get your jazz hands up

with the beginning of the school year comes the start of the bean's jam-packed extracurricular schedule.  she thrives on activity and staying busy, and i'm only too happy to oblige.  her week looks like this:

monday - cheer practice
tuesday - art class
wednesday - jazz dance and soccer practice
thursday - gymnastics
friday - hula
saturday - soccer game (starting next month)

i know it looks crazy busy, but to be honest, each of those activities only lasts for about an hour.  and she loves all of them, so there.

you might notice that the dance class this year is different.  i was all set on dropping dance altogether this year, but watching her in the recital completely turned me around and when it was over i gave her the choice of which genre to enroll in.  she's now outgrown the combo class, so she gets to choose a class that focuses on one type of dance for the entire hour now.  given the choice between ballet and tap, instead of opting for the latter as i'd hoped, she said "i really want to try jazz, mommy."

i confess that i did all i could to sway her towards the tap class.  it fit into the schedule perfectly, not to mention that she is actually really good at it.  in fact, the academy invited her to join the competition tap team this year, which had me silently beaming with pride.  alas, she decided she wasn't ready for the commitment and we declined the invitation.  and then i reminded myself that i needed to let her pick what she wanted to do, and this year, it was jazz.  and so i rearranged the entire schedule and completed her enrollment.

this also meant some snazzy new shoes:

she was so excited to get to her first class.  and it was fun for her to get ready for a dance class sans leotard and tights:

when we got there, instead of using the hour to run errands as i had become accustomed to doing, i stayed and watched her in class via the monitor in the waiting room.

i peeked through the window in the door a few times, too.  i was so amused watching the warm-up - my kid doesn't love calisthenics at all.  there were push-ups:

tricep dips:

and tons of stretching.

but i could hear the teacher through the door, who was super encouraging and full of energy.  i knew the bean would love her despite the hated warm-up exercises, though.  when the class was over and we were on our way home, i asked her what her favorite part of class had been, and the predictable answer was "i loved it ALL, mommy!  i really like jazz!"

most excellent.