Mini took “pre-ballet” classes (movement class with a ballet inflection) until she started her twos program, and those memories are among the strongest I have of her before she became a sibling. We used to walk about ten blocks to get to class, her tiny ballet shoes just visible from my view over the stroller’s sunshade, and she would turn heads in her enormous bow and fluffy tutus, and I would peacock down the street in pride. The “free dance” portion of the class was always her favorite: the teachers would dim the overhead lights and turn on a strobe light and upbeat music, and I would watch her flit around the room, laughing giddily, often with a fabric scarf trailing behind her. One day, they put on “Little Surfer Girl” by the Beach Boys during free dance and I found tears streaming down my cheeks as I watched her from the sidelines: so little, so inhibition-free, so perfect. I knew the lyrics to be mawkishly romantic, but how could I not hear these lines as if intended for us:
Little surfer, little one
Made my heart come all undone
I had also enrolled her in a toddler ballet class to be held on the weekend just before COVID hit this past spring that we then obviously were unable to attend. She still asks after it every now and then and I’m hopeful we can get her into a class before the end of this year, but perhaps we’ll have to consider soccer or another outdoor sport in the interim, as the weather thaws and if COVID cases decline in NYC…
At any rate. I’ve come across so many sweet ballet finds for little ones in the past few weeks! Wanted to share a few here, many of which would make darling gifts for a little love:
I LOVE PLUM TUTUS — MINI HAS OWNED A FEW (MY FAVORITE WAS PROBABLY THE CLASSIC PINK SEEN ON HER ABOVE) AND THEY ARE BEYOND ADORABLE
MINI ALSO HAD A FEW OF THESE LESS EXPENSIVE, LESS FROU-FROU LEOTARD-SKIRT COMBOS
LOVE IS A TUTU — ONE OF MINI’S FAVORITE BOOKS; IT’S A BIT ABSTRACT BUT THE ILLUSTRATIONS/GRAPHICS ARE EYE-CATCHING
COLOR-CHANGING BALLERINA UMBRELLA!
MISS LINA’S BALLERINAS — JUST ORDERED THIS ONE FOR MINI’S BOOKSHELF!
SO MANY SWEET BALLET-THEMED DOLLS/STUFFIES — I LOVE THESE ONES FROM MON AMI, MINI TREASURES HER JELLYCAT ONE,
MINI LOVES THIS MAILEG BALLET SCHOOL SET
CLASSIC BLOCH BALLET SHOES FOR TINY FEET
GINGHAM DUFFEL BAG WITH BALLET EMBROIDERY FOR ALL HER GEAR — OR GET HER A MONOGRAMMED VARIATION FOR LESS!
MINI LOVES MAGNETIC PLAY SETS LIKE THIS
BALLERINA PUZZLE OR PUZZLE STICKS
BALLERINA SENSORY PLAY SET AND TRAVEL ART SET
PAJAMAS: SWEETEST NIGHTGOWN OR PIMA COTTON SET
BEST STICKER BOOK BRAND — MINI ADORES THESE
EVERY GIRL NEEDS ONE OF THESE JEWELRY BOXES! I HAD ONE
AFFIX ONE OF THESE DECALS ONTO A PINK POUCH FOR ACCESSORIES!
FOR ITTY BITTIES: BALLET BIB, BALLET SHOE SOCKS, BURP CLOTH, AND FOOTIE
P.S. Also digging the grown-up ballerina-inspired finds from Reformation, LSF, and especially Live the Process (desperate for these leggings and this top, styled just as shown, with gray tube socks).
P.P.S. Heart print finds.
P.P.P.S. Mini is my other heartbeat.
My daughters fav book was
I Wear My Tutu Everywhere
Oo thank you, Laura! xx
Perfect timing! My daughter starts ballet classes this week – she is so excited! Miss Lina’s Ballerinas was one of get favorites – I love the pacing of its rhymes.
Yay!! So, so cute :). I think you’ll love the Iloveplum tutus in particular!
xx
Ballet Academy East has live virtual classes! We tried to finish out our semester there when COVID hit, but King was not interested in virtual classes of any kind back then. Even our weekly music lesson can be a struggle.
ABT came out with two fantastic ballet books for little ones, both written by John Robert Allman:
-Boys Dance
-B is for Ballet
Oo thanks for these, Katelyn! We also had a tricky time getting Emory to stick with the live/virtual music and movement classes we tried at the beginning of quarantine. However, you’ve made me realize that Emory is now nearly a full year older than she was when we tried them last, so maybe they’ll be more interesting to her now. Going to check the class you mentioned out!
xx