By Terra Avilla
Glitter, glitter and more glitter. This past weekend was flurry of ballet buns, tights, and iconic costumes of the Susanville Kickettes.
Ahh yes. The time has come that I now get to refer to myself as a dance mom. This weekend, for the first time since calling myself a Lassen County resident, I finally got to attend an event that has become a Christmas staple for our community.
I am of course, talking about the Susanville City Kickette Christmas Extraordinaire.
Ms. Jessica Wade and her skillful instructors have crafted a wonderful show, filled with beautiful choreography, but it is the little dancers that are in them that make the show so fun to watch.
There were dozens – if not at least a hundred – of our town’s dancers twirling about on the stage.
Although my daughters were only in three of the numbers (there were so many cool and beautiful routines) I found every routine incredibly entertaining because I recognized so many of the dancers in each number.
It is such a blessing to be able to see kids that I have known for their entire life, on that stage expressing themselves so creatively.
Not to mention, the level of talent is phenomenal. I was blown away at not only the talent of the Kickettes but of all the dancers, ranging from the little tots through the high schoolers.
Many of the numbers were so touching that I was actually happy that I was able to watch them again on Sunday. (The show runs twice, once on Saturday and once on Sunday).
I will admit, I was a little frazzled at the thought of spending four hours a day at the dance hall. (Pearl is in the mini show, and Peach was in the Main show). However after attending on Saturday, I was pumped to re-watch it Sunday.
The show paid homage to our military and did a very moving piece on how grief can affect us during the holidays. I, like many others, became a little teary eyed watching those pieces. It was really artwork brought to life.
Oh. The snacks. I have to talk about the snacks, because for me, any event that has food is automatically awesome in my book. That snack bar, run by true and actual dance moms, was phenomenal. I, and my children, made at least a dozen trips back and forth over the two nights.
The show, in fact, is largely assisted by the pack of dance moms, who clearly love and sacrificed their time to help make it so awesome. Shout out Shelby Burton and Holly Pasero for helping me with my frazzled ticket problem. I give you ladies an A+ for customer service.
I am so in awe of the show, the dancers, the costumes and the effort that it took to put it on. All of it. I am kicking myself for not watching it in previous years, whether my daughters perform in it or not, I will most certainly catch it, year after year. This beautiful show is a new Avilla tradition and one of the reasons I love where we live.
