My daughter’s ensemble performed well enough at Youth America Grand Prix’s Semi-Finals in Providence, Rhode Island to advance to the Finals in New York City. After countless rehearsals, one dancer’s father was asked if he had knew the music by now. “Know the music?” he chuckled, “Ha! I know not just the music … I know the steps now!”
The parents all murmured assent – we have listened to the dance’s contemporary piano piece so many times that we can’t help but have memorized the choreography.
“I have a great idea,” I joked. “How about a we start a Middle-Age American Grand Prix (MAGP instead of YAGP) Exhibition where the parents of all the dancers perform their kids’ pieces? Our performances would give the competitors a break and make them all look good! Instead of First Position, we could be the subject of the documentary Fifth (or Third) Position!”
Of course we all laughed at this hypothetical event but the more I thought about this idea, the more I realized that nearly every ensemble member has a parent who is (or was) a dancer. Five of us have performed in Olney Ballet Theatre’s Nutcracker productions for the past few years: one person as Clara’s mother Frau Silberhaus as well as three fathers and me as Party Scene parents … plus one father who also dances with Mother Gigogne/Ginger in the second act.
Outside of The Nutcracker, our collective dance experience includes:
- five mothers who currently study or previous studied ballet (a couple of us through pointe)
- three mothers who have studied tap
- at least one mother studied who jazz seriously
- and one father was a national competitor in both tango ballroom dancing and aerobic dance.
As an added bonus, one mother and two fathers (non-dancers) who are professional musicians – and have contributed their talents to past Olney Ballet Theatre productions — could play piano, violin and trombone for our MAGP performance! Yes, I could feel our MAGP performance coming together, at least as comic relief during this high-pressure competition. Now if we only could coordinate rehearsal times between our kids’ rehearsal times …
