Just Dance!

As I mentioned in Monday’s post, Hadley had her first ever dance competition on Saturday. This could be the first of many or a short season of her dance life, but I wanted to document the day because it was so special for her and was also “different” because of Covid protocols.

Friday Night:

We took some time to get organized. I labeled all the things, organized her make up and bobby pins, and packed her bag. We double checked that she had her jazz and tap shoes, put her costumes together (costume, tights, mask), and gathered clothes (studio jacket and clothes to wear home) in order to be ready for an early wake up call.

Saturday:

I woke up at 6:30, and Hadley slept until 7:15. I made her breakfast while she got dressed, brushed her teeth, and put her hair in a low pony tail. Our sweet sitter, who has been a dancer for all of her life, came over at 8:00 to put on Hadley’s eye lashes (I took notes for next time!), help her with eye make up (those eye have to “pop!” ….especially while wearing a mask!), and bobby pin her bun.

We left around 8:45, stopped at Starbucks and hit the road for the competition. (Hayden and Travis had to be at the ball field early, so they met us at the competition.)

We were early (yay!), so we had plenty of time to find the auditorium, park, get wrist bands (audience was very limited), and make our way to the dressing room. (On the way to the dressing room, we took a peak at the stage!)

After Hadley’s other team members arrived, they all got dressed and accessorized, and obliged the moms with some photos.

There was a “step and repeat,” and the girls were “here for it!” 😉

They performed their jazz/musical theater routine first…

Then, it was time for a quick change for their tap routine.

Then, they girls let us take another group photo in their tap costumes.

We were so proud of them, of course. After changing, they sat and watched the other group routines as well as the remaining solos and duets.

After their block of time, all the girls from the dance studio went and sat on stage. The judges handed out awards and invites. Since the other dance studios still had to perform throughout the rest of the weekend, the final results weren’t posted until Sunday night. That being said, they did announce scores for the routines, and both of Hadley’s team dances scored 5 stars! They were excited. Like Hadley, it was the first competition for some of the girls on her team.

When the results were posted on Sunday night, the girls’ jazz performance received a Golden Ticket Award. One more thing to celebrate!

Without ever being at a dance competition, I know how “lucky” we are that this competition ran as smoothly as it did, had protocols in place, and only took up a few hours of our weekend.

Some of the protocols they had in place:

• Dance studios each had a block of time for their performances.
• They sanitized after each block of time.
• Dancers (everyone) wore masks.
• Limited audience (Live stream for people to view at home)
• No in person (overall) awards.

I think last year, the girls who were on competition team were able to perform one time before everything shut down, so I think everyone was feeling very grateful that they were able to perform.

Saturday afternoon:

After the competition, we enjoyed some pizza outside at a local restaurant before heading home.

Hadley was asleep within minutes, and slept for most of the car ride home!

Overall, it was such a great experience. Hadley already received her pins for the two team dances, and her dance teachers are encouraging her to try a solo or duet for next year’s competition season.

The sky is the limit for my little Dancing Queen!

I hope you are having a great week!