This weekend was a gift.
After a semester with a very heavy administrative lift and not enough art I volunteered to be backstage to help out at my daughter's dance studio's production of The Nutcracker. This is a local dance studio with recreation classes, a competition team, and a Youth Dance Ensemble. Every other year they perform The Nutcracker- the young dancers in YDE audition and solos are cast. A college-aged alum comes back to dance the Sugar Plum Fairy and the one teen-aged male dancer performed allll the male roles. Some parents volunteer to be in the first party scene and the same local man has been Drosselmeyer forever. The young four and five year olds are angels and mice, and then they graduate to candy canes. Not sure the Chinese tea dance scene will withstand the test of time without some modifications, and that first party scene is a bit long like it always is, but in this moment none of that mattered. It was perfect: families cheering for their dancer; we were in awe of the grace of our beautiful child.
A few weeks ago I told the owner I could help out with the costumes. I came by the studio on a Saturday and asked how I could help. I was handed a bag of flowers, a hot glue gun, and some of the Flower costumes to embellish. The studio owner knew I worked in theatre and asked if I could take a look at the Snow Queen. Sure! Whelp, the cat was out of the bag when I asked if the tutu was on a basque and whether she did any partnering. I was glad to take home some of the tricker alterations over the weeks to come. I said I could come to dress rehearsal and just be a set of hands.
Friday afternoon we arrived at a local high school auditorium. I think my kid was kind of embarrassed I was around, but her dressing room was down another hallway and I set up a station with my kit and trusty kenmore sewing machine. Pretty quickly, word got out, "Go see Christianne." It was amazing- it was so delightful to just do simple tasks that no matter the result were a help...a step in the right direction. Everyone was grateful, gracious, and patient. It was simply about the young dancers; I was invisible and didn't need to make a single decision, just stand by and be useful with a pin or a tack or untangle a hair bow. I've missed this part.
Comments