Barbara Lawlor, Nederland.  When the curtain opened, a line of preschool children spread out across the stage, like little Bambis caught in headlights. They had rehearsed their dances many times but they weren't totally prepared for being in front of an audience, everyone looking at them.

The Mothers' Day Dance Recital on Saturday, May 13 was the culmination of Angela Delsanter's Mountain Movers dance class for three year old to 12-year-old tap, ballet and modern dance students.

Before the show, the kids clambered nervously, excited, clicking on the stage floor in their tap shoes, adjusting their tights, the flowers in their hair.

When the music began, the dancers forgot their pre-performance jitters, muscle memory became alive, and they twirled and hopped just like they had been taught.

The preschoolers performed "I'm Gonna Catch You and "What's Gonna Happen in Preschool?" They waved at their parents as they took their bows and scampered off the stage to be met with congratulations.

Kindergartners dressed in purple were exuberant in their tap rendition of "Audition Dance," swinging their arms and swaying their bodies, loving every second of it. First, second and third graders joined forces in "Sing, Sing, Sing," a jazzy, snappy tap number that highlighted their synchronicity.

The sixth-grade dance students performed a Contemporary Dance number, "It's a Mad World," a sophisticated presentation describing the ennui of adolescence.

In the Ballet/Jazz section of the show, all the students had another chance to show off their newfound confidence as the audience applause encouraged them to dance bolder, to smile brighter.

It was the best of Mother's Day gifts as well as a not-soon-to-be-forgotten moment in the life of a child.

The Dance Troupe included: Nora Shurr, Lily Troy, Isabella Watts, Rory McLaughlin, Kyleigh McLaughlin, Aliyah Boogaard, Camille leFaiver, Ciel Seavers, Luna Weeks, Madison Miller, Claire Hambourger, Leila Tarleton, Reino Pietrykowski, Kylie Harrington, Araya Frank, Elsa Richardson, Freya Richardson, Maisie Schaub, Annabelle Tomlinson, Eliza Brundege, Lolabel Fowers, Libby Chandler, Anne Kress, Winslow Petrovic-Jones.

(Originally published in the May 25, 2017 print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)