RSK: newest member of Dance Express' 2nd Company

Sunday morning. Father's Day. The day my beautiful & talented eldest daughter received the news that on her first try, she made 2nd Company at the dance studio she's been attending going on 9 years.

Honestly, I wasn't sure if she was good enough. I mean, I think she is AWESOME, but I don't dance. I know I love to watch her and I think she rocks being a choreographer. I do know that one full year in an arts magnet high school has improved her dance tremendously. I had numerous comments from other moms who were already inducted into the company stuff tell me that B. was funky and had awesome moves. They also told me that they had no doubt she would make 2nd Company.

Beep, beep, beep. Backing the bus up. June 8-11th was Tryout camp. I was told that this was a very important and useful tool to use before tryouts. It was a no brainer. I signed her up before we even left the recital. She spent 4 days with girls her age learning moves and practicing. She also was told to stretch. A LOT. She immediately grabbed the P90X stretching DVD and woke up each morning around 6am to get her hour worth of stretching in. The four days flew by and she told me that other girls and parents both told her how well they thought she did at camp.

Jump to June 17th. 1 and one half hour Junior competition tryout. First tryout ever. The girls stream out of the pink studio (which by the way has blinds/curtains drawn and paper over the other windows to keep people from peeking in). Sweaty, icky and tired. We get in the car and she tells me that she thinks she messed up and she wasn't confident in her performance. I told her to keep her chin up and that perhaps she'll redeem herself at 2nd company tryouts on Saturday morning.

For those not familiar, this is the hierarchy at our studio for the special dance groups: Bottom of the totem pole is Competing. Competing classes are split into three groups by age - freshman, sophomore & junior. Then comes 3rd Company (ages 9-13), 2nd Company (12-15) and top of the totem is 1st Company (13-18).

June 20th - 11:30am - Time for 2nd Co. tryouts. We get there a bit early, I fill out her form and get her number. I then manage to get her hair up into a tight bun (it weighs three hundred pounds dry and it is still wet so it weighs more) and secure it with the bun hairnet & jumbo bobby pins. She heads into the pink studio and the waiting begins. Em and I spent some time with a good friend of mine who I went to high school with. Her daughter was in 2nd company this year and so she was able to fill me in on which moms to stay away from (drama & gossip) and which moms & girls were really sweet. Finally 2 hours later, the 2nd company girls come out hot, sweaty and mostly smiling. I ask B if she feels like trying out for 1st Co. (another 20 bucks...oh well) and she immediately agrees. I run to the car, grab the checkbook, get her a 1st Co. number and in she goes for another 2 hours with nothing to eat since breakfast that morning and just a quick suck down of a bottle of Arizona Green Tea. I head home to get the boys and drive on back with some food for her because I know she'll be starving. Finally, 30 minutes late, the girls stream out of 1st Co. tryouts. More sweaty, tired yet smiling girls. Off we go with our list of classes she will need to take this summer should she make anything she has tried out for and also with the knowledge that the results would be listed on the website in the morning.

Woke up at quarter to 7 this morning. Very quietly checked the website. Still last year's results. Bummer. I tried to go back to bed, but my brain nixed that idea. I got up and started to clean up some stuff in the kitchen and also made myself some coffee. I was just finishing up, talking to J. and then B. came down stairs and asked "Have you checked the website this morning" I answer, "Of course, baby girl...results weren't up yet." To which my beautiful girl replies "Yes, they are.".... I ask her what she made, and she holds up 2 fingers! WOOOOT! 2nd Co. it is! About 15 minutes later, my phone rings and it is my old friend who is calling to congratulate my girl! Our girls have made 2nd Co. together and I know while it will likely be a WILD first time ride on the Co. train, I am SO ready to see my girl bloom some more!

This dance year will bring 3-4 more classes (picking her up at school Wed. & Thurs. will be a must so that she makes two of her required classes) and it will bring us into the world of dance competition. It will also bring us into the world of quick changes and 4 FULL days of dress rehearsal & recital as Co. dancers are in all four 2.5 - 4 hour shows. I'm sure there will be much frustration on mine & hubby's part as neither of us love to do the whole taxiing stuff especially with other kiddos in the car, but I know there will be much pride too. Pride in how hard our girl has worked for this. How much she loves dance and how it shows in everything she does. I just hope there is some sort of learning curve and happy that at least we'll each have someone (my friend & her daughter) who we can hang on to when we're not sure what to do.