Before I ventured into storytelling on paper, I had the privilege of telling stories on the stage! For the past fifteen years I have taught beginning ballet for all ages at Travis Academy of Fine Arts.
This past Tuesday our ballet department performed The Chronicles of Narnia for our spring showcase. Since these are the stories that actually prompted my own writing, AND since I was retiring as a teacher after this year, this was an extra special evening for me.
This year I had three classes of young students. I was super excited that one of the songs I would get to choreograph was The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, with Lucy coming through the wardrobe for my seven and eight year old class. With the help of a creative mom, we had a lamppost that lit up and I also rigged up the backside of a wardrobe–not to mention a fabulous Tumnus played by a student assistant!
One of my five and six year old classes were transformed into nine little Reepicheeps from The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. They had whiskers, swords, and a very high cuteness factor happening!
My other five and six year old students were visitors in the giant’s castle from The Silver Chair. They had a giant hat and a giant boot to inspect and to hide behind when they heard the giant’s voice call out, “Who goes there?” towards the end of the dance.
As if this wasn’t enough fun to do, I also had the honor (or type cast???) of playing the White Witch, Jadis, in the battle scene from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe! Diabolical laugh and all, this was great fun and pretty much the best way to say goodbye to my wonderful experience at this fine art school.
I’ve been so incredibly blessed to have been a part of this program which now has nearly 1,000 homeschooled students. My own four kiddos grew up and flourished in this school and I’ve made so many incredible friends with both the staff and the family.
It is bittersweet to say goodbye but I’m thankful to leave on such a high note 😀 The Lord used my time here to satiate my creative side while providing experiences and instruction for my kids that were second to none (and which I would never have been able to provide).
What am I going to do with myself now, you ask? Well, with two adorable granddaughters a couple hours away I can think of a few things… 🙂 And then there’s a daughter in Washington state…And, of course I now have this writing career that I hope to build on as well!
Have you ever had a job that you found difficult to leave? What was it? Looking back, are you glad you moved on? Let me know what to expect!