Hello friends! We just wrapped Atticus’s first year at performing arts high school with a three-night spring dance show, and I’ve got a few highlights to share. 🎭
The lead-up:
🎶 Atticus choreographed his own solo with help from his dance consultant — my wife and I mostly just got out of the way and let them cook
🎧 I got to be on the audio production side — he had a 5-minute orchestral piece he wanted cut down to ~2 minutes, so we spent hours in GarageBand surgically stitching transitions until they blended like butter
✨ One of my favorite things about this school: kids get hands-on with all of it — choreography, music edits, costume choices, lighting palettes, even backdrops. Makes for way more versatile dancers
Show night:
✈️ I caught the red-eye home from a work trip Saturday morning to make it
🪑 Front-row seat — my toes were literally butting up against the marley floor
📱 Photo/video was discouraged, so I may or may not have filmed it ninja-style by holding my program up as a decoy with my phone tucked behind it. (Sorry, not sorry.)
👀 I did a terrible videography job because I kept forgetting to follow him with the camera — too busy watching with my actual eyes
The moments that got me:
🤸 A giant sideways scissor-kick leap and a set of turns that seemed to last forever — the crowd around me was audibly losing it (”Oh I see you! You brought it tonight!”)
👏 Hearing strangers — moms, dads, grandparents — react in real time to his solo is a special kind of proud-papa treat
What’s next:
🩰 Three weeks in Phoenix at Master Ballet Academy
🏛️ Then off to Massachusetts for the CLI Conservatory
🎙️ Lots more to share with you soon
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