Her First Dance Recital

Last weekend was awards day at Reagan's dance academy, and we were thrilled to find out that we needed to be in attendance to see Reagan accept her very first trophy. We weren't sure what the trophy was going to be for... we were expecting something along the lines of "Most Enthusiastic" for our little wild child! Surprise for us, Reagan was awarded the "Most Promising Preschooler" award out of all the other kids age 5 and under that dance at this studio!!! Her tap class also won a group award for "Most Outstanding Preschool Group". Needless to say, we were very proud parents... but no where near as proud as Reagan was for herself. We seriously thought that she was going to sleep with her trophy!
The end-of-year recital was this Saturday, a day that we have been anxiously awaiting in our household. We couldn't wait to see our little superstar perform on stage! There was a bit of a conflict in that her end-of-year gymnastics performance was the exact same day at the exact same time, so we had to choose which one that she would participate in. Being as that we had already forked out some big bucks for her dance costumes, and that we had already purchased tickets to attend the dance recital, the decision was fairly easy to make!

I was amazed at the transformation that occurred in my baby girl after I had done her hair and make up. (I must also say that I was pretty amazed with myself for being able to get the hair piece in and tied up into a bun that could then be taken down for a funky ponytail later! Yeah Mommy!) She didn't look like my baby anymore... suddenly she was a diva princess ballerina! She looked beautiful... and she knew it!
We arrived at the Bell Performing Arts Centre, and I suddenly remembered that I had left the tickets at home! I am blaming it on pregnancy brain... Reagan and Auntie Anna went inside for the short dress rehearsal, Ryan saved us a place up front in the line for admittance that was growing longer by the second, and I channeled my inner Dale Earnhardt and drove like a mad woman to race home for the tickets! Less than half an hour later, I was back with tickets in hand in time to help with getting Reagan dressed and to then wait in line with Ryan. WHEW!

Her first performance was for ballet, and she and all the other little ballerinas in her class looked simply adorable! Their dance was from the Cave of Wonders scene from Aladdin, and each of the girls represented one of the many gems in the cave.
Auntie Anna volunteered to run backstage after the ballet performance ended to get Reagan ready for her tap routine so that the pregnant lady wouldn't have to be running around. Thank you Anna! We were all very excited when the tappers took the stage to dance their Hot Hot Hot carnival themed routine! Sorry for the quality of the pictures... no flash photography allowed, and I've been having lots of issues with my camera lately.
Reagan was then able to come out into the audience with us to watch the rest of the performances (over three more hours worth) before she had to go backstage again to get ready for the big finale. I think she was most excited about the fact that I had to then take her hair down, and she had long locks to play with! (This was the same hair piece that her fairy godmother put into her hair when she transformed Reagan into Cinderella for her birthday at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique in Disneyland)
We were so very proud of Reagan... she did an amazing job and danced her heart out! We took her out to eat for a fancy dinner after the recital had ended to celebrate her big accomplishments for the year!
We don't know yet what the plans are for next year... between three days of preschool and possibly up to 6 hours a week of gymnastics training, there may not be enough time for dance again next year. We've already asked Reagan what she wants to do, and she of course has said that she wants to do it ALL. Only time will tell, but something tells me that there will be more dance recitals in our future!