There are scenes that remain in my mindas snapshots from a part of my life. I want to share two of them from the ballet show on Saturday night.

1) Backstage. The dim lights don't help much for makeup, but I try my best. First, I draw a beard the young guy who will play the role of the Pasha. Then I turn to the girl who will act as the pirate's friend. I make her face dirty and give her a moustache. As I do this artistic improvisation, young girls run around - some laughing, some shouting with glee, some looking for a random part of their costume that has gone missing. I turn and look to see Rebecca and Jennifer applying last-minute makeup and preparing their costumes for later scenes. Some of the boys - our beloved actors - sit with us, chatting and munching on chips. No privacy, no boundaries. They are oblivious to our needs for concentration on what's ahead. Oh well, at least they will make the evening interesting. Then I see Lucille. Young Nayla has gone to her in a small panic. "Please do my hair!" So Lucille, patiently and meticulously applies gel to the thick locks of hair and pulls them up into a tight bun. Perfect. She then proceeds to pin the hair in place, and finally adds a ring of silk flowers to the bun. Nayla has officially become a ballerina now. That picture - Lucille lovingly and calmly working on Nayla's hair, in the midst of the chaotic backstage - will remain with me for some time. It is like a window into the life of the stage for me; a window that awakens in me a needs to reminisce.

2) This was told to me, so the picture is secondhand. A friend who sat on the side of the theatre could see into the wings as we danced. She said that every time one of the older girls - like Lucile and me - was on stage dancing, the little girls in the wings would carefully try to copy us right where they standing. So we had our own miniature shadows as we danced. Those who didn't copy us sat on the floor, faces in their hands, and watched us with intrigue and rapture.