what a week...

WARNING: This is long! (understatement) Could qualify as a work for GoodReads!!!

It seems like this week was filled with almost every emotion possible; excitement, anticipation, exhaustion, frustration, happiness, fulfillment, nervousness, appreciation, fright, calm, and those are just a few of the ones I felt...who knows how many more Megan and Hailey could mention!

Wednesday was Nationals for Hailey's team. They danced their hearts out, and I think they had a great time doing it :). Their numbers started at 10 pm. It's amazing how 13 - 15 yr. olds can still be hyped up that late at night. Their tap number took a first in its category, but they didn't get any other accolades. They have worked hard this year, and have done quite well I think, for the time and attention they received! Great job Hot Hay!


This is the "other" Haley (miss heckethorn). I believe she is the reason my Hailey stayed UP all week! Thanks for the energy!

Megan had Nationals Thursday. She brought it!!! She and Emily nailed their duet! They got a 5th place overall whoo-hoo!! (beating Studio 1) (they rank the top ten) Their small group lyrical number "You Had Time" took a 6th overall in group numbers. (beating Studio 1) Their jazz number took 3rd, Plank (teacups) got a 2nd, and Pressed Up Against (the wall) took 1st in overall line numbers. (beating Studio 1) The different category's are duo/trio (2-3 people), group (4-? people), line (more than groups), extended line (more than lines), and production (a bunch or people)! From the eighty six studios participating, they take the top numbers from six studios and have a dance off at a gala Friday evening. The number chosen from Bunker was "Pressed Up Against".

We were ALL quite surprised, since "Plank" (teacups), had been the big winner all year long. Megan was in shock. She had not prepared herself at all that she might not be doing that dance again. She kept saying, "I am so sad. I could do that dance a million more times! I LOVE THAT DANCE. I am so sad." Once the shock wore off, she got her head into the reality of doing the wall one more time! They were ready to fight it out!


The Friday night gala began, and after a nice dinner, the program kicked off with some introductions, and a special guest artist, Deborah Cox. The winners of the Elite Dancers were announced, a boy and a girl in each age group; mini, junior, teen and senior. Then, the dance off began!!! Again, the dance off is for each of the age groups; mini, junior, teen and senior, so waiting for Megan and the seniors was LONG!

Thanks to Jon and his new title, "The Greatest Dance Dad Ever" (i'll talk more about that later), he wound me into the guts of the hotel, with the kitchen staff, and all other worker-bees, and he bought me a bottle of diet dr. pepper for a $1.00 out of a vending machine. It saved my life! (unfortunately sleep wouldn't come that night until around 3 am, but it was worth being able to come back to life right when it mattered!) Last year was the first year Bunker Dance Center had come to this convention, West Coast Dance Explosion, for Nationals. We, obviously, were basically unknown to them, and we really felt like "they didn't get us!" Sadie's modern number made it into the gala, but was 6th place out of 6. That was wonderful, REALLY, being 6th out of all of the studios and all of the hundreds of numbers that had been competed that week, but of course, we wanted better. So, the goal for Friday night, between Jon and I, was to do better than 6th (a victory and improvement) and to beat Studio 1.

Studio 1 is a studio here in town, located on West Sahara (close to Candice's skin institute), owned by the mother of a girl I went to high school with, Heidi Nickum. Traditionally, there has been a Clark vs. Western kind of rivalry there, and unfortunately Studio 1 has probably won more times than Bunker. To our credit, we always noticed that Bunker was WELL ROUNDED in the styles they could dance, where Studio 1 was more one dimensional, but they had perfected that one style. It was pretty predictable though. We usually compete against them at least once a year, at a regional competition, but the last two years, we have both been at west coast for nationals. Several of our dancers, and several of their dancers go to LVA, and they are good friends, but EVERYTHING is a COMPETITION! Get the picture?

So last night, "Pressed Up Against" was the first of the senior numbers. They performed it better than ever before! Each one of the twelve girls was on. It was unbelievable!!! So, whether or not the judges liked it, they knew they had danced, almost, to perfection! That was worth everything! To finally prove they could do what they had been working all these years for, was the best feeling in the world for Megan. The next four dances went, and they looked pretty flawless too! The last dance, I thought, was the one to beat. It was by an amazing studio, Larkin Dance Studio. They are out of Minnesota, and they have seven or eight boys that are truly unbelievable. (they don't look gay, they are muscular/built, and they could jump!) They were off, a lot! Not the guys, but everyone. It didn't look as good as at nationals for sure! So, I didn't know what was going to happen. The other big studio, Dance Precisions, from California, had done well, and they are always a favorite.

So the MC/owner calls all of the senior dancers back up onto the stage to get their awards. (money and ranking)


6th-not Bunker, 5th-not Bunker, 4th- Dance Precisions (what?), 3rd- Larkin (they should have been 6th, but what?), and then he calls Bunker and Studio 1 forward...wouldn't you know it? He announces that one point seperated these two numbers. One point out of 600! Oh my gosh...could this really be happening? I was freaking out inside! Megan told us later, "I really thought we had won. And when I looked over at them (some of her friends), I could tell they thought we had won too."


2nd place goes to Bunker Dance Center for "Pressed Up Against" (screaming and jumping, you really can't hear what he is saying now), and 1st place goes to Studio 1 for their "sexy, shake your head" dance :).


REALLY, I'M NOT BITTER, I'm laughing. The girls were thrilled, except maybe Emily! She is a true COMPETITOR! She was mad, but really funny!!! She told Jon he should drop the wall off in their parking lot and send a choreography challenge:)! It was the last dance for 5-6-or 7 of the girls. We're not completely sure who is coming back, so there were many tears. But Megan, she was ALL smiles! and hugs! and laughing! and high 5-ing! and telling Emily..."they were so scared! they thought we beat 'em!" It was a great night, and a really fun way to end the 2008 dance season.




Today, I put Hailey on the plane to go visit Sadie and Tod at 1:20, and Megan is headed to "Ramblewood Dance - An Experience Like No Other" in Northern Maryland. It's a unique, rustic retreat set on 160 acres in the countryside. I can't wait to hear HOW rustic it is :). She's off at 11:30.

A quick note about Jon, the amazing dance dad. Beginning with recital, the transportation of the wall has basically been up to him. Another dad took the thing to Salt Lake and back (that would have been gross) so trucker Bob deserves his props, but many fathers were no where to be found when it came to these 5 huge, heavy panels that had to be transported and rolled in and out and on and off stage. And the last night at the gala, it fell to Jon and Chris (Kathy's husband) alone to do it. I didn't realize at the time that he wasn't watching it from the side, but he was behind it, holding it up as they jumped and pivoted on and off it! He loves his girls, and I know they know it, because he loves to be there, where they are, cheering them on! He looked so cute in his jeans at the dressy gala, with a rag hanging out of his pocket. He made friends with lots of people and dancers back stage and I just love him! Thanks Jon, you're the MAN!