DOAD #28: A superb spring dance concert

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 dancersShow 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 eyesThe 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 treatWhat’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👉 Visit dadofadancer.com and subscribe so you never miss an episode — new ones drop every Wednesday! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.dadofadancer.com