Once Upon A Time, I Was A Ballerina

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When my daughter was three she announced (with much conviction) that she wanted to take ballet classes. She had been singing and dancing her way through her days since she was old enough to talk and walk, and she wanted to be a ballerina. 

She is just like her mama. I started taking dance classes at age three with my two best friends. For the next 11 years we carpooled every week to and from the dance studio. Buns, tights and ballet shoes were a way of life. And nothing was more important than the annual dance recital. 

Each year as I watched the “big girls” perform their solos, I was certain that would be me one day. I loved dance, and I treasure the memories of my dancing days. Alas, I was not to be a prodigy dancer and by the time I got to high school, I left my ballet shoes behind. Of course the training served me well in my new endeavors of cheerleading and theater, but it has been a long time since I pulled on a pair of ballet slippers.

Ballerina

And yet, each week when I drive my daughter to dance class I can’t help but to smile and think of my days in tights.

I have often told K about when mommy was a ballerina. And when I got back my DVDs from YesVideo and discovered a dance recital I was finally able to share my dancing days with her. She was so excited to see me as a ballerina. Of course, Dad was sitting in the back of the theater with an ’80s camcorder, so it is hard to see faces. But to me, I am unmistakable.  And to K, I am the best in the class. 

In case you want to see me, in all of my glory. You can see my 1989 ballet recital below. (I am just stage left of the little boy, then I move to stage right of him.) FYI – unless you are my mom, you probably don’t want to watch the full 4:39 video, but at 30 seconds in you a nice shot of me.

Check out more of my YesVideo memories:

Reliving my moments as a ballerina was made possible by transferring old 8 mm tapes to digital and DVD with YesVideo. If you have video footage locked away on an old format, do something about it. Relive your memories (and possible photo opps) with YesVideo.

21 thoughts on “Once Upon A Time, I Was A Ballerina”

  1. That is beautiful!!! You must be so proud!!! I never participated in anything when I was younger – I cannot WAIT until my twin daughters are 18 months so they can start dance ; They both LOVE to dance !! My mom would love YesVideo – Going to send her the link!

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  2. I just love watching that. I was a young dancer myself and I took ballet too. It was not my favorite, I loved tap and jazz. I enjoyed that and I watch the whole thing.

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  3. that is so cute and awesome your daughters likes it also would love to get my daughter into it she loves dancing but she is also tomboyish at the same time so not sure if she would commit to it but looks like a lot of fun always loved ballet 🙂

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  7. OH so precious!!!! I would love to transfer some of our old ones to DVD. That is so neat that you can do that! What a great way to preserve our memories!

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  8. That’s so cool that you got them transfered to DVDs. I have some old videos (VHS) of me doing gymnastics as a kid that I would love to have saved on a DVD!

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  11. Dance was too frilly for me! I spent my time in a tree in our yard, with a book! Yes, I was the proverbial nerd, except my grades were not so extravagant! LOL! You were wonderful though, by the way, and your daughter is adorable!

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  14. what a sweet story. how wonderful that you can share your memories of dance now with your daughter. i want to sign my daughter up for dance. she’s 5 now.. and i think she might be ready.

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  15. We took classes when we were young and it was so much fun doing it with the other children. A great time and getting good exercise too.

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