Olivia’s dance lessons are starting up again! Just ballet and tap this year — as opposed to ballet, tap and jazz.
I had to question her decision to drop jazz; after all, last year she kept saying it was her favorite class! The first time we talked about it and she said she didn’t want to do jazz, I didn’t hold her to it. “We’ll talk about it again closer to when classes start up.”
When I brought it up again, she was still sure. “I just want to take tap and ballet.”
I still wasn’t sure. Why not just do all three? The classes all follow each other, after all; it’s not like we have to drive all over hither and yon for each class throughout the week. And last year jazz was your favorite! Surely you’ll change your mind once you’re there.
But then I talked to another mom, with a dancing daughter of her own, who’s been doing this a few years longer than I have: “Don’t force them, whatever you do. And tap is the best one to do at this age, because once they stop that it’s really hard to pick it up again.”
So. I heeded her advice and held my tongue, and Olivia’s just taking ballet and tap. Jazz-schmazz. At least it saves me the money of buying another pair of shoes.
"Ooh, ahh, new tap shoes!"
So far, we’ve just bought new tap shoes. She needed some two sizes larger than the ones she ended with last Spring. Which leads me to wonder if her toes weren’t a little tight in her tappers by the end of the year… I don’t think her feet actually grew that much this summer.
She’s insisting that her ballet shoes still fit, though. Thing is, they’re made out of leather, people. So they stretch. Maybe they don’t pinch her toes, but does that mean they fit?
Not being a former dancer myself by any stretch of the imagination, I decided to hold off on buying new ones until I talk to her instructor. Maybe Olivia’s right? No sense buying new ones if I really don’t need to. Her old ones will certainly be fine for another lesson.
Or two. Lessons, that is. Because they started up again this week, but the night before Olivia was supposed to have her first one she woke up sick and blowing chunks. And no, she did not miss the carpet. In her room, or in ours — where it’s white.
The carpet, that is. Not the chunks.
Ewww.
I did not take a picture. I have my limitations. Though I am reminded of a friend of mine who took a picture of the mountain of barf her Marley-type Labrador left for her to clean up off of their floor — thankfully he missed their carpet. She wanted the rest of the family to fully understand the scope and scale of the mess with which she had to deal. She knew they wouldn’t believe her otherwise.
I won’t post that picture, either. Though I did see it. And it was impressive.
But back to the shoes.
$47.25 for one pair of tap shoes for one little girl.
We’ll also have the cost of lessons, $15 each week. And I won’t be surprised if a pair of ballet shoes get thrown in there in the next couple of weeks as well. We’ll see. I’d rather buy new shoes than have more puke on the carpet to pick up. Poor mom thing.
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
I started tap and baton at age 3 and kept up the tap until I was in my teens. Baton was fun but I dropped it after a few years and tried ballet. I stayed with that until I got to point shoes but after one year on point I felt I’d “done ballet”. I’d always found it a little too slow but wanting to try point shoes kept me going for several years. After ballet I moved into jazz which I kept up with the tap until my teens. Eventually all dancing ended at about 16 when my workload at school made it impossible.
I think I had new tap shoes the year I started and probably a couple of other times, but other than that our dance school organized clothing and shoe exchanges every September and January to help people pass on expensive gear that kids had outgrown in a few months. If your dance school doesn’t do this perhaps you should suggest it?
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Just bought the rest of our dance stuff today. My mom bought most of it for us. I spent $47 today on 2 pairs of tights and ballet slippers. Our classes are $54/month. For Clarabel’s tap and Laila’s ballet. And there will be costumes at some point.
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I did jazz and ballet (sometimes at the same time, sometimes only one of those) for 13 years, and the good news is that they’re very related dance styles – you give the ballet moves a new flair and suddenly you’re doing jazz
I only did tap for 2 weeks, but I think your friend is right – if you quit that style, it’d be hard to return to, but I know from experience that it’s not too bad to quit ballet and then return to it (or vice versa). I know you already made your decision, but I thought I’d just give you some additional information to make you feel even better about it 
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