Photos by Erik Tomasson Photography
Nutcracker 2009
We survived all of Isabella's 16 performances with flying colors. It is an experience we will forever treasure. I attended all performances in different capacities: as an audience, as backstage volunteer, ballet shop volunteer, and as Club Nut volunteer.
As an Audience
As an audience I had the privilege watch the show several times with people closest to my heart.
- The first one of course was opening night when I watched with my mom and dad Dennis. My friend, Owen, and her family came to watch as well.
- The second one was on the 17th with my BFF, Cecile, and her DD and Isabella's BFF, Krystn.
Thanks to my pro photog BFF, our lovely time was captured in beautiful professional photographs. And as if all that was not enough, she designed wonderful layouts perfect for the scrapbook album she made for Isabella. Thanks oodles BFF!
- The third one was with hubby and the boys on the 19th.
This is yet another special day. I always feel so elated when I have all my babies with me (sorry boys...you know you will always and forever be mommy's babies...even though you are all much taller than mom now). The boys and Russ met us at the ballet school and we picked up Isabella from Club Nut to have dinner at Shima Sushi.
The boys were all so proud of their baby sister. Our boys are not the type to watch a ballet:) It's all for their beloved baby sister. As far as these brothers are concerned, the clowns had the best part in the show.
- I also got a chance to watch a couple more shows from the box seats as a perk of working as ballet shop volunteer.
As a Backstage Chaperon
Supervising the wonderful young clowns backstage was an enjoyable and worthwhile opportunity. I volunteered so much they all started calling me mom...I was so touched. It was so fun watching these "little professionals" at work in their element.
This is their usual day:
- They come in to the War Memorial and check in with their Nutcracker badges. Then they sign-in in their appropriate sign up sheet.
- We then take the elevator to the 6th floor to their assigned dressing room. We wait for a call from make-up.
- As soon as make-up is ready for them, we make our way down to the basement. They go in to this room that looks like a beauty/hair salon complete with salon chairs and professional make-up artists. The girls apply their own foundation and then they take a seat in any available salon chair, and their respective make-up artist applies the rest of their make-up.
- Then they move to hair to an available hair artist for their clown hat.
- We then wait for their wardrobe call. While waiting, the girls pass the time by playing card games. They also get to see Drosselmeyer being lifted up to the stage using heavy duty hydraulics and fog machine.
- Then they all proceed excitedly to wardrobe as soon as they get the call. They then put on their respective costumes all prepared in a rack with their names on them with the help of the costume mistress as needed.
- Then their moment comes when they get to show their passion for this art on the big stage. The moment they get off the stage they get "hi-fives" from the other dancers and their teacher.
- Then they make their way back in reverse order: hair, to take off their hats; wardrobe to take off their costumes; make-up, to clean their beautiful baby faces; then back to their dressing rooms to gather their belongings.
As a Ballet Shop Volunteer
As a ballet shop volunteer, I got the opportunity to watch the show from the box seats. I was even able to get Isabella in time to watch the grand pas de deux with me from the box seat.
As a Club Nut Volunteer
Club Nut is a service provided to the families of the student dancers, organized and staffed by ballet school parents and BRAVO volunteers. It is a safe and fun place for the children to rest, eat and play between their appearances in the matinee and evening performances of Nutcracker.
Isabella had a great time doing arts and crafts and playing twister with her friends at Club Nut.
Other Meaningful Nutcracker Memories
- Isabella will also remember the day when her 5th grade teacher came to watch a matinee show and brought her flowers at Club Nut.
- On the same day her teacher came to watch, my bible study group also came to watch during the evening show.
- There was also one time when I volunteered during a Family Performance Night.
Isabella and I will always remember helping prepare toys to be handed out to the first 500 children. Then during intermission, I helped serve cookies and drinks in the lobby for the audience. One fellow volunteer gave me a ticket to watch the show. You would think I would be all "Nutcrackered out":)...nah...I could never get tired of those adorable and talented clowns.
Guardian Angel
He has a guardian angel for sure!
This is part of a message I received from Ms. Tara (one of Isabella's beloved dance teachers at CDMA). It reminded me of a piece of story I failed to mention on my blog regarding Russ' car accident. Russ said that while he was being checked after the accident, there was a white bunny sitting by his car. When the paramedics asked him if it was his, and he said no, they attempted to get the bunny but it ran away. We can't help but think the white bunny might have been a sign of his guardian angel. Thank you dear heavenly Father for your supernatural protection.
Amazing Grace
God's amazing grace...it's the only explanation how my husband walked out of this car accident of this magnitude with just very few minor scratches. The paramedics and policemen on the scene couldn't believe it either.
It happened on highway 101 in Salinas on his usual weekly trip to Pismo Beach every Sunday (this time it was very early Monday morning). My DH, Russ, passed out and woke up being pulled out from his wrecked car.
AMAZING GRACE...WE ARE TRULY GRATEFUL!
He has a guardian angel for sure!
This is part of a message I received from Ms. Tara (one of Isabella's beloved dance teachers at CDMA). It reminded me of a piece of "angelic" story I failed to mention about this incident. Russ said that while he was being checked after the accident, there was a white bunny sitting by his car. When the paramedics asked him if it was his, and he said no, they attempted to get the bunny but it ran away. We can't help but think that the white bunny might have been a sign of his guardian angel. Thank you dear heavenly Father for your supernatural protection.
Impromptu L.A. Trip and The Chain of Poncho-Giving Kindness
Part of my New Year's list of plans/goals is a ballet summer intensive program for Isabella. She is very dedicated and passionate in this art form and I promised her I will give her all the support I can give. Around mid January, I started searching (googleing) for schools offering dance summer programs (San Francisco Ballet does not have one for her age level). The two other premiere ballet schools in the U.S. offering summer intensives for Isabella's age group are the American Ballet Theater (ABT) in New York and the Joffrey Ballet in Chicago. We missed the audition date for ABT (and I thought I was starting early with my planning); luckily, Joffrey Ballet has a schedule for an audition in L.A. on January 30th.
We did not decide to go until Thursday, the 28th, when I went ahead and booked a hotel room for the following day (my Worldpoints from Amex came in handy:). I asked the boys if they will accompany us for the trip. Even Immanuel who is almost always busy with his own schedule was willing to come with us.
On the day of the trip, I had to miss bible study...Isabella stayed home from school with a tummy ache. I took Ian to school for his Finals. Then it was on to housework and preparations for the trip. I drafted an itinerary complete with driving times and fun times for after the auditions.
We pretty much followed the schedule I drafted but we also remained flexible for a stress-free mini vacation.
We picked up Ian from school at around 2:30pm and left straight from there to San Luis Obispo where we met up with Phil for dinner at Firestone Grill around 6:00pm. Phil helped maximize our time by ordering dinner for us before we got there. The boys rode with Phil back to Pismo while Belle and I went to get gas at Costco. We left Pismo around 7:30. Phil drove and we arrived in our hotel in downtown L.A. at around 11pm. We had no trouble going to sleep.
The next day we rushed to the auditions after continental breakfast and power prep fighting for one bathroom. We made it to the audition site at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion at the L.A. Music Center just in the nick of time for the 9am audition time for her age group.
Isabella said she had fun at the auditions and learned new combinations. The teacher was "very nice and very good." She said he called out her number and said: "great job number 29!"
here she is posing outside the venue after the audition
We debated where to spend the rest of our mini weekend vacation...it was a toss up between Universal Studios and Disney. We decided to go Disney because it is open until late while Universal closes at 6pm.
here the kids obliged to pose for a photo before our first stop in Frontierland
They even got me to ride Splash Mountain.
The rest is blissful history of fun family time at Disneyland until 9:30pm (we did not make it until 11pm as planned:).And from 11am to 2:30pm the following day, Sunday, at California Adventures.
There is one particular story I want to share that happened during our last ride before leaving California Adventures. In my schedule, I had planned for us to leave the park by 2pm. And by 2pm, though we started an hour late, we accomplished all that we planned and we're right on schedule. But after our last supposed ride, "Soaring", Isabella begged us if we could go for one more last ride and go on the "Rapids" ride again. She won, of course, but Ian and Immanuel did not want to go...they didn't want to get wet (can you imagine they're scared of cold water lol) As we were handing them our bags and sweaters, a lady asked us if we want their ponchos. So Ian and Immanuel got to join us at the fun ride complete with ponchos to protect them from getting soaked (bless that lady's heart).
Coming out from the ride, Phil asks: "hey mom! are you going to pass on the ponchos to others who may want them?" What a great idea! I started offering the ponchos to incoming "rafters" but no one wanted them. As we were walking to go out of the park, a man in a wheelchair asked us if we still needed our ponchos. We were very happy to give it to him and he was delighted saying "yay! now we won't get soaked!". Phil called it the "Chain of Poncho-Giving Kindness".
We had lunch at a buffet outside the park and finally bid goodbye to L.A. around 3:30pm. We dropped off Phil and left Pismo around 7:30pm, arriving Union city at 10:30pm. Again, we didn't have any trouble going to sleep.
It was a indeed a blessed impromptu audition and mini weekend vacation!
(More funny photos of this trip if you click on the photo tab)
SF Ballet Class Observation
Twice per year, parents/guardians are invited into the studio to observe class. This is an opportunity to experience ballet class from start to finish: barre and centre. This observation is NOT open to the public (friends, etc.), but is for parents/guardians to observe their student's progress.
Last night we had the privilege attending our first class observation at SFBallet. It was a thrilling experience for Russ and me. We are so proud of Isabella's focus, dedication, and overall progress. We are also very pleased with, and in awe of, the quality of training SFBallet provides. The live piano accompaniment is awe-inspiring, not to mention the teacher's prominent training, experience, dedication, and passion, evident in her superb teaching technique.
Isabella has been very fortunate having been blessed with the great training she has had thus far. Besides classes at SFBallet 3x a week, she also has the benefit of training at Ballet Petit twice a week. And of course, prior to SFBallet (before our move back here in the Bay Area), the root of her ballet inspiration, her two and a half years (1/07 - 6/09) of superb training from CDMA in the Central Coast.
Next week is evaluation time at SFBallet.
Every student in Levels 1 through 8 receives two written evaluations per year. The evaluations will include information on the student’s technical development, attendance, conduct, and potential. In addition, each student will have one conference with his or her primary teacher and the student’s parent/guardian.
We'll keep you posted. Ballet is here to stay for Isabella and we are here to support and encourage her in any way we can.
Phil....Hero at the Beach
Last Sunday our son, Phil, decided to go boogie boarding at the beach. It was his first time back after a long time since he started working last August. When he was about ready to go home he heard voices calling for help. He saw a man drowning with his clothes on. Apparently the man jumped in looking for his kids who had gone surfing. According to Phil the waves were fierce at that point and the man's clothing did not help the situation. Phil did not hesitate to come to his rescue and lifted him up to his board. According to Phil he was already tired at that point since he had been boogie boarding for quite a while. He hoped for a push from the waves and it came for them. The paramedics and lifeguards came as well. He said people were congratulating him all the way to his car. When Russ told co-workers at their work, one of the Sys. Admin. said he saw the whole thing at the beach from afar and did not realize it was Phil. They all congratulated him at work as well. I believe Phil was sent back to the beach that day for that very purpose. God is so good.
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