Alyssa's dance year!

It's about time I post on Alyssa's dance, since it is a big part of her life. This year, as in the past 5 years we have lived in Utah, she took dance at Starz Unlimited, a non-profit cooperative dance studio, with a large number of homeschool families. http://www.starzunlimited.org/ It is a great studio, focusing on modest music and costumes, and everyone working together to make a great experience for the kids. I've helped by doing the accounts receivable for the past three years, and this was my last year with that job. It will be strange to not do it anymore, but I'm hoping to find a new job to help with.

Alyssa has taken ballet, pointe, lyrical/jazz, and clogging at Starz. The past three years she has been on a competition clogging team, and quickly moved up to the championship level this past year! This year she was on an all-girls team, with a variety of ages, Alyssa being the youngest at 14, and the ages ranging up into married young moms in their 20s. This was the first year she was not on a mixed boys/girls team, which she did miss. For the past two years, Alyssa has been involved in another dance studio, Mountainwest ballet's, Nutcracker performance, which is a big time commitment from September through Christmas, with multiple weekly classes, and then rehearsals, costume fittings, performances, etc. Due to the Nutcracker schedule and her regular Starz ballet/pointe teacher having a baby, she decided to wait to take any ballet/jazz/pointe classes until after Nutcracker. Then at the beginning of the year, she decided she wanted to take a break from her crazy dance schedule and only be in clogging for the rest of the dance year. Clogging alone can be quite busy during competition season (Feb-June).

Competition season went great, and Alyssa's team got ALL 1st place high gold on both their dances (Ladies choice and A Little Less Conversation) at all four competitions, including Nationals! She had so much fun with these dances and the group of girls on her team. Each year, they have a new dance and do the previous year's new dance for a second year before it is retired. So, next year they will do A Little Less Conversation again plus their new dance. They also got to perform at Starz' end of the year recital last week.

Alyssa was also a teacher's assistant for a 3 year old ballet class of girls and boys. She has really enjoyed doing that this year and hopes to assist again next year. Their dance at recital was adorable, and the kids had the audience roaring with all their cute antics!

This summer Alyssa will be getting back into ballet/pointe/jazz with Starz' new teachers, and decide if she will continue with ballet/pointe next fall. She also wants to try ballroom dancing, which I think she would be good at.

Here are pictures from recital, some from the class she assistant teaches, from her clogging team, and one from this year's Nutcracker. In the two team pictures she is in the front. I'm sure I sound like a typical bragging Mom, but I/we really think she is a beautiful dancer, and has so much talent and potential. We're proud of you Alyssa!!!

I really need to learn how to arrange pictures on this blog!