Shaking Up Traditions

Tradition–the glue that binds individuals, families, cultures…

When I think about our family traditions, we have two kinds. The traditional traditions that most Americans fall back on, and many that have grown organically over the years that are unique to us.

I have to say, I enjoy the organic ones the most. Cait has been the instigator of many of my personally favorite traditions like “Best Part, Worst Part, Don’t Tell,” “Bedtime Tickle Fights,” and “So, What Should We Talk About?

I got to thinking about those organic traditions during a ballet that Cait and I attended recently. You see, I unintentionally started a tradition back when Cait was just 2 years old, when I took her to her first ballet. I was maxed out on toddler activities and needed an adult outlet that fed me. I kid you not, Cait fell in love with the ballet right then and there– at the ripe old age of two, she sat rapt on the edge of her seat for the entire 2 1/2 hours! We haven’t missed a year since.

She loves the classic ballets, so that’s what we’ve seen for the past 15 years. But I tend to be much more eclectic in my tastes. So this year, I decided to shake things up a bit. I got us tickets to see the National Canadian Ballet Company (they’re a bit more experimental and progressive than the NYC Ballet).

I waited until the curtain started rising for their wild performance of Emergence before I happened to mention that she might find it a little weird. I didn’t want to give her any time to balk.

It was indeed very weird — and extremely cool. And Cait loved it! Now that I know she’s mature enough to have her dance horizons expanded, we’ll get to embark on a whole new tradition.

Here’s a clip of one of my favorite dancers, Guillaume Cote. Should have been called poetry in motion… Take a look at the pure joy on his face at 0.50 seconds.

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