Our Ballerina

Brittney loved dance when she was little. Her favorite movie was Barbie and The Nutcracker. She would dance through the whole thing. She also loved the Nutcracker Ballet. We got it from the library once and even though it wasn't a very good copy she watched the whole thing. She wore a dance or princess outfit wherever she went and I mean whereever she went. When we got to England one of the first things we did was find her a good ballet place. She took ballet from Lynton Academy and passed her primary and grades 1 and 2 ballet exams. When we got back to the states we were jobless and ballet and dance were not an option. The next year funds were quite tight also and ballet was not really an option. Brittney was also going through a lot of changes and didn't want to dance. She did theatre class which she seemed to enjoy. A year ago she came to me and said she wanted to dance again. I explained that she had taken two very important years off and that it would be hard to jump back in again. She might have to be with girls younger than her and she would have to work really hard to get back to where she was. She said that was fine, but she still wanted to dance. We found Infinity and excellent dance school. She went to the tryouts to see where she would be placed hoping to make a company team. She stuck out both days of tryouts even though I know that it was hard and discouraging for her. The second day I gave her the option of quiting and told her that she could just take some classes for a year and then try again. She said "No, she wanted to finish." She hadn't taken for two years and had lost a lot. The results were not a company team, but a senior squad with beginning dancers her age. She continued to work really hard throughout the year and you could tell she loved it and she was enjoying dancing again. One of the girls on the senior sqaud dropped out and this forced the company to combine the senior and junior squad. She was now with girls 4 years younger than her. I could tell this was hard for Brittney but she did not complain. She continued to work hard. As part of their training they did Ballet with a company next door. Ms. Michelle was the teacher. She was and is wonerful and she continued to help Brittney and recognized her former ballet training. When I went to pick her up one Tuesday Brittney announced that she wanted to do pointe. We went and talked to Ms. Michelle. She explained what Brittney would have to do and about how long it would take. We enrolled her with the ballet company and she began ballet twice a week. In addition to her 2 hours of dance with the orginal company she started with. She worked very hard, and was able to start pre-pointe and now has pre-pointe shoes. Her Infinity dance recital was held the middle of May and she was awarded "The most improved dancer of the year." I am very proud of Brittney she worked hard for this and did not complain about anything. I know it was not easier for her to start over and be in younger classes, but she did it. The Ballet company will have their show this weekend. Brittney is a forest lilly and will be dancing in pre-pointe shoes with girls her own age something she worked very hard for. It's one thing to see your kids excell natuarlly at something, but it's another to watch them work hard at something to come from behind and to be committed. Congratulations. Brittney. I am proud of you.