We've Got the Beat, We've Got the Beat, We've...Forgotten Our Dance Moves

I am supposed to be at a conference. A national conference. The premier national conference in my academic field. In San Francisco. I am supposed to be networking, discussing, and engaging. And, of course, drinking, sight seeing, and spending time with friends. I am not supposed to be in Tallahassee. But I am.

Today was Brynn's hip-hop recital at the local gymnastics center. The dance classes there aren't a huge deal, but it was important to her. So important that when I told her I was going to miss it, she burst out in tears and cried for a solid five minutes. I've never missed one of her dance recitals (or music recitals for that matter). And where other kids have aunts and uncles, grandmas and grandpas, even dads; here in Tallahassee Brynn has me. Sure we have lots of amazing friends, but Brynn just couldn't fathom the thought of me missing her star performance.

So I stayed in town. We've had a friend over for dinner and a puzzle. Brynn made brownies. We watched a movie together. It's been nice.

Today was the big day, Brynn's hip-hop debut. She had skinny pants, funky shoes, and a high ponytail. Recital time.

Brynn, in an attempt to look "thug," throws peace signs rather than gang signs.

The girls started out strong. They've been rehearsing for weeks and the first three quarters of the song saw the class dancing almost in sync. I'm not sure exactly why things fell apart for the girls, but as you can see here, the entire class forgets the moves to the last quarter of the song.

You can see them all look helplessly at each other and then scurry off in a mix of relief and embarrassment when the song comes to a merciful end. Brynn told me that they were extra disappointed because they all thought they wouldn't get medals at the end (that everyone got for participating!) since they'd messed up.

All in all though, Brynn stood up in front of a couple hundred people and performed a dance that she's been practicing for weeks. She looked for me, and found me, supporting her in the crowd. Afterward we spent time together taking silly pictures and then she picked out the biggest, brightest bouquet of neon daisies a girl could want.

I miss my friends at the conference, but I wouldn't have missed something this important to Brynn for all the sights in San Francisco.