Last Recital With Charisma

Last Thursday Charisma had their end-of-the-year recital.

This one was a big deal because it was my LAST recital with Charisma and the last time I would see most of my dancers. It was a crazy night for me. Running around, making sure dancers were ready. I had 16 numbers in the recital, so a lot of dancers needed my attention.

I was doing great during the whole show. No tears. No crying. One girl ripped her toenail off and I was calm as can be and helped her clean it up and wrapped it. Another girl lost half of her costumes and I was able to locate some of the items and then come up with some alternative costumes for her.

Things kind of fell apart when my Juniors did their final dance. They all came off the stage and started crying when they saw me, because they knew I was leaving for good. I lost it for a moment. Then got my composure back.

Then my little Company B girls did their dance. They did the dance that they got a high point award in 3 out of 4 competitions that we went to. Tears started to form. I was seriously going to miss those little girls. When they came off stage they all gave me a huge hug and the weeping was uncontrollable.

Then my Seniors did their last dance. It was the last dance of the evening. I ran to sit in the front row of the auditorium. This was the dance that they got high point awards in ALL of their competitions. They were amazing. They performed better than ever and Tresa (my boss) and I just cried through the whole thing and she begged me not to leave.

Then it was over. I was still crying. I think I cried for 45 minutes straight as I said goodbye to my dance students and their parents. They are my Utah family. I seriously love those girls like they were my little sisters. And saying goodbye to them was almost harder than saying goodbye to my actual family, because unlike my actual family, I don't know when and if I'm ever going to see them again. Long story short, it was a VERY emotional evening for me!

Here are a few more snapshots of the recital. It was awesome to have Ryan and Ashleigh Di Lello perform!