A sign

Not often am I overcome with the feeling of being a good mother, so I certainly relish the experience when it happens. Last night was one of those times! One of the things that was most difficult for us to leave behind in Mt. Pleasant was the dancing program that Kathleen and Lucy were a part of…Charleston Ballet Theatre had really become a significant part of the Wall family existence in Mt. Pleasant due to multiple ballet, tap and jazz classes, and performances such as The Nutcracker and Broadway Dance. (In fact, the soundtrack for Off to Oz is playing this minute in Kathleen’s room as I write this!). At any rate, the girls were really into dance, especially Kathleen, and she was eager to get started again in France. While we were in Lyon, I researched the options that might be available dance-wise when we moved to Eygalieres. There was not a lot to choose from since we are in such a small town. I did find established studios in Aix and Marseille, but those would both require many miles and much time on the road. Not something I was keen on. I decided that I would focus on finding a place to dance once we got settled in Eygalieres.

So, this week, I pulled out the “pages jaunes” (the yellow pages!) and started making some calls to studios throughout the area. I really got good at explaining what I was looking for in French…danse classique (which is ballet and is much more challenging to find than I expected) with the opportunity for pointe, as well as, jazz (or what the French often refer to as modern) and tap (claquante). After a couple of somewhat discouraging conversations, I placed a call to Kat’s Studio in Plan d’Orgon, a town about 10 minutes from us. I started into my schpeal about my daughter who does ballet, pointe, jazz and tap and the woman at the other end of the line was extremely helpful and encouraging. She invited me to bring Kathleen to try both a jazz class and a ballet class. I mentioned that I had a 12 year old who might also be interested in doing jazz and she gave me the information about the jazz class for the older girls and invited Lucy to attend as well. Finally, we agreed that I would bring my younger daughter in for the jazz class on Thursday evening. The woman asked what my daughter’s name was and I said, “Kathleen.” She replied, “Caroline?” And I said, “Non. Kathleen. K-A-T-H-L…” She cut me off and said that that was HER daughter’s name and that it was her daughter who was the dance instructor! So, the dance instructor in this little French town is named Kathleen (actually we found out last night that her named is spelled K-A-T-H-L-Y-N, but still!) so I obviously took that as a sign!!

We went to the studio a bit early yesterday for the lesson. In addition to the studio, they have a store full of all of the things that I used to have to haul myself to Sam Rittenberg Road for at The Turning Pointe. We had discovered earlier in the day (in our enthusiasm preparing for the class) that Kathleen’s jazz shoes were too small, so of course, we had to buy some new ones! And voila – they were right there! So, she was prepared for her first dance class in France. Lucy and I left the studio to wait in the car and Kathleen headed into the dance area. I spent the next hour in the car surfing Facebook on my iphone while Lucy played on her DS. I glanced at the clock CONSTANTLY, waiting for the class to be over. Finally, it was almost 7pm, so Lucy and I headed back inside. The girls were still dancing and it sounded like fun, but it wasn’t until Kathleen emerged from the studio BEAMING that I knew all had gone well. When we got into the car, she gushed with enthusiasm about the class (fun, she understood, teacher was cool, girls were friendly, etc. etc.). It was then that I felt like a good mom – I had found a place for my daughter to do what she liked most…dance! She was so happy and I was thrilled! On the way home, we decided that that was the place for her. Lucy even decided to try the older jazz class that is held tonight! Life is good!