Like many litte girls, I wanted to grow up to be a ballerina. (and still haven’t quite given up that dream…) Yes I was that little girl you saw wandering around the grocery store, department store, and pretty much every other place a kid is likely to go in her pink sparkly tutu.

And I rocked that tutu.

My love for ballet did not stop at my sparkly tutu. I loved going to see the ballet. My childhood trips with my dad are some of my favorite memories. They eventually became a tradition that I treasure to this day.

larkin grant ballerina — Me roaming the wilderness in my tutu

Nothing is more magical to a young girl than her first trip to the ballet. There is something so majestic about the first time you see the ballerinas leaping across the stage, holding your breath each time they take off, wondering how long they’ll stay in flight.

The romance of your first pas deux is breathtaking in both its simplicity and its wonder. Seeing the dancers work in such perfect harmony can surely be described in no other terms except magic.

That is exactly how I felt sitting in a seat much too big for my tiny frame so many years ago at my first ballet. Feeling a special connection to the impressive creatures onstage because I too was a dancer. And it is how I feel every time I see a ballet, even though I am much much older and have long since given up my sparkly pink tutu.

I know I’ll feel the same twing of excitement as the lights dim this coming Tuesday at the Moscow Festival Ballet’s performance. In this Gala performance for the Community Ballet Association, the Moscow Festival Ballet’s principal dancers will perform vignettes from some of the world’s favorite ballets such as Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty (a personal favorite of mine), Le Corsaire, The Dying Swan and more. This is a great opportunity to get a glimpse of some of ballet’s best shows. If you’ve never been to a ballet, then get your tickets now. And start a tradition in your own family by taking your daughter!

About The Moscow Festival Ballet

The Moscow Festival Ballet was founded in 1989 by Sergei Radchenko, the legendary principal dancer of the Bolshoi Ballet. The company specializes in Twentieth Century full-length ballets such as Cinderella, Romeo and Juliet, Legend of Love, Stone Flower and The Golden Age as well as commissioning new works from within Russia and abroad. They have toured extensively throughout the United States and are currently undertaking a 17-week transcontinental tour of the US.