgery, I did not dance in the recital, but my kids did. I was backstage helping with costume changes, while Tom and my dad recorded the still and video footage. Thanks guys.


This woman is the creator of it all. My good friend Amidey (aka The Talented One) selects the music, creates all the choreography, and teaches all of the dances to forty-some-odd students spread among several classes. There are ballerinas as young as 3 years old, clear up through cloggers in their early teens. Her abilities and patience continually amaze and astound me. This girl is the real deal.



Here is a portrait taken under duress of our adult beginner clogging class. From left to right, Erin, Me, The Talented One, and Jessica on the front row. This class has been a riot, and I continued to attend class even after it was clear that I would not be able to limp through the recital, just to laugh with (and at) these awesome women.


And here is a sample of Jessica's default attitude, which contributes much to the chaos and fun of the class. Have I mentioned that I love this kid? I am so glad she moved to town so we could become joined at the hip. It is because of her that I decided to try clogging, and I am so very glad that I did.

Here is Nathan on stage while dancing "Get Your Head in the Game". He looked awesome with his big smile and high knees. He really enjoys clogging and I am just thrilled.


Megan the ballerina. This girl dances in her sleep, I think. The other morning she got out of the shower and while standing in front of the bathroom mirror in a puddle of water on the tile floor, prepared to do a pirouette. Naked. In a puddle of water. I kiboshed that one, and then five seconds later when I turned around again, she was clogging! Heaven help me if that kid breaks her neck someday.


If I can get blogger to work, I'll post videos of the dances. I had a clip uploading, but I want to go to bed now. I'll try again tomorrow.

The Great and Terrible Day of the Dance Recital

Nathan, Megan, and I began clogging lessons in September... and worked on these songs for four months before the performance on December 15. It was scary, it was fun, it was exhilarating... and all too soon it was done. Fortunately for you, my loyal fans, my dad captured it all on tape. Unfortunately for you, I don't have the vids posted here.

And this is why:

I tried in vain for a week to get the video of our recital off the camera and onto this blog. Well... technically I was successful in getting it uploaded to google video (it took overnight!!!). The bad news is that somewhere in the process, the video and sound got off synch... so it's maddening to watch because the legs don't kick when the music says they should. So I'm not putting it up. Perhaps I'll try again with YouTube and see if it works better. No promises.

For now, all you get is pics of us before we went on stage:


Nathan and Megan's clogging number was at the beginning of the program, and then Megan had one song during which she frantically changed into her ballet costume (not as hard as it sounds; she has her white leotard and tights on under this ensemble, so all she had to do was strip the pants and shirt off, and put on a blue tutu). I wish we'd gotten a pic of her as a ballerina. She was a most adorable one.

Jessica and Me. Yep, we're it. Our class started out at six ladies, and four dropped out by mid October. We were just ornery enough to stick with it, and we had an absolute blast. I think we spend 25% of each class laughing uncontrollably -- usually the teacher and Jessica are laughing at me because I cannot master the new incredibly difficult step she has just taught me. Or else I just slipped and fell flat on my fanny. Good times.

Nathan and Megan dancing "Run Run Rudolph" in formation.

Here's a closeup. Notice the creepy alien eyes. Okay, my kids are not really aliens. I'm just too lazy to fix it since I've already postponed this silly post for three weeks. Deal with it.



Okay... somehow the vid of Nathan and Megan's dance got on here, so I'll leave it. The video does kinda catch up to the music near the end of the dance. Nathan starts out at the middle back, the tallest kid at the point of the V. Megan is on the far left side of the screen. She's the tallest girl with the pile of blonde curls on her head.


As scared as I was beforehand, dancing in recital was one of the funnest things I've ever done. Afterward I felt a little sad that after four months of working my tail off to learn the steps, it was over in 3 minutes on stage. At least I have the consolation that class starts up again next week. Yippeeeee!

Do you think it will be a problem that I've done almost zero exercise and gained at least five pounds since recital?