Tiny Dancer

Today was Petunia's first ballet class.  She has talked about learning ballet for over a year, but, for various reasons, I didn't register her until this year.  I found a nearby studio that offers ballet (or, in this case, pre-ballet) as an individual class, rather than combining it with tap and/or jazz.  Petunia has been very specific about wanting to take "just ballet, Mom."

After waiting for so long to go to dance class, she surprised herself by becoming a little nervous when the time came for her to walk into the studio.  The ballet mistress immediately came over to put her at ease, which allowed me to leave the room without Petunia having a meltdown.  Poor little thing didn't know anyone in this class, but we were both very happy to meet another little Vietnamese girl and her mom.  Both girls were excited to see someone with an appearance similar to her own, and both moms were excited to see their daughters excited.

I'm not certain how things are going to go from here, but I sincerely hope Petunia falls in love with actually learning ballet as much as she loves the idea of learning ballet.  If she does, she's going to do very well. 

Here's my tiny dancer before heading off to ballet class...

 The pose was her idea, as was the scrunched-up face.  She was preparing herself for the flash.  Super.

Still posing, but trying to keep her eyes open while shielding them from the flash by tilting her head downward.  Funny girl!