Dancing with the Junge Damen

This post originally included photos, but through my own stupidity, I accidentally deleted them. Despite repeated attempts to retrieve them, they are permanently gone. My heart is broken.

 

Last night, our ward had a Culture Night, where different members and groups performed musical numbers based on the four seasons.  It was all very high-brow and serious - only classical numbers were performed and everyone was dressed in Sunday best.  It was a different kind of Ward Activity than I am used to in the States, where everything is fun and casual.  But, it was quite a lovely evening, and I actually enjoyed myself (probably because I didn't bring Adam and Luke.  They would have made the night miserable).

Jessica's Young Women group had prepared a couple of dances that they performed at the Culture Night.  There is a sister in our ward who is an expert on old dances and dress, and she oversaw teaching the girls a couple of "Jane Austen" style dances - you know, where the dancers line up facing each other and walk through all kinds of intricate formations with a partner.  The Young Women (or Junge Damen, as they are called here) have been practicing their dances for months, and they all sewed dresses to wear for the performance.  Well, they all started sewing dresses for the performance, but as the night got closer, Moms stepped in and finished them, or in Jessica's case, Mom just sewed the whole thing. 

I was very proud of Jessica for learning the dances even though all the practices were conducted in German. She picked up the dances very well and seemed confident last night. Even though she wasn't thrilled about going to all the practices, I think that once it was over, Jessica was quite pleased with herself and enjoyed the performance.

And I got to live my dream of watching my daughter dance on stage!