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We had ballet recitals every year
May. 7th, 2015 11:49 pmAnd the year my father died we'd just moved into a new house.
Everything about recitals was very exciting of course, although it happened every year. Getting our costumes was exciting. Getting our picture taken at dance class in our costumes was exciting. Rehearsal and dress rehearsal were exciting. Spray painting our dance shoes at night was exciting. (You always had to spray paint the shoes gold or silver or something.)
We would've slept in those costumes if we could, except of course we wouldn't because sequins and tulle are very itchy. (Maybe that's just me and Jenn felt no such impulse.) Even typing this entry brings the new costume smell back to mind.
Sooooo, after we got our costume trying-out out of our systems, our father very sensibly put the costumes away so we wouldn't find ourselves on the day of recital missing the one thing we couldn't be without. (It's also possible he put them away so I'd stop trying to iron the sparkly tassles on one of my costumes. They started off sparkly, but crinkled, and once I ironed them they were flat and not sparkly at all.)
I had four classes that year, and I'm pretty sure Jenn had five. You know, looking back, the idea of the budgeting required for nine costumes plus the tickets (not to mention a year's worth of classes) boggles my mind. Maybe the money stretched further? At any rate, nine costumes is pricey, and we didn't want to lose any part of them before the recital.
We lost my father before the recital. He was almost buried without his suit on (his favorite suit), because it was in the dryer when he died and my mother didn't think to check there.
And we almost had no costumes for our recital. He didn't die right beforehand, and you know, it's important after a death to keep the routine going. It would not have been good for anybody for us to miss the recital, and we didn't want to either. But this was a new house, and none of us had any feel for where any of the rest of us would stash something we wanted out of the way. (They turned out to be on top of the closet in our bedroom, but that closet is deep and that shelf is high and they were way in the back.) Somehow, the dance studio managed to rush order new costumes for us, and the idea of the cost of a second set of costumes - oh dear. I have no idea who paid for them. Maybe they comped us the cost of the costumes or something.
The girls, their dance school has a recital, but no costumes. All they get is a skirt to match their usual leotard. This surprised me at first, but upon reflection I think it's a great idea. And the school doesn't hand out the skirts until the day of the performance, which is as sensible a policy as I've ever heard. More and more, I really like this place.
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Everything about recitals was very exciting of course, although it happened every year. Getting our costumes was exciting. Getting our picture taken at dance class in our costumes was exciting. Rehearsal and dress rehearsal were exciting. Spray painting our dance shoes at night was exciting. (You always had to spray paint the shoes gold or silver or something.)
We would've slept in those costumes if we could, except of course we wouldn't because sequins and tulle are very itchy. (Maybe that's just me and Jenn felt no such impulse.) Even typing this entry brings the new costume smell back to mind.
Sooooo, after we got our costume trying-out out of our systems, our father very sensibly put the costumes away so we wouldn't find ourselves on the day of recital missing the one thing we couldn't be without. (It's also possible he put them away so I'd stop trying to iron the sparkly tassles on one of my costumes. They started off sparkly, but crinkled, and once I ironed them they were flat and not sparkly at all.)
I had four classes that year, and I'm pretty sure Jenn had five. You know, looking back, the idea of the budgeting required for nine costumes plus the tickets (not to mention a year's worth of classes) boggles my mind. Maybe the money stretched further? At any rate, nine costumes is pricey, and we didn't want to lose any part of them before the recital.
We lost my father before the recital. He was almost buried without his suit on (his favorite suit), because it was in the dryer when he died and my mother didn't think to check there.
And we almost had no costumes for our recital. He didn't die right beforehand, and you know, it's important after a death to keep the routine going. It would not have been good for anybody for us to miss the recital, and we didn't want to either. But this was a new house, and none of us had any feel for where any of the rest of us would stash something we wanted out of the way. (They turned out to be on top of the closet in our bedroom, but that closet is deep and that shelf is high and they were way in the back.) Somehow, the dance studio managed to rush order new costumes for us, and the idea of the cost of a second set of costumes - oh dear. I have no idea who paid for them. Maybe they comped us the cost of the costumes or something.
The girls, their dance school has a recital, but no costumes. All they get is a skirt to match their usual leotard. This surprised me at first, but upon reflection I think it's a great idea. And the school doesn't hand out the skirts until the day of the performance, which is as sensible a policy as I've ever heard. More and more, I really like this place.
Scientists X-ray chocolate to figure out how to get rid of that weird white stuff
How America’s biggest swamp could become fracking wasteland
The War of the Worlds panic was a myth
In the shadows of booming cities, a tension between sunlight and prosperity
The Rat Paths of New York How the city’s animals get where they’re going.
75 Ways Socialism Has Improved America
The Thin White Line: Most Cops Don't Look Like the Residents They Serve
These cops are tired of white people getting freaked out by their black neighbors
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Mitt Romney Doesn’t Think Mass Incarceration is a Real Thing
Imprisoned at 14, Illinois inmate gets resentenced to life without parole
Surveillance planes spotted in the sky for days after West Baltimore rioting
Spiders Ingest Nanotubes, Then Weave Silk Reinforced with Carbon
In which a man drowns. "If there is even the slightest chance you brought your condition upon yourself, you deserve to sit there!"
Why Can't America Have Great Trains?
‘This really isn’t kindergarten anymore’
Scientists reconcile three unrelated theories of schizophrenia
Sweden urged to rethink parents' choice over schools after education decline
Syria conflict: Aleppo civilians suffer 'unthinkable atrocities'
China orders Muslim shopkeepers to sell alcohol, cigarettes, to ‘weaken’ Islam
Patients with type-2 diabetes who are overweight but not obese outlive diabetics of normal weight
Farmers are watering your food with fracking chemicals
Liberals, conservatives unite vs. NSA spying
Chicago gave hundreds of high-risk kids a summer job. Violent crime arrests plummeted.
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What are the most eco-friendly nuts?
This machine can make salty water drinkable — using only the sun’s rays.
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How Baltimore and cities like it hold back poor black children as they grow up
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