A Slice of Heaven . . .: Let's Do the Monkey Dance

Jules' school held their annual Christmas concert yesterday and it was nothing short of a wonderful concert!! The last time I attended a kids performance concert of this sort was a good 15 years ago maybe - when my younger sis was do a Hawaiian dance at her kindy year end concert. Never imagined than that one day, I'll see my own kiddo on stage doing a Monkey dance!

When we first found out from the teachers that the kids were putting up a performance, we have been asking Jules what she was going to be performing as in school. Her first reply was "monkey, wooo-woo-ahh-ahhh" (complete with the monkey scratching action) - it was hilarious. My first reaction to that was - you mean there was a monkey in the nativity set? ... Anyhows, that was about 3 weeks back. Her answer to the same question never changed in that 3 weeks although I was telling my parents the day before the concert that it will be really funny if it turns out that she wasn't a monkey afterall! .... Well thankfully, our daughter does know her role and she was indeed a monkey at yesterday's concert - albeit not a very agile one! I think the kiddos (at least for the Pre-N and below classes) were all a little overwhelmed when the curtains opened and all they saw was a sea of eager parents with their cameras instead of the usual familiar faces of their teachers at rehearsals. Some even burst into tears!! They literally stood still for most part of the dance while the music played on. It probably turned out more hilarious then if they actually did the dance. In the end, Jules danced all but 2 sec of her monkey dance, but it was good enough for us. She warmed up considerably during the Chinese dance segment and clapped along the entire time.

The infant class doing the "Macarena" dance. Totally adorable!

The Monkey Dance

Here's a short clip of her in action .....

The principal gave out little Christmas cards the kiddos made out of their footprints and with a photo of them in their performance costume. I couldn't help but tear a little seeing our little monkey on that card. Oh what a poser she was with a big huge smile!! It told me one thing - how happy and joyful a child she was and how happy she was being in school with her friends.

Christmas Card of made by our little monkey

Kudos to the teachers for all the effort they put into rehearsing with the kids, doing up the props and sewing their costumes together. The concert wasn't held in any fancy auditorium, just in the school grounds with DIY backdrop and Christmas decos all round but it was warm and cosy, plus the kids were in familiar ground, in the place where they spent the last year growing, crying, learning and having lots of fun - so I think it was just the perfect venue!

The grand finale .... I think she was mighty proud of herself!

Seeing Jules perform at her concert made me realise just how much our little munch'kin has grown the past year. I couldn't be more proud of our daughter. At 25 months, sitting and performing in front of an audience, putting on an awesome show with a big smile and knowing when the item was coming to an end so that she could get up and clap and bow - me thinks that's quite a deal for someone her age.

The hubs and I left school that day feeling a tinge sad that she will soon be saying goodbye to her teachers and friends when she starts kindy in March next year, especially since she has only recently became more attached to them. But well, it's a transition we have to make. For now, I'm just thankful that our decision to start her early in play group was a good one and that she has thoroughly enjoyed herself this past 10 months or so.