And She Danced...

Ella’s dance recital was on Saturday night. She was determined to try to dance in spite of the weakness of her legs.

We told her that it was okay if she couldn’t do it, but she just shook her head at us and said, “This may be the only chance I get in my whole life to be a ballerina on a stage. I’m not going to miss it.”

If she was game, I was. On Thursday, she had her dress rehearsal. We discussed it with her dance teacher ahead of time and decided that if she fell onstage at dress rehearsal, the recital was probably not a good idea. She used her crutches to get out on stage, and then her teacher took them away. She made it through the two minute dance by sheer force of will. Her jaw was set, and she forced her legs to hold her up. It took all her strength, and the whole of Friday to recover, but she had done it.

Saturday afternoon, she glowed with anticipation. She was going to get to dance, come hell or high water. She even had a back-up plan.

“If I fall on the stage, Mom, don’t worry about me. I’ve made up an ‘arm ballet’ that I can sit there and dance. I’ll just pretend that we planned it all along.”

Her sister helped with her makeup, and I wound her long hair up into a bun. She was ready.

leaning against the wall for a no-crutches picture

She handed her crutches to her teacher, lifted her head high, and walked out on the stage. She limped and wobbled her way through the dance. Her sister and I gasped as we saw her nearly go down three times, but she forced her legs to lock into place and refused to fall. She twirled on shaking legs, and then made it off the stage just in time to collapse in her teacher’s arms.

I am in awe of her strength and bravery. For a desperately shy girl to brave falling in front of hundreds of people takes a bravery that I can scarcely fathom. For her to do it with a back up plan and a laugh makes me love her all the more.

I don’t know for certain that this will be her only time to ever be a twirling on a stage ballerina, but I tend to think she’s right. I’m glad she had the opportunity to do this, and a teacher who was willing to take a chance on a dancer who cannot stand.