A Star is Born

Yes, my friends, a future Broadway star has been born. Aidan had his holiday dance recital yesterday and surprised himself (though not the rest of us) with the intensity of his love for the spotlight. 

He's performed before, but when kids are 3 or 4, "recitals" tend to consist of large groups of children sort of milling about the stage. Even in his highly-structured circus performance last spring, he was just one of about 20 kids all performing the same tumbles and tricks. But yesterday was different...

His hip-hop dance class did their routine to "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch," and as the lone boy in the class, he was singled out to play The Grinch. I'll admit that I thought this might mean they wanted him to stand and look on while the more rhythmically gifted members of the class did the actual dancing, but no, it turns out the role earned him a few extra special moves. 

At one point he was actually encircled by the group of kneeling girls -- totally Frank Sinatra-style ("all those chicks 'round my feet") -- while he stood, pointing at himself to indicate how important he was. This is how dreams of stardom are born. 

But the best part of course, was how proud he was of his performance. "I was a little nervous," he explained after the show, "but then I just lost all my nerves! And I wasn't nervous at all!" He's a natural.