The Show Must Go On: Help Your Dancer Stay Show Ready
In addition to leading a girls conference and community service based non-profit organization, Olivia is a dancer. She’s always loved music, movement and being the center of attention.
Her interest was piqued at four years old when I took her to see The Louisville Ballet perform the Nutcracker Suite. She sat wide-eyed on the edge of her seat the entire performance. She talked through the entire show as well, making comments and observation about the show. Thankfully, the people around us were more amused by her cuteness than annoyed by her chatter.
A year later I signed her up for ballet and she’s been dancing ever since. Many hours each week are spent in the studio perfecting her craft. She now also takes hip-hop and jazz, but she really loves ballet. She’s made some of her best friends at the studio. And she’s gotten some awesome experiences through dancing.
Her dance experience came full circle when she was cast in a children’s roles in The Louisville Ballet’s professional performance of The Nutcracker. She had the opportunity to dance on the same stage where she first came to love dancing. She has been an angel, a toy soldier, and a party boy…a role for which she would not allow me to share pictures. The wig was pretty ugly. LOL
Being in a professional production is a major commitment. The ballet company is depending on each cast member to be present and ready to go for each performance. She works hard to stay healthy, not get hurt, and be show ready at all times. I take some extra steps to make sure that she can stay show ready.
Stay Show Ready: Hair and Skin Care
Professional productions can be hard on the skin and hair. Stage makeup is heavy to absorb and reflect light. To fight off breakouts and keep her skin healthy Olivia uses Zandra Beauty skincare. The Bamboo Black Soap and Big Balm are her favorite products to cleanse and moisturize her skin daily.
Hairstyles must be perfectly in place and the same each performance, hence the Party Boy wig. To strengthen and protect her hair from breakage, she drinks Sip and Grow Healthy Hair Tea daily.
But the best remedy for healthy hair and skin is water! Lots of water before, during and after and performance keeps her entire body hydrated from root to cell.
Stay Show Ready: Prepare for the Inevitable
Now that she’s hit puberty, menstrual cramps, pain, and discomfort can be unbearable. I run to my nearest Walmart and grab a bottle of Advil® Menstrual Pain from the pain relief aisle to put in her dance bag. As a dancer, it is very important that she can stay in control of her body. With no caffeine or antihistamines, it won’t make her jittery or drowsy.
Stay Show Ready: Practice, Practice, Practice
The most important tip to stay show ready is to PRACTICE!
This year, Olivia will perform The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy in the show Motown Christmas. She spends 3 hours per week rehearsing her routine in addition to tech rehearsal and dress rehearsal.
Managing nerves and adrenaline in front of a crowd of thousands can be challenging. Practice helps to develop muscle memory so that her body is functioning on autopilot, even if she is a bit nervous.
From the moment the lights went down at The Nutcracker when she was four years old, Olivia has been destined to perform on the professional stage. When you are a professional, the show must go on no matter what. Advil® Menstrual Pain helps Olivia stay show ready.
What other things do you think are needed to stay show ready? Share your advice and suggestions below.
Great List! So glad she is trying new things and doing so well with it!!!
Awesome post I don’t have children, but I always prepare a warm drink and middle for my nieces. They each own a heating pad provided by me.
She looks like an amazing dancer ready to take on the world! Practice makes perfect!
I think it’s really great that your daughter is a dancer. I want to enroll my 4 year old in dance in the Spring. I think she would really enjoy it. My older daughter is 14 and she she gets very bad menstrual cramps. We haven’t tried Advil yet. I will keep this in mind. Hopefully, it can help her when she is feeling discomfort.
If you think she’ll love, she probably will! What’s great about Advil is that there’s no caffeine or antihistamines, so no jittery or sleepy side effects.
I was hooked after reading about Sip and Grow Healthy Hair Tea. Where can I buy it?
I found them on Instagram, but you purchase from the website, SipandGrowTea.com.
Wow thats pretty impressive! The pictures at the ballet are so gorgeous they need to be framed!
Thanks! I am definitely framing a few. I was so proud of myself for these photos.
How wonderful for her It sounds like a dance to remember. 🙂
It truly is. This is her first ballet solo performance. She’s loving it!
She is extremely talented! A bright future is definitely ahead of her! I can’t wait to see what hobbies and talents my daughter takes up in the future. I will have to try this when my cramps get bad; can’t have pain when you’re chasing a one year old around!
No, you can’t! I’ve trading chasing around babies to driving around divas! Can’t call it in either way.
My daughter is in ballet and tap as well.. her performance is tomorrow. Congrats and I will stop and pick up Advil to make sure my baby is ready for her performance tomorrow
Yes! The holiday season is the time for performances! Don’t let a few cramps get in the way! The show must go on!
Wow- I bet the both of you are always on the go, how exciting to be be performing in such a show! That’s definitely an event you don’t want menstrual pain getting in the way of. #client
Yes we are! And that doesn’t count what I do with my other daughter the All-American sprinter! Who has time for cramps?
It’s a pleasure to find someone who can think so clearly
She is a beautiful young lady, I don’t have a girl and thank God, I don’t get cramps but I will be sure to suggest this to anyone who may need it. Great post!
You’re one of the lucky ones. I’ll be using this for myself as well.