ballet under the stars!

The night started out great...outdoor reunion before the performance. We saw LOTS of old friends and thumbed through LOTS of old pictures! Of course, "the poster" {not pictured because anna stole it :)} was front and center. I guess it's safe to say that we are known for our picture taking obsession! Back in the day, we had to hold each pose for FOREVER because, of course, we each had to take one with our own camera. Thank you digital!

The poster is giant and it's a collage of pictures of only us from the many years of our dancing memories! we made it for Ms. Linda the year that we all graduated--well, actually the same year we did the secret dance, right Jill? {Jill remembers EVERYTHING!!} I don't know, but we love it. Ms. Linda made us all a copy, and mine hung in my room until Orum and I got married. The original hangs on the studio wall. It's truly a masterpiece :)

Remember Lori, in the purple and black dress? She's famous. Our group was in the Senior Company when "Ballet under the Stars" was created, and she was the model for the set. Her silhouettes are on top of the stage frame!

We reminisced about our days at the park. The girls now have an air conditioned cabin to serve as their "back stage." We had to crouch behind those black stairs--that little "wall" wasn't there. I think it was prettier to just see the water behind the dancers, but without it there were a lot of challenges...like army crawling to get to the other side of the stage :) During the day performances, we all laid out on beach towels in our leotards. I think we definitely had more fun!

As soon as the performance started, so did the rain. They did one dance. The dancers fell. They took an intermission to dry the stage. They used everything possible--the mops that were props for a dance, towels, even a leaf blower! As soon as it was dry, it started pouring! The performance was cancelled :(

Luckily, I had a few umbrellas in my car! They all made fun of me, until they needed one!

Our party was moved in to the car...hoping that they rain would stop. It didn't.

We were supposed to have dinner under this amazing "tent!" Instead it just made a pretty spot for the rain to fall, and we ate in the lodge. Yes, very exciting.

Anna told us all that our hair looked horrible. I don't think it was that bad--it must have been the umbrellas!

Joe Istre and us--above.

Anna performing therapy on someones's toe--below. {showoff}

Did I mention that there were a lot of tears that night? They were spontaneous. No one was immune, but Anna had the most! I think mostly, at least for me, it was because our dancing years were so wonderful! Full of great memories, with great people--doing what we loved. I mean, I love my life now, but I loved my life then too! It was special. It's a time that can never be recreated. I hope that my girls will have the same experience with dance as we did!

{I promise not to be the crazy backstage mom}

I think Anna was condemning softball here...her daughter Evan prefers softball to ballet. Saddness.

Ms. Linda, Joe, and us! The after-after party occurred at Ms. Linda's house--just like the good ol'days! Only this time we came when she was already awake instead of 6am, and sadly no doughnuts were involved.