All Things Showtime.

The day of the big recital is here and as usual, I breathe a sigh of relief that this only occurs once a year. This year Maka and Baka were both here and that was quite a treat for all of us.

Backstage reaches a level of organized chaos that I have only seen in well orchestrated military invasions on CNN. Truly, there's a hum and an excitement and by that time everyone knows their roles.

And then it's time to hit the stage. This year, Bella's class tap-danced to "Papa Loves Mambo".

It was hysterical to watch the littlest girls perform. But Bella nailed it. And look at her?? She loved every minute of it. Even the moment she realized that the girl next to her somehow lost her maracas. I love Bella's expression of "no way". We kept telling her that the show must go on and indeed, it did.

Now let me take a second to tell you about the venue. It's at the Grand Theater inside the Grand Sierra Resort. The stage is HUGE. It's even billed as the "World's Largest Indoor Stage". Somehow, Ms. Diane and the other ballet instructors manage to choreograph for the entire stage so to see the final shows is quite wonderful, especially when the older (high school age) dancers perform.

Kata is in Level 1-2, which means she's just a level above Bella. They're still part of the Little Ones. The music was "Music Box Dancer" and I don't have a link to it. But the recital's theme was The Toy Shop, so I know you can now picture it for yourself.

Do you remember your recitals? And that feeling right before the music starts and before the spotlights hit you? I can still recall it; can you?

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