The Ballet Recital in the Gym

My daughter's first ballet recital took place in an elementary school gym with folding chairs, a basketball hoop folded up against the ceiling and a stage made of plywood risers.

There were thirty tiny dancers in pink tutus, ages four to six. They were supposed to be "flowers waking up in the spring." In practice, one flower waved at her grandma the entire time. One flower sat down in the middle of the stage and examined her shoe. Two flowers collided and started laughing so hard they forgot the dance. My daughter twirled in a circle, nonstop, for the whole four minutes, regardless of the choreography.

The audience lost it. Parents were crying from laughing. The teacher, a patient woman in her sixties, just smiled and kept counting.

At the end, all thirty flowers bowed at different times. We gave them a standing ovation. My daughter asked me afterward if she was the best flower. I said yes. All of them were.