Like her mother before her, my daughter is a dancer. Truth be told, she is a much better dancer than I ever was though our appreciation for the joy of dance remains on an equal footing. Like my mother before me, I (and my husband) provide the parental support necessary to smooth her way.
Thus for many years, her dancing added an extra special twist to Mother's Day which inevitably fell on an out-of-town competition weekend. Bright and early Sunday morning all of us "dance moms" would be seated in the theatre girding ourselves for the third consecutive eighteen hour day to come. Slumping a bit in our seats, we would give a little grunt when the ever-so-chipper Master of Ceremonies would wish us a "Happy Mother's Day" at the start of the program.
My husband, literal-minded male that he is, perceived our attitude as one of discontent and would often comment that this was a wonderful way to spend Mother's Day. Well of course it was!!
Watching our children working so hard at something they loved, watching as they matured into confident, resilient adults was absolutely the best gift ever, even if we greeted the day with a bit of a teasing groan.
My husband, literal-minded male that he is, perceived our attitude as one of discontent and would often comment that this was a wonderful way to spend Mother's Day. Well of course it was!!
Watching our children working so hard at something they loved, watching as they matured into confident, resilient adults was absolutely the best gift ever, even if we greeted the day with a bit of a teasing groan.
My daughter has graduated from competing to teaching dance, hanging up her own pointe shoes in favour of nurturing all the new budding ballerinas. I'm sure her students and her formerly aching toes thank her for it.
I now enjoy a more leisurely Mother's Day but I still can't help thinking of all those dedicated mothers out there. Whether it's sitting in a cold hockey arena in the middle of January or an early morning theatre call in the middle of May, you're doing a great job and I salute you.
Brava Ladies!! Take a well-deserved bow on your day!!
Photos: Tatiana Dokuchic (May 11, 2012)
Beautiful memories! Although it is such a change from when we were dancing wasn't it? "Competitions" just didn't exist. Like you, I can't help but thing pointe shoes are so gorgeous that they look perfectly natural resting in a spring tree. :)
ReplyDeleteHi Julie, thanks for dropping in! As I said, knowing that you are a dancer I was thinking of you when I was tossing those shoes into the tree :) The competition aspect of dance was something new to consider. It ended up being a very positive experience even though I like to grouch about it sometimes. Spring trees in bloom always remind me of ballerinas in beautiful tutus so it did seem natural to pair them with pointe shoes.
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