Friday, January 07, 2005

Ariel a.k.a. Tigerlily

Work be damned! This story deserves a few moments of typing, reflection, and fatherly gushing.

Tegan was in Austin, TX the last day and a half for a work conference. So, I had the kids the last two nights. They were nearly perfect for me, so much so that I feel guilty that they aren't this way for T. when we are together. But, whatta ya gonna do?

Anyway, last night, as Tegan was traveling through Atlanta and then home, I got Ruth to bed and Ariel and I watched Peter Pan. We went to the library after I picked them up at the daycare and looked for the Disney animated version, but the library was out of those copies. But, I did find a A&E broadcast of a stage version starring Cathy Rigby. It is more true to Barrie's story than the Disney version, so I was a bit worried that it would be too real-world for her tender sensibilities. But I watched it with her.

We made popcorn and drank some Sunkist. It was cool. She especially liked Tigerlily, the Indian princess, who (in this play version) does some nifty dance/ballet moves in her short Native American outfit.

The funny part was when we stopped halfway to get her to sleep. We went upstairs, got on her pajamas, and "played" the parts for a few minutes before saying prayers and going to sleep. Her rendition of Tigerlily's dancing was adorable/hysterical.

Imagine a four-year-old trying to emulate the precise, quick moves of jazz/ballet/modern stage dancing. It is something cuter than Elaine's dancing on Seinfeld but with a similar, odd, jerkiness to it. Rest assured, it was a wonderful sight to behold, especially when you combine her dancing with the look of excitement and happiness (a little half-smile) on her face as she dances--knowing that I am slightly laughing as her as she does it.

It was great. I hope she does it again, and I dearly wish that she holds onto this fearless/unself-conscious pleasure as she grows up.

1 comment:

lulu said...

It's holding on to the unself-conscious thing that's the trick. Stevie censors himself when we catch him singing, even though we've never done anything but 1)smile adn encourage him or 2) join in. It's odd where they get this stuff.