I wish I could be there to watch you dance today, but I'll be thinking about you. I have cousins who believe the arts are a waste of time, and years ago, one of them was ridiculing me for being a fan.
"Why do you like going to the ballet and the symphony?" my cousin asked me. Keep in mind this is a woman who would risk her life to save her black velvet paintings should her house catch on fire. She told me that the ballet is a just a bunch of people "hopping around."
"Have you ever been to the ballet?" I asked. "Have you heard a great symphony in person?"
I knew she hadn't, but I had to ask.
"If I want to hear a symphony or watch a ballet, I can just turn on the TV," she said.
"Then you've never seen a live performance because if you had, you'd know that watching it on TV doesn't compare," I said.
I told her that going to the ballet and symphony matter to me because it provides balance in my life. I consider all the horrors we humans manufacture, all the damage we do to each other and our planet. But then I watch something like Swan Lake, and I see and hear the ineffable beauty humans are capable of creating, and it brushes away from my mind, if just for a little while, the wars and violence in the world. I listen to the haunting music of that ballet and watch as it flows through the ballerinas as they create art with their bodies. While watching the performance, I'm proud to be human. That's why I go.
Kayla, you are part of that beauty. Your performance today will help people forget there is a war being fought, that there is poverty and hunger. You will create art today. Look at the picture above from Swan Lake. The majesty of the human body is clear in that depiction of a fairy tale brought alive by the ballerinas. I know when I watch such artistry, God is also in the audience, applauding.
So you dance today knowing that you are the prima ballerina, and no one can come close to the beauty and majesty of your performance. Never forget that you are an artist. Don't think about the audience. During the minutes of your dance, think only of the beauty of the music and how it moves through you.
Yours is the dance of angels. I know you will perform like one.
4 comments:
Thanks, Steve. Wish you were here! It's always a joy to watch her dance.
It brought tears to her dad's eyes last year when he saw her on point for the first time. It is magnificent to watch and I never fail to think of those feet I love that used to scrunch and massage against my back when she was little and spending the night with me...those feet I love...still love, always will love.
Pretty feet, Kayla.
Remember, forget about the audience. It's you and the music.
I have no doubt you were the best dancer. I'll turn on Good Morning America in the morning and hear what they have to say about your performance!!
Her Auntie is about to post her program. They were all wonderful ...tiny and up. Christmas is so about children. I love it.
And Kayla was perfect. Every step, the flow of her hands, her smile and overall confidence was inspirational to say the least.
You know, I hear people warn about what ballet can do to the body, just like we hear about football players, runners, all that. But I think if you wear your body out doing the physical thing God gave the talent for--what's wrong with that?
I'm betting Kayla will dance for the rest of her life. She is powerful.
You were great Baby Girl, and tell Steve that we watch FOX. He's silly. :)
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