A Pretty Costume and Stage Fright

Emma's first dance recital was Friday night. She had a whole cheering section there to watch her. All week she danced around the house to Mele Kalilimaka and named off all the people who were going to come and see her dance. She was so excited!

This is a picture of Miss Emma before the recital. She is doing her hula dancing which is the most dancing she did all night!! :) When we arrived at the auditorium she still seemed really excited about the whole thing and ran to her friends, Reagan and Sarah when she got there. I thought things were going well. It came time for me to leave her and go take my seat, and she was fine still... it didn't phase her at all. Other little girls were crying when their moms left, so I was really proud of Emma for this!
Emma's class was the second on stage. I could tell when curtain opened that she was terrified. Her terrified expression didn't change the whole time. She stood completely still on the stage. It was quite funny and cute. When it came time for all the girls to hold hands and move across the stage, a little girl had to bump Emma to get her to move... and she did... finally. :) All of us in Emma's cheering section were laughing quite hard. Emma had a case of stage fright.
After the recital when I walked back to get her, I told her she did a great job just getting on stage in front of all those people. One little girl in her class was crying and wouldn't go on stage, and another one had to be held the whole time. So I was proud of her for standing up there!! :)
Then we went out to see everyone who came to see her! They all told her how pretty she looked and she perked up a little bit! When we got in the car, holding back tears, Emma said, "I didn't dance. I got scared!" Poor girl. She's only 2 and a half... I never imagined she'd be so hard on herself!!

Emma is just like her momma. I remember my "stage debut". I was in second grade in the Patriotic Program. I was the Liberty Bell and my grandma had made me a beautiful new dress to wear. For weeks I danced around the house saying my lines. Then, the night of the show, I got out on stage, put my head down and said my lines as quickly as possible and went back to my seat. Here's a picture.... you can kind of see the terror in my face... like Emma had as well.Emma says she wants to go to dance class in the spring. When I ask if she wants to have another recital she just shakes her head no. :) Funny girl. She loves to dance when no one is watching... kinda like her momma! :)