Eliana's Dance Recital

This is going back a month, but for such a cute get-up, surely it’s okay.

On May 23 we attended Eliana’s first big dance recital at the Henderson Pavilion. She had a recital last December as well, but this was the big kahuna. Grandma and Grandpa Snow were terrific sports and made the trip from Salt Lake City to Henderson to be part of the action.

Ellie donned her pink-spangled outfit, tap and ballet shoes for two dances to the absolute pleasure of mom, dad, grandma and grandpa.

I was especially pleased to see the common sense gene had been passed on when she requested we leave after two-and-a-half hours of sitting in an outside amphitheater in high Vegas temperatures watching ages 3 to who-knows-what dance their little hearts out.

Eliana’s performances were sprinkled in between the other age groups. She was slated to ‘appear’ in the grand finale, but when she asked in her tired way if we could leave, dad and pregnant mom couldn’t have agreed more. Getting grandma away from the theater’s weatherproof folding plastic chair was another issue—who are we to deprive her granddaughter of one last dance—but we managed.

I especially enjoyed the experience of changing Eliana’s shoes (from ballet slippers to tap shoes) between numbers. It was me and a whole bunch of doting moms. Seriously, I was the only testosterone backstage (as long as you don’t count the post-menopausal women who shave nearly as much as I do). Although I was raised in the performing arts, I felt just a little out of place.

At least I had my darling daughter and all her first performance anxiety to keep me occupied. She was excited and just a bit apprehensive all rolled up in one cute little package.

By the time we made it home it was close to 10 p.m. (we left around 6:45 to ‘get a good seat’). I was happy to relax in the family room…but not nearly as relieved as was Vickey.

All in all, it was a fun experience. I even recorded most of it on video tape for posterity’s sake. Speaking of which, I requested and got the new Backstreet Boys album for Father’s Day this year and last night recorded Eliana rocking out to one of their songs. That’ll be a good one to play at her wedding!