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Self-portrait by J, in his Nutcracker "Party Boy" costume.

Please pardon the interruption in blogging. It's not that we've not been busy schooling and learning and doing all sorts of wonderful seasonally and educationally appropriate activities, it's just that we're so buried under Nutcracker that it's hard to find time to sit at the computer and write about it!

This past weekend was our first performance weekend, and it was FABULOUS (what a great show!), but hectic -- I was at the theater we were performing at all day on both Saturday and Sunday. We had a stage rehearsal in the morning, then I had a bunch of last-minute wardrobe sewing to help out with during the afternoon (I've been extremely involved with the costumes for this show, as well as pulling other duties as needed). And then their first performance was on Saturday night -- J came off the stage after the Party Scene all smiles and happiness, and stated "That was GREAT! Too bad I only have one scene." I told him don't worry, there are plenty of years to come where I'm sure he'll be on stage more than once a night. We got to sneak out to the audience to watch the 2nd act, and sat with some of our theater friends who were very impressed with the performance. The quality of this show really is at such a high level. His fan base at that show included a bunch of homeschooling friends, Mimi, Auntie H and cousin K, and of course Zoo Boy and The Map Man. Grandma and Grandpa will catch the show this coming weekend.

Sunday he danced in the matinee, with no fan base, so I sent him home right after his scene so that I could help out with dressing dancers and managing backstage stuff and sewing as needed. I stayed through the afternoon, and then most of the evening performance (by the other cast), finishing up my duties for the day by sewing the handsome Nutcracker Prince into his costume (a little insurance that he'd actually STAY in that costume while dancing!) -- it was really nice to have a private chat with a talented professional male dancer, gave me a peek into J's potential future, should he decide to go down that path professionally (which wouldn't surprise me one bit).

School-wise, we've been working on a big math unit these past two weeks, and I've got a huge blog post planned when we get to the end of that. We also visited the CT Science Center, attended a stage performance of The Grinch that some of our friends were involved with, and spent some time crafting and playing with other homeschool families (during which I forgot to take pictures despite having my camera in my pocket, darn it), plus our other usual activities such as guitar lessons, swimming, and Spanish class. So we've been plenty active outside of dance as well.


This coming weekend are the final performances, and I'll take J to see the entire show during the other cast's last showing. I'll bring my camera along this time, and hopefully get a chance to snap some backstage pictures for keepsakes for J (and to share here). Cameras are not allowed during the performance, so there won't be any actual dancing pictures. Guess you'll all just have to come to the show if you want to see!