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Canberra Today 24°/27° | Friday, March 29, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

No business like show business by kids

HERE we go again; it’s the pointy end of the year when everything seems to rush at you from all directions.

For me, the end to 2011 is providing a wealth of new experiences as our two highly energetic children are now involved in a host of activities that add a whole new dimension to the pre-Christmas experience.

At year’s end, all the activities undertaken to keep your children busy and happy – ballet, gymnastics, swimming, sports – culminate in events, concerts, competitions and celebrations. Certainly, I don’t remember any of my experiences of as eight-year-old – stumbling, totally uncoordinated, through tap, ballet and jazz – being nearly as intensive, complicated or logistically challenging as what my children are now committed to.

These days, preparation for your kids’ end-of-year performance can be a resource and time-intensive experience; with everything from trying to find an elusive red lipstick to the one-and-only brand of hairspray that will really hold up its end under intense stage lights.

It can be a desperate shopping treasure hunt – although one dance company has offered the whole make-up kit for a mere $110 (if you can’t attend the crash course on make-up and hair styling for unskilled parents).

And gone are the days when part of the entertainment was when one of the little ballerina swans took a dive into the orchestra pit; these days you can look forward to exhaustive practice and extensive dress rehearsals designed to deliver a fault-free, completely professional performance.

Gone, too, are the days of recording your child’s performance with a Polaroid camera. Amateur photography has been replaced by a special day put aside for a comprehensive, professional photo shoot to deal with the most restless of subjects. This might be for the best – after all it would be tragedy if all the hard work was only recorded as an abstract blur or perhaps as a modernist “Headless Girl in Blue Tutu” (as I was portrayed many years ago.)

Off course, I wouldn’t miss seeing either of my amazing munchkins up on stage for anything and I’m looking forward immensely to seeing them leaping, pirouetting or tumbling away. For me, no matter what may or may not happen, they will be totally awesome.

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Thank you,

Ian Meikle, editor

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