Ballet and jazz

Namine loved going back to dance class.

Namine has been involved with other things lately (namely, piano and basketball, with a little baseball on the side), but she expressed interest in taking dance again. Last night was her first class.

To be specific, last night was the first time she attended. The first class of the season (or whatever you call it in dance) was actually last week, but I forgot about it. Shame on me.

Be that as it may, Namine’s teachers and fellow students were more than happy to welcome her to the class. At the start of the class, they all sat in a circle, introducing themselves one at a time. It will be a while before I remember them all, but Namine, true to form, was fast friends with all of them by the class’s end.

Since Namine can’t stand up without assistance, and we didn’t bring in her walker (it might have been too cumbersome), I helped her stand for the parts that required it. That’s why I sit in her class — well, as well as to take pictures of my little love, of course — to help her should she ask for it.

Watching (and helping) Namine in dance class is always a strange, bittersweet emotion for me. It warms my heart to see her enjoying herself, but she is also sometimes painfully aware of her limitations. She was enjoying herself — for the most part — but I could see that she was getting frustrated.

Namine has seen the ugly side of human nature. She’s seen it firsthand in the behavior of supposed friends. The awful behavior of her classmates was what prompted us to enroll her into the RVA. But she’s also seen the beautiful side of human nature, too. She saw it again last night.

Every single girl in Namine’s class was nice to her — and it was a big class. They offered her encouragement, and they cheered her accomplishments. In short, they made her feel welcome.

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