Bravo, Sara! Encore! Encore!

Wednesday, October 12 - How DO you top the pinnacle of a surprise birthday party put on by Ukrainian teenagers at their orphanage including your big-hearted daughter-to-be?? Well, actually you can't but, if anything could, it would be going to see her dance in a big production at the old yet stately and beautiful community theater. A few days before, Sara had asked us if we would like to see her dance and we enthusiastically said yes!!! When we hosted Sara last December and January, we quickly learned how much she loves to dance. She had brought a journal with her that had several photos intermittently pasted on some pages and all of them were photos of her dancing or in a dance costume. We have now learned that the orphanage has dance classes but somehow several of the girls (perhaps those who excel in dance - and one would be our Sara :-) are in a dance group that allows them to dance outside of the orphanage in community performances. Today is one of those performances and we were so excited that we would get to see her dance in person on stage in a dance production. Well, at least I thought it was just a dance performance...

We never quite figured out what the purpose of this event was but it was definitely an interesting experience. We met Larisa, Sara's teacher and pseudo-Mom, at the entrance to this grand theater. Sidebar: Sergei told us that this stately and column-laden theater was built while Ukraine was under Soviet rule which would explain its grandeur in the face of poverty. Larisa greeted us with her always-present and infectious smile. She led us up three l-o-n-g flights of stairs and we couldn't help but wonder where we were going. Larisa can only speak a limited number of English words but we trust and love her so we just followed her like obedient puppies. Once we reached the summit (ha!), we saw a roomful of young girls and teens rehearsing and following the instructions of a Russian-speaking woman whom we found out later is Sara's dance teacher. My eyes scanned the room and there, even more beautiful than yesterday, was Sara in her flowing costume looking like an angel gliding across the floor. She saw us but continued to concentrate on her steps but, as soon as there was a small break, she ran out into the stairwell landing and hugged us.

When Sara returned to the rehearsal, Larisa led us back down the endless stairs to the theater where we discovered there were few seats remaining. Larisa then led us up MORE stairs to the balcony and, sadly, the door was locked. Back to the three l-o-n-g flights of stairs to the rehearsal room with my thighs screaming incredulously. Larisa got the teacher's attention and they went back and forth in Russian and then the teacher returned to the room, spoke to Sara and then Sara appeared with a key in her hand. Like a deer, she ran effortlessly and speedily down the stairs as we attempted to keep up with her. Forget that because we never saw her again until she was on stage. Larisa led us back up the stairs to the balcony and, thanks to Sara's invisible handiwork, the door was unlocked. I had now had my Stairmaster exercise for the day and plopped myself in a front and center balcony seat with Larisa, Steve and Summer. Whew!

The show started and we were so ready to see Sara dance. But...hold the phone...after two hosts opened the show, there were official looking men on the stage speaking in Russian (with almost preacher-like motions). They spoke...and spoke...and spoke... then introduced another man wearing lots of medals on his suit jacket who then spoke...and spoke...and spoke with lots of projection and gesturing. He spoke so long that one of the other men had to walk up behind him and touch his arm. He continued to speak with great conviction and more gestures and finally closed as the other man was now tugging his arm. It was almost like a cartoon but then all was made clear when we found out he was a local politician. Applause recedes... Now let's get on with the dancing...but then more people came up and spoke Russian and introduced a series of other people who came up and received plaques and/or flowers. Applause...OK, NOW we will get on with the dancing...but out came a woman with a microphone who sang us a song in Russian and she sang it beautifully but apparently the tip about pulling the microphone away when you hit your high note isn't a custom here as we all cringed as her soprano voice about shattered our ear drums. Applause...OK, NOW we get on with the dancing...and another singer came out...Applause...OK, NOW we get on with the dancing...but a group of 6 women now came out to sing traditional Ukrainian music with an accordion player...Applause...you get the picture. (See photo of the 6 singers with their accordion player.)

We are now wondering if we came to a dance show at all but, just about the time we are totally perplexed, Larisa motioned our attention to the stage and held up her camera so I knew to ready mine to capture the beauty and grace of my dancing angel. And then, FINALLY, there she was - just as beautiful and graceful as I anticipated as she floated across the stage with her dance group (which included two of her classmates at the orphanage, one of which is her best friend Christina). Although there were other dancers, I barely gave them a glance because all I could think about was this beautiful and talented Ukrainian girl is going to be my daughter!! This child who is gliding across this stage and who has risen far above her circumstances in life will soon become a part of our family and will return with us to make our home her home. God is great!!! I love my God who planned long ago that Sara would become part of our family. It gives me chills! It also brings me to happy tears as I watch this girl who willingly walked into an orphanage at 7 years old to make her life better and to make something of herself. What a gift she is and I thank my God that He chose us to love and shepherd this special child!

Sara danced in three different dance routines and I couldn't keep my eyes off of her throughout every dance. As the house lights came up at the end of the show, there stood Sara among the finale dancers and I could see that she was looking at us in the balcony. I waved my arms in the air like an obsessed and proud Mom and could see a grin break out across her face - so I waved all the more! I wanted to yell, "Bravo, Sara! Encore! Encore!" but I restrained myself. (Note: Because the theater was so dark and the dances were dimly lit and we were in the balcony, few of my still photos turned out. Because my camera has video capability, I did capture a video of part of one of her dances. I made an attempt to add this video to my photos on this entry but it didn't work. Sorry! You will probably see a box at the bottom of this blog that resulted from my attempt that I don't think will work. If you see a box, you can try to play it but it looked like it didn't load to me. If it did, Sara dances primarily on the right side at the back of the line.)

Afterwards, we went to the rehearsal area to congratulate and pick up Sara. Her dance teacher hugged us three saying obviously emotional words in Russian as she teared up. I imagine she is as sad to lose Sara as we are happy to bring her home. (See photo of our family of four - wink! - with the dance teacher.) We then left the theater with Larisa, Sara, Christina and her other friend from the orphanage - don't remember her name. As we left, we took a couple of pictures of the girls and of this striking theater. (See photo of "the girls" as we left the theater followed by a photo of Sara in front of the theater building.) We walked back to the orphanage with Larisa leaving us about halfway to walk home. We hugged and said our goodbyes at the orphanage entrance since it was now after the 5:00 end time for our visiting hours.

That night we ate at what has to be THE nicest restaurant in this town! Our usual crowd, the three of us, the Antenuuci's and Sergei, ate delicious food at Eden - an ornately decorated restaurant with white statue-like carvings throughout, china and crystal glasses. The best part was our waitress' name was Tatyana! (See photo of Tatyana and me.) We laughed and talked and laughed and talked like we always do and enjoyed a fabulous meal. (See photo of Summer that she took herself at the restaurant - too cute!)

The next blog entry will address the following question: When playing cards, is Russian a language - or a strategy? Tune in tomorrow...for the rest of the story...

Sunny