Alice in Wonderland, the ballet

Natalie's final performance of the 2017-2018 Loudoun Ballet Performing Arts Company (LBPAC) 's inaugural season was in Alice in Wonderland, performing as part of the Sea of Tears (Act 1) and a rose bush (Act 2).

In Act I, many of the junior apprentices were cast as part of the Sea of Tears - the girls wore these lovely blue costumes below, and had teal/silver/sparkly makeup applied (much of it by yours truly!), and waved blue cloths across the stage when Alice cries after getting lost down the rabbit hole.

I was in the cafeteria with the makeup team during performances, so was able to get a few photos of the girls. Here are the Sea of Tears dancers.

And we were also able to get one photo of all of the junior apprentices. Some of them had different parts (Little Alice, or Queen's card attendants in Act 2), which is why they were dressed differently.

I was only able to get photos of Natalie on Saturday (the first performance), and she was in a bit of a mood that day - the face I got on the left was the best I could get out of her. She was much happier for Act 2, when she was a rose bush (she much preferred the costume, which I think was part of it). 

On Sunday, I helped with makeup before the show and then we went in to watch. The ballet was beautiful! It was so great to see how the costumes, makeup, and choreography came together. After her performance, we were able to take a ton of photos in the auditorium.

 

Natalie asked me to take a photo with her big sis Arran (Cheshire Cat) and Emily, Queen of Hearts (who the rose bushes all had to be afraid of).

 

I also got a few photos of Natalie with 3 of her good friends (Lily, Aly, and Bridgette) who were hedgehogs in Act 2. These costumes were amazing, and the work of Lily's mom. Absolutely incredible.

I then put Natalie up on the edge of the stage, under the lights, and shot these beautiful photos of her using Portrait mode on my iPhone.

 

My friend Heather liked them so much that we put her daughter Georgia up there, and I got some portraits of her as well, then some of her and Natalie together. This last one is my favorite! Look at those two gorgeous rose bushes.

 

A fantastic way to conclude the ballet season! Since Natalie isn't dancing in the ballet company this year, I'm very glad we had these experiences in LBPAC's inaugural year, and are looking forward to seeing Natalie's friends perform in Peter and the Wolf this October!

Loudoun Ballet Performing Arts Company Bbq

There is a big change coming for all of us at the Loudoun School of Ballet. For the past 20+ years, they have been associated with the Loudoun Ballet Company, the pre-professional company that actually put on all of the ballets (including Nutcracker) the dancers participate in. Over last school year, the two organizations had a parting of ways, and the LSoB formed a new company, the Loudoun Ballet Performing Arts Company (LBPAC).

For us, and our friends, this change didn't affect us too much (although it did cause some disarray for the older students, which was hard but most found their way through it). In fact, the one change it did effect for us is that our girls (ages 8 and older) could now audition for roles of Jr Apprentices and take part in performances other than just The Nutcracker. So, that means that (for this year at least) in addition to being a member of Showkids, Natalie is now also a Jr Apprentice, and we get to add more dance to our schedule!

Of course, the new company will need to do a lot of fundraising to stage these shows. Their first one was back in June, and I grabbed my new camera and took a few photos of the event. They aren't the best, as I was still figuring out some settings, but I think they show the atmosphere of the event very well!

Cherie Maroni, the owner, gave a lovely speech, along with her artistic board.

All of the company members, including our Jr Apprentices, were called up to the balcony. You can see Natalie peeking out between two of her friends on the left!

 Love this shot of the girls looking out at everyone!

Here are Natalie and some of her friends hanging outside.

And some of the older girls hanging out back.

This was just the first fundraising event...the next one is coming up in a month - a gala!

They are also allowing for people to sponsor costumes. For the first ballet (Deep in the Woods), there is a dragon - Evan wanted us to sponsor the dragon costume! Not sure if we can afford it, but it would be a lot of fun to be able to do so :)