WARNING:  PICTURE- AND VIDEO-INTENSE ENTRY!!! 

    Our spring recital was this past weekend.  We started getting ready for it at the beginning of May, which doesn't ever really give us enough time to really learn all our dances, but that's when they ALWAYS start it.  Which means we're ALWAYS last-minute learning dances!!!  Our skit this year was Aladdin.  I was looking forward to the recital, yet dreading it at the same time because it was my last one and I knew I would be sad.  Recital is always my favorite time at dance class because I love learning dances and performing, especially the skit dances.  So it was sad that it was my last recital, sad that my 15 years of dancing are coming to an end, and sad that I was leaving many people that I had seen every week for several years.  I figured I would start crying during the dances on Sunday, but I actually didn't start until I started telling everyone goodbye.  Then I ended up staying awake late crying that night.  God has been faithful, though, and I really haven't been that sad since then.  I know that there are lots of exciting things happening this summer and college starting in the fall, and God has amazing things planned for my life.  By the time fall gets here I probably won't miss dance that much at all.

    Here are some pictures and videos from both Saturday and Sunday's performances, and pictures that I took with my friends at practices, dress rehearsal, etc.

    My lyrical solo to Rachael Lampa's "No Greater Love".  This was during the pre-show on Saturday.  Ashley and I choreographed this dance.

    The first dance in the Aladdin skit - "Arabian Nights".  We learned this dance the Saturday before at dress rehearsal.

    The 2nd dance in the Aladdin skit - "Friend Like Me".  This was the first dance we learned, starting at the beginning of May.  It was rather difficult!  If you watch the video you'll see why...all those different arms were hard to remember!

The 3rd dance in the Aladdin skit - "Prince Ali".  This dance we learned in one night on the Monday before the recital!

This dance is my class' ballet dance en pointe, to Michael Buble's "Crazy Little Thing Called Love".  If you remember, I said last year that the older girls always do something....well....abnormal for their ballet dance - last year it was Pink Panther.  But this dance was fun to do, even though I didn't officially have a spot in it until the Wednesday before the recital.  I was kinda lost the whole time on Saturday, but I did much better on Sunday (which is when this video is from!)

And here are pictures of me and my friends.
Amanda - one of the girls that I hang out with the most

....we're kinda goofy....

Kali, the other girl that I hang out with the most

Ashton, my "daughter" from the Nutcracker who still calls me "Mommy"

Gracie, my "pet mouse"

Sweet Rachel

Funny Elizabeth

Beautiful, sweet Chelsea....as you can tell, I was crying at this point in time...

Crazy, fun Jessie

Fun cutie Caryce

And, of course, my beautiful sister Ashley

    All right, I'll quit posting pictures now!!!  I hope you enjoyed them.  I'm actually in the process of making a PowerPoint presentation with pictures from the past 15 years of dance performances, etc., that I hope to share with you soon (I found a YouTube-type site that lets you upload PP presentations)...as soon as I finish it!
Love,
Briana