Getting Her Flip On

If you remember this post, then you remember that Taylor had enrolled in an acrobatics class at Jansen Dance Project about 14 months ago. She had gone with me to Riley's hip hop dance class and while there, she would watch the acrobatics class on the TV monitor in the waiting lounge. Two things caught her attention. One, the girls doing flips and bridges and basically being able to jump all over the place and not get in trouble for doing so (my furniture was thanking me for enrolling her in the class!). The second, there wasn't a performance schedule. Essentially, the kids in the class were doing it for themselves to learn flexibility and tumbling. Most of them probably go on to be cheerleaders, and even gymnasts. The biggest advantage was that these students did not perform on a stage or take part in a musical and THAT was what made it perfect for Taylor. She's my shy girl. She loves to clown around and act silly and perform. But ONLY in front of us, her parents, or a few friends. NEVER in front of an audience.


All year she has been practicing her hand stands, one armed cartwheels, bridges, back flips, and hand stands to a forward roll. She loves jumping all over the mats and luckily, her teacher encourages it. She's crab walking around and doing bunny jumps (something I couldn't even think of trying to do), and she does it with ease and simplicity. It's like it's second nature to her.

A couple of months ago, I was told that there would be a spring performance for all the Creative Movement (CM) and Creative Rhythm (CR) students. Jansen Dance Project starts off their dancers at age 3 with ballet (CM) and tap (CR). Riley started in CR learning very basic tap movements but it's done with a lot of fun added in so the students really enjoy their classes. Taylor's acrobatics class, while not a preschool class by any means, is grouped with the younger classes. Acro students start at age 6 learning stretching and movement. So it was that the acrobatics class would also perform with the CM and CR classes.

I talked to Taylor about the upcoming performance and OH. MY. GOODNESS. First thing out of her mouth was "Absolutely not!" It took some coaxing and she finally relented. Performance day was also the same day as class, this past Saturday. Since it's the last couple of weeks of class, it's Bring A Friend Week, so Taylor brought Riley along with her. Watching Riley doing handstands reminded me of how Taylor was over a year ago. Barely able to kick up her legs. But she tried and she had so much fun, and that's what matters.

After class, we drove home, had lunch, and got ready to head back to the studio. We arrived early which allowed us to get front row seats. Taylor didn't act too nervous and even went to the front to sit on the mats with the other kids. Once all the parents and kids arrived, the show began. Creative Movement students went first showing off their ballet talents. Next up was the Creative Movement kids tapping away to some cute tunes. And last, Taylor got to show off her skills. I thought one of the other girls from class might come, but it was just Taylor. There are only two other girls, I believe, in the class, but they most likely had something else going on that afternoon.

Before going up, I told Taylor that if she became nervous, just to imagine everyone in their underwear. I think I learned that from the Brady Bunch back when I was kid. Never understood it, but hey, maybe it will work for her. Since she was the only tumbler, one of the high school aged assistants went up with her. They started out showing the class how they warmed up with crab walks and bunny jumps, and then headed into some serious stretching. The headstands were next, which Taylor nailed! She was awesome! OK, I'm her mom and supposed to say everything my child does is awesome, but she really got it right. They did some straddle forward rolls that would probably break my back, but they did them like it was as normal as walking on two feet. Cartwheels, and one handed cartwheels were completed. That was great to see, as I have never been able to do one, even as a kid. They did bridges and handstand forward rolls. The finale was flipping herself backwards into a bridge and then her teacher helped her kick her legs over backwards. It's the start of learning to do back flips.

I think the younger kids were impressed seeing what they can accomplish in the future and we might just see quite an influx of kids into the acrobatics program at Jansen Dance Project. I think Taylor realized that being in front of a crowd is really not so bad and might actually enjoy doing it again. I asked her what helped her to get through the performance, and she stated, "Well, I just imagined you in your underwear, Mom." Oh, gee, thanks Tay! Ugh!

I was able to video the ending part of her performance. Obviously, my video skills are not nearly as good as Spielberg or Ron Howard, but somehow I was able to get it on here. Nevermind the first five seconds of my knee. Oops!