Sea of Tutus ________________________________________

by Mariah Boone (The Radical Mother)

My six-year-old daughter recently performed in her first ballet recital.  The entire ballet school participated in a performance of Snow White and my daughter’s class was little flower girls dressed in sparkly tutus.  The tinier girls were bunnies and flowers and there were miners, poison apples, just about everything you could think of to show off the skills that all of the different ballet, jazz, tap and modern dance classes had learned throughout the year.

We were given instructions on how to do hair and make up for the recital.  Even with my strict views on little children not being allowed to do themselves up like older people, I could understand that some make up is needed when performing under bright lights.  That did not mean I knew how to do it, though.  Where does one find the needed supplies?  My teen-aged sister was in town and she, my daughter and I shopped around town for kid-friendly cosmetics and glitter for my daughter’s hair.  I took off of work the day of the dress rehearsal and my sister and I spent the morning getting my daughter ready. 

At the rehearsal, we were allowed to video the kids and take pictures, which would not be allowed during the actual performance.  My sister operated the video camera and I took pictures.  All of the tiny children moving around in various interpretations of the choreography were so cute it made me want to squeal.  There were riots of bunnies, sunflowers, even a bunch of little brides.  The kids also got their portraits taken in their costumes on rehearsal day.

On the day of the performance, we took my daughter to the row in the auditorium where her class would wait until it was time for them to go backstage before their dance.  There was the expected flurry of last minute preparations, mothers spraying glitter on everything that moved, then settling the kids down in their seats under their teachers’ supervision before going to snag pre-ordered flowers for them and take our own seats.   Looking back at their row for one last glimpse before being seated, it was the foamy sea of tutus and little girls that my daughter was a part of that caught my eye. 

Their dance was sweet and I was proud of my daughter’s ability to confidently dance in front of a huge auditorium full of people at such a young age.  When I look back over the years at that day, though, I know that what I will remember most is that sea of tutus in which my little flower girl sparkled…such sweet moments never leave the heart.