In this picture from a dance performance in Middletown Township, Pennsylvania, in the spring of 2015, the little girl on the far right is very excited to be dancing. Until she takes a little tumble, her dance moves are dramatic and beautiful the whole time they are on stage. She makes a mistake, but that doesn’t stop her from putting on a great show. She makes their ballet performance into a loose dance routine instead of taking the fall and feeling bad about it. She brokedanced her best and even sang a song for the crowd before she and the other girls skipped off the stage.
Even adults can get worried when they have to perform in front of a crowd, no matter how big it is. When this happens, making a mistake is often enough to make grown-ups cry. This little girl had a lot of guts to turn what could have been a heartbreaking mistake into a great and cute spontaneous routine. Children often feel pressure from their parents, their peers, or their teachers to do well in front of a large group. It’s hard to say where this need to be perfect comes from, but this little girl didn’t let it get her down.
When she fell, there was a split-second when she seemed to decide what to do. She was on the ground and doing breakdancing moves so complicated that they might even be better than those of some pros. The other girls on stage were clearly confused, because they stopped what they were doing to watch their dance partner take the stage.
When the little girl understood that she was now in charge, she made another interesting decision. She started singing and dancing to her own beat, trying to get the other girls to join her. After a few moments of confusion, the other girls started singing along with them as they played one of the best songs from The Land Before Time. She keeps dancing, and while she does, she and the other girls sing. They’re all a little confused about what’s going on, but they do what she says.
When the song is over, all four girls run off stage, but not before you can see that a few of them are looking confused. Clearly, no one was quite ready for a show like this that was made up on the spot. But it takes a lot of guts and determination to decide to make the best of a situation that could have been embarrassing.
Remember this little girl the next time you trip or make a mistake. From the beginning of the performance clip to the end, she was so excited and performed in a way that was almost too much. She got right back up after she fell and made the best of it. She was the star of the show. Simple mistakes are easy to make sometimes, but she didn’t seem to care. She danced in front of a crowd like no one was looking and didn’t let anything stop her. If we’re being honest, we could probably all learn something from that kid, both about life and about dance.
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