Danzaland

Almost every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon since October Ingrid has gone to a dance class at her school along with about twenty other girls. The dancing doesn’t stop there, either. The smooth tiled floors at home (and in one of her favorite rooms also a body length mirror) seem to provide her inspiration enough to take out the MP3 and speakers and play with movement and expression whenever she’s not doing her homework, preparing restaurants for us, or running her brother through an obstacle course or a session of school.           

            The big show is coming up on a Tuesday night in May commencing at the very Italian hour of 9:00pm in Bagni di Lucca, about a forty minute drive from here. I’ve never seen Lauren sew a thing but recently she’s found some nice flow in planning out and sewing by hand Ingrid’s three costumes for the event. Impressive (sewing costumes is one of those tasks I am most relieved is wholly within her domain)!

            When Ingrid heard DanzaLand was happening in Lucca on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, she wanted to see everything. We compromised and made it to a few open workshops where a leading dance artist in a particular genre held classes for various levels, saw a few local dance schools' performances, and at the end witnessed our first ever break-dancing contest. 
           By the end of the weekend, Ingrid was pumped and back to the dancing.  I'm all for it, really.  I just hope our little ballerina could perhaps find another song to interpretive dance to so we can be spared from listening for the twelfth time in two days to the soundtrack of Titanic. Then she can twist, turn, spin around and express her feelings all she wants. 

Intermediate Musical Class led by American Brian Bullard

Ballet Dancers from a local school

Same school with legs flying and stars and stripes shining

When did breakdancing make it to Italy? 

Some great moves were thrown down for sure

 

'Johnny', with his big smile and mullet, always seemed to be having fun and danced his way to the Senior title.

Number 88, around eleven years old and half the size of Johnny, was the clear crowd favorite. The judge's, too. He won the Junior title