He's had one pain point regarding ballet. He was scheduled to have his first recital back in April, but it was cancelled due to Covid. My son loves to perform. So, not being able to show off his dance skills in front of an audience has been missed.
It took some time, but they eventually rescheduled the recital. After months of waiting, it was time to finally show off his skills. The ballet school rented a theater in downtown Nerima. The costume rentals were ordered. The kids were well rehearsed and ready to go. We just needed to get our son to the final rehearsal and performance.
As the day neared, we realized that the weather was not going to cooperate. It was forecast to rain during the commute times. Part of not owning a car is knowing that sometimes you must get from point a to point b in less than ideal conditions. Typically, we don't mind riding our bikes in the rain. However, when you are transporting costumes and so forth, rain is not your friend. Add to that the knowledge that rain in Tokyo in September is never a sprinkle. The rain comes fast, furious, and heavy this time of year.
After a bit of humming and hawing, we decided that we were ready to take the train. It would be a short commute of only 3 stations. We have not been on any trains since March! That is 6 months! As a car-free family - that is huge! It was a bit nerve-wracking, but we were up for the challenge.
When the morning of the rehearsal arrived, we gathered everything up and headed to the train. Luckily, we needed to go to the performance hall shortly before lunch. It is lucky because trains are much less crowded between 10 and 2, especially compared to the morning or evening rushes. While the train was not crowded whatsoever, I did notice people were keeping their distance by leaving seats between groups of people. I have heard that this is not the case for crowded commute trains, but when we were on the train people were properly socially distanced.
I also notice right away that the train was loud. Reminiscent of my dad's favorite "2-55 air conditioning" (two windows rolled down going 55 miles per hour down the freeway), all the windows were open creating a deafening background buzz. Since the Oedo Line is underground, it is really, really noisy. Luckily, we didn't have to suffer for long.
Our son went through his rehearsal while we grabbed a cup of tea at a nearby café. Then we headed back home on the train, once again.
The next day, we decided to take a taxi to the performance. Grateful my son has transitioned to a booster seat, the trip to the performing arts center was super easy. As we rode through a heavy rain, we were grateful for the option of not even having to walk to the train station carrying everything.
The ballet recital was fantastic. The kids had a great time dancing in front of an audience. I could see the pride on my son's face from our seats 8 rows back, especially as he held out his arm to guide his princesses around and jump with the gracefulness of a seven year old.
When I asked him later to define his first ballet performance he declared it was "fun" and he couldn't wait for the next one.
No comments:
Post a Comment