1.
Watching your teacher go from insanely strict to unexplainably sweet on recital day.
2.
Feeling like your hair might actually fall out on recital day from all the brushing, hairspray, and bobby pins.
3.
The phrase "Let's go across the floor" filling with utter terror.
4.
Cutting a hole in the bottom of your tights to make DIY convertibles.
5.
Counting out everything. E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G.
6.
When you went to a junior recital:
7.
Bruises being totally NBD after awhile.
8.
Practicing your arabesques literally everywhere you could.
9.
And working on your tap dance steps in public with absolutely no shame.
10.
Doing the original trendy barre workout: pliés.
11.
Developing a tolerance to L'Oreal Elnett over the years.
12.
Wearing what felt like a three-inch-thick layer of makeup for recitals.
13.
Watching Center Stage over and over and over and over.
14.
Glitter. So much glitter. Glitter everything.
15.
Your parents' house being PACKED FULL of photos like this.
16.
Pleading with your parents for new shoes because you wore through them in a month.
17.
And knowing they'd probably say no, because everything dance-related was $$$$.
18.
Going to one of these stores was easily the highlight of your day.
19.
Because seeing a leotard color you didn't own meant you HAD to have it.
20.
You basically became a hairstylist, because you were a master of putting your hair in buns, ponytails, and braids of all kinds.
21.
And finding these all over your room and in places you didn't even realize you'd put them.
22.
Getting new costumes and putting them in a very special place in your closet, because each one was a precious jewel.
23.
But on recital day, all of the costumes ended up in one giant pile backstage and you had to rummage through them to find yours.
24.
Creating a shrine to any and all awards you got.
25.
When you failed as a group it actually felt like everything was going to be OK.
26.
But when you were the only one who couldn't remember a routine, you kinda wanted to die a little.
27.
Having a slumber party with your dance friends was a little different, because you spent most of the night making up new routines.
28.
How months and months and MONTHS of work all came down to three minutes on stage.
29.
And that sad feeling in your stomach when you realized you'd never do your routine again.
30.
But how much you truly loved the way dancing made you feel, and how that feeling made you want to never stop.
