Dance! Dance! Dance! Dance!

This weekend my niece participated in the multi-show, many-hours long Floyd Ward Dance Recital at the Roanoke Civic Center. The thing begins on Friday night and continues into Saturday evening. It is a massive production involving hundreds of people, with dancers ranging from three to 18, plus the fathers of some of the dancers in a special "daddy daughter dance."

My brother this year decided to do the "daddy daughter dance," so I went Saturday to see both of them. Zoe danced in seven dances during the three hours I was there.

One of the local TV stations did a story on Floyd Ward's work with special needs students, which I think is spectacular. You can see that at this link.

Flash photography was not allowed at the recital, but I had my pocket Nikon and turned the flash off to take some photos. I have had to crop these significantly and many failed because of the low lighting and movement. So while these are not the best shots, they are all I have of the event for reasons not within my control.

The show began with a series of dances that told the story of Beauty and the Beast (Disney version). Zoe was not in those dances but she was in a number about children of the coal mines ("Children of the Coal"). Then it progressed into "Night at the Museum." The "daddy daughter dance" featured the fathers dressed as night watchmen at the museum, with the daughters in masks being the little thieves.

Zoe in costume, the one time she slowed
down long enough for me to try to get a picture!

My brother is third from left.

Opening of Children of the Coal. This production one awards. The placards say, "1906, West Virginia Coalfields. Boys, as young as 6, started their careers in the mines. Young girls were hired to follow the track lines and pick up fallen coal. Many boys lost limbs or were stricken with black lung. Poverty was the driving force pushing child labor in the mines. For those that survived ... love of family and faith in God, helped them carry on.

Children of the Coal. Zoe is the girl on the far left, in the floor.

End of Children of the Coal.

I don't know the name of the other dances (I didn't get a program.) Zoe is the third from the left.

Zoe is first on the left.

Zoe in the middle.

Zoe is the one on the floor.

Zoe is first on the right.

Zoe is first on the right.

My brother is second on the right.

Zoe is second from left.

My brother and his daughter.

Daddy Daughter Dance

My brother and niece.

I don't see my brother on a knee very often. :-)

My brother after the dance.