Rebecca competed today in the Talent on Parade 2005 Regional Dance Competition, her first competition ever. Dressed as the maid Cinderella with a mop and pail, she performed a ballet solo portraying Cinderella's dreams of a better life.
Rebecca was well prepared, but after she first walked on stage, there was a problem: the wrong version of her music was playing! Instead of her version, in which most of the long introduction had been cut, the full version was playing. Momentarily stranded, she gracefully put down her mop and pail and stood poised waiting for the long introduction to end. After a few moments, Linda and a dance teacher ran up to the judges' bench, and Rebecca ended up letting another dancer go ahead of her while the correct music was located.
When it was her turn again, Rebecca was in top form and performed her solo even better than she ever had in practice. She earned points for costume, choreography, technique, age appropriate performance, style and execution, degree of difficulty, and showmanship.
The judges awarded Rebecca a First Place trophy for her absolute score, meaning she had performed well for her age. They also awarded her a medal for scoring the third highest of all 7-8 year old soloists.