Dance Recital '08

The big dance recital was yesterday afternoon. This year the whole production was moved from the high school auditorium all the way to the Palace Theater in Lorain. The reason behind the move was that this program is now so frigging huge that we needed more space for the audience. Also the way that the tickets were handled when the show was done here at home was a complete nightmare every year. The Palace knew how to sell tickets to an unwieldy number of people... or so we thought.

I bought my tickets over the phone 15 minutes after they went on sale the first day. I had to buy eleven seats and I certainly wasn't going to wait around. They came in the mail the very next day and that was one more thing I could check off my to do list.

While we are all nestled down in our seats yesterday, a very nice woman came up to me.

"Excuse me, I think you are sitting in my seat." She is very sweet and apologetic, but I'm thinking no way sister.

She shows me her ticket and I show her mine and they are for the same seat. Exactly the same seat. I look around the theater and there seems to be people having the same conversation all over the place. Some are confused, some are getting really angry. The theater has double sold seats.

My co-seat owner and I head for the box office where there is literally a mob. Angry, angry people waving tickets and pieces of paper at one lone woman with a headset on looking on the verge of tears. Finally a official looking guy shows up and announces that if two people have tickets for the same seat then it will be first come, first serve and the theater will find a seat for the second person. My double and I shrug and smile at each other.

"That's okay," she says, "I'm sure they'll find someplace for me." So I stroll my very sassy little dress back to my seat. Behind me, voices are rising and I hear a man holler something about "outrageous incompetence". Ooooh. Not good.

I took only one picture yesterday and that was in the van on the way there.

I didn't any take pictures during the show, not because of any restrictions (there were flashing cameras the entire time), but because whenever the Girl was on the stage I started weeping copiously. Truly. During the number when she's up on pointe, I had myself worked up to one big heaving sob. I can't help it. I usually cry a little bit, but this year I was really pathetic. Proud mommy overload. She's just looks so grown up when she's dancing. She's a long way from this blurry five year old getting ready to leave for her first recital.

I did take pictures at Picture Day two weeks ago, pictures of her getting her picture taken. Here's her ballet costume.

And her jazz costume which I had to completely remake because it was entirely too big for her. Thank goodness it's black!

And here's the pointe costume along with Girl Who Thinks She Lives At My House #2.