A week of pink tutus and sparkles

It's ballet recital week!

Kicking off the week of hectic activities, I attended my cousin's ballet recital. She was a doll.

The next day I spent my afternoon at the theater, where I would devote the majority of my waking hours the next several days. My solo, barely finished, needed a great deal of work; our group piece, while not technically difficult, was physically taxing; and my classes needed to get used to dancing on the big stage.

It's so frustrating to be a dancer sometimes. You pour your heart and soul into something, spend hours upon hours training and trying to perfect it, and by the end you feel so proud of yourself.....only to watch the video of your performance and realize you're no Natalia Osipova.

Nevertheless, recital week is a stressful, exhausting, exhilarating time. Your muscles reach a new level of sore. You feel the adrenaline rush as the curtains open. Your blood pressure skyrockets as you frantically strip naked in the wings for a quick change.

You try to quiet little girls whining for a snack or bouncing off the walls and then usher them onstage, whispering "big smiles! big smiles!" to no avail. You chase down the stragglers who attempt to run to their parents spotted in the audience, while simultaneously trying to run your own dance in your head one last time. Wait, is it jete jete pas deux bourre or glissade glissade assemble?

And by curtain call you're wiped out, calf muscles crying out for mercy, your right knee aching from that leap you landed incorrectly and reminding you you're not 20 years old anymore. But you feel so good. You're relieved, you're spent, you are coming down off the high of performing for a crowd, and you can't believe the season is over.

What a year it has been. It was my first year teaching, and my first year back to dance after a four-year law school hiatus. I have cried, I have laughed, I've been frustrated beyond belief, and it's all been well worth it.

I'm thankful. I'm tired. And I'm so grateful for the opportunity to do something that brings me so much joy.