Fast forward to the competition.  Abby is in the dressing room doing a quick run through and I come in to see how she’s doing.  She’s wearing a gray knit halter top over the costume and she says to me “Mom, I’m falling out of it I have to wear this too”.  Now let me explain this halter top:  Abby made it.  It was a top she wore as street clothes that day.  2 days prior she used one of her father’s most ancient grotty t-shirts to make herself a halter.  No pattern at all, she just drew on the fabric with chalk, cut it out and sewed it up on my industrial.  I wasn’t even in the room when she made it.

Now I’m torn; she just got her 10 minute stage call and she leaves the dressing room.   My mind is racing as to how to deal with this because dance schools are very very strict about costumes, for example if one dancer forgets a glove or hairclip then everyone has to remove it for the routine.  Last minute costume issues are not encouraged because it creates havoc at an already tense moment.   But she couldn’t go onstage without the gray halter because she’s falling out of her costume.  So I make an executive decision, grab her twin sister and say “Em, run backstage and tell Abby to go ahead and wear it;  if Rennie says anything tell her to say is was my idea and I’ll take the blame for it.”

So she dances.  She performs beautifully and from the audience the gray halter actually looked really good, that much orange by itself would have been too much. I’m standing in the back and Rennie walks by with a big smile on his face; he claps me on the shoulder and says “What do you think?  Wasn’t that beautiful?” and I agree, laugh, and tell him the whole story.  He says “Oh I thought that was part of the costume;  I think the colors look really good.”  And then he runs off to check on the next set of Gold School kids who need to be on stage.

Back in the dressing room Abby asks how it was.  I tell her the good news is that she was amazing and Rennie loved it but the bad news is that she can’t wear that halter until after Nationals because now its officially part of her costume.  She laughs and gets ready for her next routine.  And she scored gold on her solo.

Per aspera ad astra

 Both of my daughters dance competitively at the national level; they go to The Gold School in Brockton MA.  They do 9 hours of class weekly in Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Modern, Contemporary and Hip-Hop plus another 4-6 hours a week in choreography and rehearsals.  This year Abby has been cast in a Modern solo for competition and we are thrilled! Modern is difficult to perform, it’s the most abstract form of dance and quite physically demanding.  Dancing Modern well requires physical stamina and mental maturity so it’s pretty rare for such a young dancer (Abby is 13) to do a solo in Modern.  Abby is super excited about it and the choreographer is her favorite teacher Nailah Bellinger. 

 Nailah wants Abby’s costume to be a low back halter unitard with legs at mid-thigh like bike shorts.  The color is dark pumpkin orange and I have had no luck finding this color on dancewear sites so I’m making her costume.  For a pattern I’ll combine Jalie 2913 for the bodice and Jalie 2920 for the shorts.  Abby already has a halter leotard she wears to class that I can trace off.   I’ll also add a shelf bra and molded cups for support.  A bit of Bolduc tape on my dressform above lays out the basic design.

 The color will be the biggest challenge and swatches are on the way from Spandex House.  I’ll  scan them when they come in.   Abby’s hair will be loose and wavy and I think she’ll be wearing a wide headband made form the same fabric.  Her feet are bare, which standard in Modern.    This project is on a tight deadline, so wish me luck!