I Miss Buffa's

Recitals are a major production.  There are multiple classes, types of dances and ages to mix into a performance of reasonable (ish) length.

Schedules for rehearsals need to be worked out.  Decisions must be made about make-up, hair, costumes, the color of tights and various accessories.  Space and time have to be set aside for rehearsal and performances.  There are many many moving pieces.

By the time we left the US, I had the Buffa's Dance Studio recital mostly figured out.  I had all the necessary equipment - brush, gel, hairnet, bobby pins, hair pins and all important safety pins.  I knew which brand and color of tights to buy.  Kyra was in the right place at the right time with the right stuff.

Now we are a bit of a mess.  We have to learn the recital routines of two studios - in French.  To add to that neither studio is helping us out with clear communication.  At the beginning of recital season Buffa's would mail out the recital packet - about 8 pages of color coded information - everything a mom would need to know to successfully navigate the craziness.  These studios provide us with a sheet of paper with some information on it every now and again.  Some information is announced orally in class in French behind closed doors (Kyra doesn't speak French).

I'll have Kyra in the right place at the right time.  She'll have a costume (rented - much cheaper - I like that).  She will know her dance and be able to perform it.  After that all bets are off - her bun might not be at the right height, her make-up will probably be different and tights and shoes who knows?

Kyra and I will both be glad when this is over.  It stresses us out to just see how things go but without information we can't prepare so things will be as they will be.  No matter what Kyra will dance beautifully and her mom will be proud.

Opening Night

 Last night was opening night of the SHAPE Players' production of Bye Bye Birdie. 


Kyra was cast as a "sad faced girl."  She and another "sad faced girl" Renee were in the number Put on a Happy Face.  

Their characters were sad because Conrad Birdie (a teenaged heart throb) was going off to war.

In the number, Conrad's manager, Albert encourages them to cheer up and put on a happy face.

He makes funny faces at them and acts goofy and eventually gets them to smile and dance with him.

The number was cute and all three did a great job with the acting and the dancing.

Kyra is currently quite sick so she's had to push herself to put energy into her performance and she has three more to go this weekend.

She'll make it but after Sunday's matinee I expect she'll go to bed and stay there until Monday morning.

I'll let you know how the weekend goes....

Bye Bye Birdie

Because Kyra does not have enough to do in her after school hours, she auditioned for the community theater production of Bye Bye Birdie.  In her audition, the directors noticed that she can dance (surprise!).

She was cast as a "sad faced girl."  This means she dances in the "Put on a Happy Face" number.  Over the past few weeks she has had the opportunity to work with a professional choreographer from California.  This has been a neat experience for her and is a bit of a change from the norm of having dance classes with her choreographers.  She is also dancing with a non-dancer so she is learning that what she takes for granted is much more difficult for others.

She has about a month of rehearsal left before performances start.  Then there is a break and in February the show will be performed again as part of a competition.  The SHAPE theater is truly an award winning theater.  Their most recent production took top honors in several categories at a European competition and will be progressing on to New York.

I'm sure I will have more to say about Bye Bye Birdie as the production gets closer, so watch this space.

Back and Forth

This is my life today.  Back to the bank to exchange more euros.   Then to SHAPE for quick stops at the library and post office.  Yet another meeting at the school regarding Kyra's classes.  I made a long run to Chievres for weekly food.

Upon walking into the house with arms full of groceries, thinking I had a couple of hours, Allen greeted me with "Can you take me to SHAPE at 1?"  He wanted to hang out with friends before his running practice.  So yes, I ran him back to SHAPE.

Back home to attend to other chores before I again go to SHAPE to take Kyra to her theater rehearsal followed by dance class.

I think I will have entered and exited SHAPE every two hours today.  By the end of today the gate guards should be waving me through instead of checking my ID.

Homecoming Dunlap Style

 This weekend was SHAPE homecoming. This past week was spirit week - each day with a theme, such as wacky tacky, pirates vs. ninjas, cartoon characters, green and gold, etc.

Friday evening was a parade and a bon fire.

Saturday all the teams had home games/meets.

Saturday evening there was a homecoming dance for the middle school and a homecoming dance for the high school.

 In case you have not yet observed this fact - Allen and Kyra are not very formal kids.  Allen prefers to wear jeans and t-shirts and Kyra has the same preference.  Outside of dance, Kyra doesn't wear dresses or skirts.  She is not a girly girl.  I was a bit surprised when she asked me if she could order a dress for homecoming.

The other girl you see in the photos, is Kyra's friend Zoe.  Zoe's parents are out of town this weekend and she did not want to miss homecoming, so Kyra has some extra company and a friend to go to the dance with.

 As you look at the photos of the kids you may be wondering, where is the Dunlap style??

Look down...

Brave

Saturday was difficult and fraught with mixed emotions.  On the one hand, she loves to dance and wants to dance on the other hand, she doesn't speak the language, she doesn't know anyone and this class may be too much for her.

Dance studios have unique cultures of written and unwritten rules.  There are dress codes - what leotard styles and colors that are allowed and not allowed.  Expectations about hair - bun or bun optional, how neat must it be.  Must one wait to enter the classroom?  May one speak to the teacher before one is spoken to?  There are hierarchies of place - who stands at which barre, who stands in front and in back. Little of this is communicated directly, most of it is to be absorbed and absorbed quickly.

Imagine yourself at twelve years old.  You only speak English.  You know no one.  It is the first day of class - new classmates, new studio, new class, new pointe shoes, new teacher, and the language is French.  On top of that, no one has really helped your mom figure out the proper class placement for you.  Mom has guessed that you should probably be with the high school students, but this guess could be very wrong.  This means you are the youngest in the class, by as little as two years and as many as six.  If things are wrong, you have only limited ways of understanding and expressing the problem.  The only things you have to rely on are your dance training, determination and a kind Belgian girl who can speak some English.  Mom tells you the class lasts one hour.  It actually lasts two.

This is the situation Kyra walked into on Saturday.  I don't know if I could have done it.  She did it.  If she did not love dance so much.  If she did not have any aspirations of returning to dance upon our return to Virginia, I doubt she would have attempted it.  On and off over the summer she has debated with herself if she would.  This was a high hurdle and one she was not anxious to attempt.

Attempt she did and succeed she did.  Mom's guess about placement was correct - highest level ballet class offered by the studio.  Mom is proud.  Kyra is brave.

Allen and Kyra's Extracurricular Activities

Being products of their Northern Virginia up-bringing Allen and Kyra can not simply attend school, return home, do homework, eat dinner and spend quality family time with their parents.  This would be too slow of a pace not enough variety or social interaction.  Just living overseas in another culture and not speaking the language is not enough of an adventure.

We've been here now about six weeks and they have already begun to find their social groups and their extracurricular activities.

Both kids are involved in the chapel youth group which is called Club Beyond.  Club Beyond meets on Tuesday afternoons for Fellowship and some study.  They also meet on Wednesday for small group and Bible study time.  As it is associated with an ecumenical military chapel, this group is non-denominational by which I mean Baptist and conservative.  This will mean we'll be having some conversations about what Mom and Dad believe and how we live out our faith.  I can't complain too much, as Club Beyond is a quality ministry and is fruitful in nurturing faith in the kids.

Allen is running cross-country.  Actually at this point he is training to run cross-country, meets don't start for a few weeks yet.  When the meets do start, he'll be running internationally, as his school will be competing against other Department of Defense schools in Europe.  Traveling across Fairfax County (if he makes the Lake Braddock team) for a meet will be nothing compared to some of the overnight trips he'll be on this year.

Kyra is dancing - what else would she do?  I've found two studios for her.  One is Dance Center and the other is called Attitude.  It looks like she'll be in six classes spread over 4 days of the week.  This will be a decrease over last year's nine classes spread over 5 days of the week.

Add that to homework, spending time with friends and travel and they have a pretty full schedule.  And what extracurricular activity do Kyle and I have?  Driving them to and fro.

French Class

SHAPE (Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe) appropriately enough has a language center.  SHAPE employees and their families speak English, French, German, Flemish, Romanian, Greek, Spanish and many other languages.  The primary language is English as Americans dominate and we don't speak other languages.  In this part of Belgium, the primary language is French.  For this reason the language center offers primarily English and French classes, but other languages are available as well.

This week is test week at the language center.  Next week classes start.

Today was my placement test.  I began studying French when I was in 7th grade (the grade Kyra is in now).  I took the French AP test when I was in high school.  I minored in French in college.  I have studied French.  However, it has been a long time since I studied and used my French.  I find bits and pieces are coming back to me.  I can make my general intent understood.

I'm pretty sure I sound like an idiot as well.   When I was registering Kyra for dance classes, I am confident that my subject verb agreement was off, as well as my verb tenses.  I think I sounded something like this.  "My daughter, she to dance.  She dance much.  She good.  She to dance with girls of more age.  She nine classes one year.  I make registration for she.  I pay?"

My placement test was a ten minute conversation in French with two of the teachers.  Where do I live, where did I move from.  When did I arrive.  Do I have children, how old, etc.  Once again my verb tenses were where I struggled.

The language center has 4 levels of instruction - beginner, elementary, intermediate and advanced.  Some of these have a further distinction of pre- or + or upper.  I have been placed in intermediate +.  We'll see how it goes, I start next Tuesday.