The SugarPlum's 2009 Ballet Recital

For the past three years, month of May has been Recital Month in plezWorld as the SugarPlum spends successive weeks performing in either piano (last weekend) or ballet (this past weekend). This is the 7-year old's fourth year in ballet with the Atlanta Ballet Centre for Dance Education (Atlanta Ballet Company) and this is her first year in "B" level dance.

As you will see in the following clip, she has really made great strides in the mastery of her performance. This year's performances represent a leap in maturity, focus, and technical ability on both the piano and the dance floor.

This year's ballet performance was held at the Georgia Tech Ferst Center for Arts in Atlanta. Unfortunately, there was significant degradation of the video as it was moved from camera to memory card to YouTube.

The SugarPlum's Ballet Recital



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plez sez: the SugarPlum never ceases to amaze with her stage presence... after her standout performance she was given a big bouquet of roses and was treated to her favorite dessert at the cheesecake factory in buckhead.

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The SugarPlum Dance

This morning is the SugarPlum's annual ballet recital (Year Three). Her Saturday morning class will accompany the Atlanta Ballet Company dancers in a rendition of "The Toy Castle".

Program photo courtesy of my Palm Treo 680

Arts & Entertainment in plezWorld

Music hath charms to soothe a savage breast,
To soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak.
William Congreve, 1670-1729

This weekend, plezWorld had the opportunity to celebrate good music and true artistic performance, compliments of my daughter! May 19, 2007 was a big day because my five-year old daughter (the SugarPlum) had 3 performances on Saturday afternoon. At noon, she performed with her ballet class in the Atlanta Ballet Centre presentation of "Snow White". For the past 9 months, every Saturday morning finds the two of us at the ballet centre for her weekly ballet lessons. The fruits of her labor was evident in her performance on yesterday. In "Snow White", her class performed a short routine as Ballerina Butterflies with the Atlanta Ballet professionals! After the show, we gave the SugarPlum her bouquet of pink roses, took some pictures with the rest of her class, and then we were off to lunch.

The SugarPlum playing "Can-Can"
(recorded on my Palm Treo 680)

At 4:00pm, her school program began: she has been taking piano lessons for the last 2 months and she has been singing in the school chorus all year. The SugarPlum kicked off the piano recitals with her version of Jacques Offenbach's "Can-Can." She did an excellent job on the piano considering the fact that she's been taking lessons for 2 months and she's been practicing her piece for only 4 weeks! There were a total of 14 students who performed pieces for the piano recital.

After the piano recitals, she joined the school chorus for a medley of songs, including their school's "theme song": "Friends on Our Left, and Friends on Our Right" by Sally K. Albrecht. What a full day of an appreciation of music; I'm sure the SugarPlum will enjoy the love of music that we've given her at a young age.

My little girl is a true performer, who had no stage fright in any of her appearances. I'm so proud of the SugarPlum, I don't know what to do!