Performa Ballerina

I have always been a performer at heart, albeit a frustrated one. If there's a magic sing or a videoke at any gathering i'll find a way to belt out a song or ten. If there's a disco, I will not leave until I've danced for at least 10 minutes or a hundred. So it just floors me whenever my daughter performs onstage. The fact that she's the center of attention for hundreds of people, and is actually an entertainer of sorts, someone who brings enjoyment, and injects some culture into the lives of her audience, just makes my heart swell with so much pride.

She had a solo in this just-concluded recital and was actually one of the three main leads. When I saw her dancing all by her lonesome in the middle of the main stage of the CCP, it took every ounce of willpower I had not to stand up on my chair and cheer and hoot and holler like a complete idiot! I'm sure my wife would've loved that (insert sarcastic font here)! I am supposed to have some culture and decorum after all, so instead I just clapped till my hands hurt. 

It was even worse during the last number when the male dancers started picking her up and holding her up in the air! I almost shouted! Even the Solor (Main male lead dancer) picked her up and twirled her around a few times! I was giddy with pride and at the same time I wanted to get up on stage and punch these boys silly for daring to put hands on my daughter! But that's a subject matter that's best left to a different post.

At the end of the performance I was left agog. Literally, my jaw was on the floor! I was really in awe of her dancing prowess and capability. These were adult-level dances. According to her teacher-mentor, their dances were what would be danced in any major company, no variations. This was an epiphany for me, a realization that my daughter is really a dancer, and not just any run-of-the-mill dancer, A BALLET DANCER! Dancing is in her blood. It's her passion. She's not a performer-at-heart, she's a PERFORMER period!