Broadway Baby
Through pure random luck, and possibly through slightly dishonest means, I won Raina a free 2-weeks summer camp at COCA, the Center for Creative Arts. I have tremendously high respect for COCA – it trains all the best dancers in the Saint Louis area – and I was thrilled when Raina would be able to be a “Broadway Baby” for free. (Paying $250 for the opportunity was not as thrilling.)
Those two weeks were very busy. We’d get up and go to the Y, rush home and shower, eat lunch at 10:30 a.m., and then get back on the road. COCA is located in University City, Eric and my old stomping ground, but is nowhere close to our current home. After spending 30 or so minutes in the car, we’d descend upon COCA and leave Raina to an afternoon of art, singing, and dancing. (I spent the 3 hours each day wandering around various libraries during that time.)
All in all, Raina didn’t enjoy COCA very much. When asked, she said she’d rather 1) go to the Little Gym, 2) go to daycare, or 3) stay home with mommy. However, she did prefer COCA over the Y nursery, so there you go.
Her two weeks camp culminated in a show, where all the 3, 4, and 5 year-olds showed off all they learned in a ridiculously cute performance. Raina was so proud of her hand-made show invitation, and was saddened when I told her we couldn’t go. We planned to be in Knoxville, TN, by the time of the performance, so I snuck in to watch Raina on Thursday afternoon instead. It was hilarious.
The other kids were adorable. They really got into the dance routines, they sang the songs, the whole bit. Raina did mostly nothing that involved big body movements. No spinning, or jumping, or anything of that nature. She actually stood still for an entire song while all the other kids “penguin attacked” each other. One song involved a lot of cheesy smiling and she would do that, but not much more. The final song was “A Hard Knock Life” from Annie, which essentially involved the kids running around and dancing however they wanted. Raina decided to walk around the edges of the mirror, roll on the floor, and talk with her teacher.
All in all, I laughed a lot, and learned a lot about my kid. I think Raina really showed her age in comparison to the other kids. And I may have to put my little ballerina / modern dancer dreams on hold for a bit, at least until she’s willing to perform in public :)
Those two weeks were very busy. We’d get up and go to the Y, rush home and shower, eat lunch at 10:30 a.m., and then get back on the road. COCA is located in University City, Eric and my old stomping ground, but is nowhere close to our current home. After spending 30 or so minutes in the car, we’d descend upon COCA and leave Raina to an afternoon of art, singing, and dancing. (I spent the 3 hours each day wandering around various libraries during that time.)
All in all, Raina didn’t enjoy COCA very much. When asked, she said she’d rather 1) go to the Little Gym, 2) go to daycare, or 3) stay home with mommy. However, she did prefer COCA over the Y nursery, so there you go.
Her two weeks camp culminated in a show, where all the 3, 4, and 5 year-olds showed off all they learned in a ridiculously cute performance. Raina was so proud of her hand-made show invitation, and was saddened when I told her we couldn’t go. We planned to be in Knoxville, TN, by the time of the performance, so I snuck in to watch Raina on Thursday afternoon instead. It was hilarious.
The other kids were adorable. They really got into the dance routines, they sang the songs, the whole bit. Raina did mostly nothing that involved big body movements. No spinning, or jumping, or anything of that nature. She actually stood still for an entire song while all the other kids “penguin attacked” each other. One song involved a lot of cheesy smiling and she would do that, but not much more. The final song was “A Hard Knock Life” from Annie, which essentially involved the kids running around and dancing however they wanted. Raina decided to walk around the edges of the mirror, roll on the floor, and talk with her teacher.
All in all, I laughed a lot, and learned a lot about my kid. I think Raina really showed her age in comparison to the other kids. And I may have to put my little ballerina / modern dancer dreams on hold for a bit, at least until she’s willing to perform in public :)
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