Tuesday, November 22, 2016
There is a lot of magic happening in our lovely county leading up to Christmas. We all need to take it in, and contribute to it. Random acts of magic could be our mantra for the next few weeks. We each have the ability to spread the magic by attending, participating and supporting in whatever speaks to our hearts from bake sales at churches to the Santa Claus Parades. We each can pay attention to the magic. This weekend the Haliburton Highlands Festival Singers will perform Messiah on Saturday and Sunday at the United Church. This is their 25th anniversary and that in itself is magical. The annual Fuel for Warmth Shindig is happening on Saturday night at the Northern Lights Performing Arts Pavilion. It will be a great show and is a great cause. And there is the magic of the 13th annual Nutcrackers in which 83 of our local children will dance Sonya Flatman and Betty Paton starting dancing with Julie Barban when they were wee little girls of 4 years. Rebecca Hamilton started a little later when she was about 9. All of these young women have grown into beautiful dancers over the years. On December 3 and 4th they will all perform in their final show of Nutcracker. Sonya will sparkle and shine as the Snow Queen, Rebecca will do the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy and Betty will be Dewdrop in the classic Waltz of the Flowers dance. All 3 girls have grown into beautiful dancers that are full of poise, grace and beauty. It is a beautiful Christmas tradition. The costumes are always so delightful, with all of the tutus being made by Dani Smolen. What I find so interesting about these girls who will dance in the lead roles, is that by day they are sporty machines that play on various teams at the high school while at night they are practicing for the ballet. Sonya and Rebecca are field hockey and wrestling team members. Betty is a rugby player. I am sure if you talk to professional dancers or athletes, both groups would brag about the benefits of the other in terms of development. When playing sports an athlete develops agility, speed, power, team work and dedication. These skills are also needed for dance. In sports and dance the participants have to be fit physically and mentally and have the stamina to play the game or dance the performance. Dancers develop balance, flexibility, strength and is great for brain development when learning to move to the music. Sports and dance take dedication and just plain old hard work to keep improving and get good at the activity. There are lots of people working hard in this community to make all kinds of magical things happen. My advice for the next weeks up to Christmas is to pay attention to magic. It is everywhere in the smallest of moments and interactions and in the bigger events. There is more than enough magic for everyone.