Last day of dance camp

Tonight we attended L's dance camp performance, which ended a very long week of traveling back and forth to camp every day. She had a fantastic week! She had fun, made friends, and learned a lot. She learned several new, complicated steps and has progressed a lot! It was fun to see what they've done all week.

The girls performed a song in Sanskrit, Swagatum (Welcome), they read reports they had written on some of the mythological stories of Krishna, demonstrated some of their new steps/dances, and each girl demonstrated a yoga pose.

M & I spent yesterday hanging around Madison while she was at camp. We found some bangles in her size and surprised her with them when we picked her up from camp last night. She was so excited to have her first real Indian jewelry for today's performance.

I arrived a little early today, because she wanted me there to put her performance makeup on. They wear full, traditional makeup for performances. L doesn't yet know how to apply makeup (especially eyeliner!), and the makeup and application that is beautiful on the Indian women/girls makes a pasty white girl look like a vampire zombie. I got her makeup on, and she took off with her girlfriends, while M & I waited with the rest of the parents for the big show.

L did a great job with her song, dance, report, and yoga. We were very proud of her! She looked far too grown up, though. Beautiful, but much too old!

As I watched her sing and dance, I couldn't help thinking how impressed with her I am. She has learned everything so well and so quickly, and it's been really challenging for her. Learning dance and music from a culture that is so very different--to the extent that their instruments, rhythms, tonality, etc. are unlike anything she had experienced. The clothes are different--we had to meet with Meenakshi Thurs. evening to learn how to put on the various articles of clothing. The social mores are different. Really, everything is different. I don't think, as a child, that I would have had the confidence, energy, or strength to take on such a formidable task, but she took it on, committed herself to it, and excelled.