The 2011 PS 39 Dance Festival

We were first introduced to the PS 39 Dance Festival two years ago when Stella was in Pre-K. Back then, Stella was so shy that her teachers had to create a special role for her so that she's be comfortable enough to perform. And Stella performed magnificently!

Last year Stella shed her shyness and joined her classmates in an adorable performance of "Celebration" and "Footloose".

This year things changed again as Marni joined the PS 39 dance world.

As show day approached, neither girl gave us any clues as to what they were going to perform. This is quite unusual for a pair of girls who can't keep a secret to save their lives. I dropped off both girls at school and scooted across the street to grab a primo seat at Camp Friendship (the school's gym). Only an hour earlier the performance was moved indoors because of the threat of rain.

At just after 9 o'clock the parade of Pre-K munchkins walked into the building. Marni scanned the crowd for us and burst out into a big smile when she saw the large "GO MARNI" sign that Lisa was holding up for her. The teachers got everyone into place and then the performance began.

The kids did a great job during the organized chaos that was their performance. Spins and dips and leaps. Marni's years of dance training were put to good use for the 3 minute spectacular. More big smiles from Marni when it was all over, and then she and her class were lead back to school to make room for the Kindergarten show.

Stella and her class marched in after the kindergarteners finished. The whole class was decked out in custom made yellow t-shirts. Unfortunately, Stella's dance group lined up on the opposite side of the gym. Nowhere near where we were seated. Lisa made a mad dash to the other side of the building just before the performance started in order to record the dance.

When the music started, once again Stella was stellar. She didn't miss a beat to the tune "What Time Is It?" from High School Musical 2. All smiles.

When they finished their number, the 1st graders marched out of the building to make way for the 2nd graders. That's when we took our leave (not meaning any disrespect to the 2nd graders).

We picked up each girl in their classroom where they were coming down off their showbiz highs and took them down the street for a congratulatory treat at Colson's.

But the dancing bug hasn't departed. Almost nightly we get dance performances from each girl (decked out in their finest dresses) to the sounds of the Glee CD. And we get the best front row seats every night.





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