Ballet life.

What started as an activity for a Saturday morning to help strengthen Charlotte's foot has turned into what could be a long term passion.

When Charlotte was a year and half I went looking for a gymnastics class to take her to. she has always been constantly on the move so this would be good for her. I found a class not too far away that did toddler sessions so we went along. I knew it would take a few weeks to get her into it but I will admit she hated it. It was just like a gymnastics gym that you could do what ever you want with no structure. Definitely not for Charlotte, she needed structure.

So off I went again in search of a more structured class. That's when I found Livingston academy of dance. Their baby class normally starts from 2/2.5 years but were happy to allow us to try as long as Charlotte was steady on her feet. So with tutu, leotard and ballet shoes ready we went for our first class and we never looked back.

Charlotte's tap and ballet shoes.

Charlotte's first dance class.

The baby class had some basic moves, hands and feet flexibility, music play and singing songs. That's the only class which parents are allowed to sit in, and take part if the little ones need it. after a little while Charlotte was getting distracted with me being in the room so I would wait in the reception and from then she bloomed. Her teachers would say how well she was doing especially for being so young. They did notice she was getting a bit bored in that class and that she would benefit for starting the next class which was more advanced and structured and so at 2 years old she moved up to the next group dancing with girls age 3/4/5.  This next group introduced the little ones to tap too so I had to find the smallest pair of tap shoes I had ever seen.

She felt so grown up putting on her own ballet shoes.

Final stage/dress rehearsal at the theater.

She was in that class when she turned 3 years old and the November following her birthday she started rehearsals for her first show. It was Frozen and she was so excited to be on a real stage in a real theater. So both Friday night and Saturday morning were all about dance. The show required a handmade costume with a flower in their hair and make up. Very grown up.
2 days before her first show just me and Charlotte went by train to the theater for an onstage dress rehearsal.

As a sufferer of anxiety travelling by train is a hard thing for me to do but even worse with Charlotte in tow but we made it without a breakdown. The rehearsal was amazing. Friday marked the first show and of course me and my mom had tickets to every show.

 Having a 3 year old in a show is a big thing but having a child in 4 shows over 4 days is amazing. I couldn't be more proud of her, of all the children,

 The stage was huge. the show was in 2 halves, The first half was frozen and then the second half had older girls doing other dances, Charlotte loved seeing the older girls on pointe and can't wait until she can become just like them.














On the Friday of the first show me, Charlotte and my mom decided we would go to the theater by train as I had done 2 days before, Getting there was fine, getting from the station to the theater was fine. I did have a plan for on the way home, I knew we wouldn't be leaving the theater until at least 9pm so, as Charlotte is still quite thin, I took her moby wrap with me so that when we got off the train I could wrap her and she can sleep on me on the bus and the walk up the road to our house. Well lets just say it didn't got the best. We left the theater and headed for the train and just as we got up to the platform the train pulled away. There wasn't going to be another train for an hour, that would be almost 11pm. So we headed for McDonald's before heading back down to make sure we didn't miss the next train which was the last one. We got off the train and got to the bus stop and Charlotte was so tired, I tried to wrap her but she was fussy. On the bus she dropped off but the bus took forever to get home. She didn't want to be wrapped when we got off the bus so the short 2 minute walk up the road was horrible.

After that we learned our lesson, The next 2 days we took the car. Mom had never drove that far before but once we got there it was all fine. The Saturday Charlotte had 2 shows to do then one more on the Sunday.

After the final show all the dancers who had stayed were invited up on stage and were given a flower, All the dancers were amazing.


After the show was finished classes went back to normal, until the Easter holidays. After which Charlotte was then moved up another class. She hadn't even turned 4 years old and was dancing with 5/6/7 year olds. This meant a class slightly later than before, Charlotte wanted to do more after the show so she was asked if she wanted to try a flexi class which is half an hour of gymnastics, strengthening, conditioning, stretching, She loves it. She turned 4 in the end of June and in November she was told she could take her first exam in the December, She was so excited because while she was doing the show rehearsals some of the older girls in her group were doing exams and she wasn't because she was still too young. This time her teacher had spoken to the IDTA and they allowed her to do her first rosette at 4 and half years old. As she had done so well I caved and got her the dance school onesie to wear over her leotard. I got the smallest one they had in stock which was age 5-6 years but it is huge on her, It will definitely last her for a few years. At the moment we are waiting to find out what will happen in May. There is another set of exams but these are a bit more strict and she needs to be 5 years old. Her teacher has said she will try and see if they will allow her to do it but it may not be allowed as she already did the first one before she was 5 and this would be her second. what she did say though is that even if she is not able to do it this time around she will move her up a group as she is ready for a 2 hour class and then when the exam times come around again then she will do her new class and go into the exam prep in the lower class to so she is caught up. They all forget how young she still is because she has been there for over 3 years now and still not 5 years old. The next class includes children up to 8 years old and the exam after this next one has an age limit of 7 so as much as she may want to advance faster she may still be restricted but after that one there is no limit so she can move through her grades as and when she is ready and then as long as she is ready at the age of 10 they consider the children for pointe work. I know 10 years old is still a way off but time goes so fast that it will be here in no time.

Charlotte's first ballet rosette.

Livingston academy of dance onesie.

 I do wonder sometimes what life would have been like if I hadn't decided to find her a dance class and if I'm totally honest I hate the thought if her not being in dance, She loves it with a passion.