Why does my daughter insist on being in the talent show at her elementary school?
I am not a choreographer. Not by any stretch of the imagination. I took tap as a four year old, and fell in the YMCA recital, thus ending my illustrious dance career before it even started. Yet, here I am again, critiquing one handed cartwheels and pirouettes, and discussing the merits of differing songs for performance impact.
One year, my daughter managed to talk her brother into dancing to the Cha Cha Slide, that song of so many talent acts. He was mortified, and to this day, I can't believe he agreed to it. I think it's telling that he has since refused all inducements to recreate his moment in the sun.
The next year, she and a few dance buddies took their competition dance from their dance school to the talent show. This involved days of negotiating who would stand where, and what they would wear, and debates on how the dance actually went.
Last year, I convinced her to take a break and let her talents ferment for a year, so as not to tire her classmates with her blinding dance talent.
Lest you think I am unnecessarily critical of her dance skills, I have to say I am really proud of my daughter; she takes 5 dance classes, and faithfully goes to dance 3 nights every week, September through May. She lobbied hard to join the competition team, and the group dances she has participated in have won gold and platinum awards.
It's just that awkwardness that I fear in my grown-up self, seen mirrored in my kids' elementary talent performances, that makes me squirm. What if everyone laughs at them? What if they forget their moves? When they are up front with no one else to depend on, what if something goes wrong and they can't recover?
It kills me. But she, unknowing or not, gets up in front of her classmates and dances. I hope she is always that brave.
So, here we go again, on the Talent Show Roller Coaster. She'll be the one in the front, waving her hands and dancing her heart out to Miley Cyrus, awkward or not. And I'll be applauding.
