Doing the Nutcracker for Shayla was a no-brainier, but having me do it required some thought. I really wanted to do it, but I wasn't sure if I was qualified enough or if I could put in the required time to do it. After writing the email, it took me a long time to push the "Send" button. Now that is all over with, I can say I'm SO HAPPY I pushed that "Send" button. Participating in the Nutcracker was an Amazing experience and I hope to do it again sometime. I had a lot of compliments too on what a wonderful and graceful dancer I was. WOW, just proof to myself that you can do anything you set your mind to, at any age! I'm now marking "Dance in the Nutcracker" off of my Bucket List.
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| Shayla (my little lamb) and I at the dress rehearsal |
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| Dress rehearsal |
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| She looks so pretty in all that makeup, and I thought I looked like a clown! |
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| Shayla and our neighbor Sarah |
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| She played the part of the LEAD white lamb and did an excellent job! |
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| Loved the little bells around their necks |
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| My dress was the heaviest of the 4 women. It weighed about 30 lbs!! After dancing in it for 3 days, my back muscles were sore from holding the thing up. I think it had miles and miles of fabric on that skirt. |
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| Shayla without her bonnet. |
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| Shayla and Hannah (who goes to school with AJ) All of the party girls had to wear these curlers in their hair to get the cute bouncy curls for the show. Many of them had to wear them to school too. Now That's embarrassing! |
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| Shayla and I just before the show. My first time wearing fake eyelashes. Now I know why those were the first things Aryan would get rid of after dancing each time. |
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| Me and Masood before the show |
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| Shayla and I before the show |
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| Me and my on-stage husband, Joe Mathews. He has preformed in this show 5 times. I was lucky to have such an experienced partner. |
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| One of our maids laying down on the job. |
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| The "Ladies" of the show: Victoria Straub, Me, Kim Schwartz, and Kim Simon |
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| The adult cast |
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| Some of the party children from the show |
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| Mackenzie and Josh, who play Clara and the Nutcracker |
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| Shayla and some of the other lambs |
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| Some of the other cast members at the end of the show |
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| The final bows |
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| The final bows |
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| Shayla and the Sugar Plum Fairy who was a professional dancer from NY. |
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| Shayla and Mackenzie (Clara) |
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| We changed our clothes after the show to go to the Cast party, where we ate pizza and did a lot more dancing. Shayla just always looks so cute. |
During the show, I snuck in and recorded Shayla doing her dance. Here it is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYf18HbvN-8&feature=youtu.be
She is the lead white lamb. The first one on the stage and the last one off.
