Allie's Stage Debut

Allie had her big stage debut this weekend and she proved herself to be a shining star!

Reesie and Peggy came down from Maine for the big event and I'm sure they will report that the dance spectacle turned out to be well worth the trip.

Allie danced to two songs. Well, actually, since I always strive for accuracy in my blog, I should say that she was scheduled to dance in two songs. What really happened is that she stood there as still as a statue for the first song, and dominated the stage with her summersaults and hamstring stretches during the second song.

These are the pictures of the first number, the one in which she didn't dance.



For those of you who don't know Allie, she is the last child on the right hand side of the picture. As you can see, she was perfectly posed with her hands propped behind her head at the start of the routine. Note the fact that all the other children are striking the exact pose.

However, once the music started, Allie maintained that pose and never moved a muscle throughout the entire routine. This is evidenced by the following picture, in which the other children can be seen doing a little dance step that involved turning to the side and doing a little footwork. Not our Allie. She was never crazy about the song and I think this was her way of communicating that point to the audience. Mind you, she stood there as sweet as anything, not crying or carrying on or misbehaving in any way, shape or form. She simply chose to stand there not moving a muscle.



Several songs later, she took the stage againg for the "Lion King, Just Can't Wait to be King." True hilarity ensued.

I was laughing so hard that I could not even begin to think about propping the camera up to take a photo. Lauren and John filmed the whole thing, and that video footage is absolutely priceless. Actually, Allie was so animated in that number that I don't think I could have gotten a clear shot if I had tried.

She was totally unphased by the huge crowd or the dimmed lights. She was working that stage a la Tom Jones, shaking her little caboose all around. The little kid sitting behind me in the audience, upon spotting Allie, said to her dad, "Hey look. There's that little girl. At least this time she's finally doing something!" Reesie and I died laughing.

Anyway, at one point, the kids were supposed to run individually across the stage, stopping midway to do a summersault. When it was Allie's turn, she was having so much fun running across the stage, and she only remembered to do her tumble at the last possible second, when she was practically already behind the curtain on the opposite side of the stage.

My favorite part was at the end of the number, when the kids were bowing and Allie repeatedly snapped herself forward in such an enthusiastic bow that she almost gave herself a severe case of whiplash.

It was hilarious.

At the end of the first act, all of the kids who performed in the first series of songs came out to do a little finale dance and take a few more bows. Toward the end of that little number, Allie just took it completely upon herself to waltz in front of the entire group of kids and do a summersault right on the mat. It was priceless.

I guess this was the litmus test for determining whether or not we have a shy child on our hands. Apparently not.

All I have to say is that if our demure little Allie has this much stage presence....the world won't know what the hell hit it when Caroline decides to take her act on the road!!