I regret quitting Ballet after 1 year. Acrobats and Jazz were my preference in my impatient youth. Ballet was too disciplined for me then. I love it now. I started taking it with my girls about 5 years ago. It is so hard! There are many moves and stretches that are impossible at my age. 
No matter how hard I push myself, I am limited. What I can do, is move more gracefully, maintain a better posture, achieve a certain amount of healthy flexibility, enjoy the pleasures of classical music, and learn to dance and be happy, even though I see and feel my limitations.
This is the second year my daughters and a few friends have participated in the Nutcracker, put on by our local dance studio. A lot of preparations go into this event. It can be very time consuming. At the end of the last show, I feel like it’s worth it. Of course I bring along my camera to the practice and dress rehearsals. I’ll start with the practices first.
I used a “grunge” action in Photoshop on the next picture.
I’ve been playing with textures in Photoshop for a while. The stars are an added texture to the otherwise plain black curtain.
The next group of photos are from the dress rehearsal.
Silly ballerinas!
This last one was taken by my husband at the actual recital. His stance, expression, and the presence of the pipe make me love this one.
Everyone did a great job this year. The work was hard, but the reward of seeing a great production was worth it.
“And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.” Psalms 90:17
