Quinceañera

3 days until.....

The Quinceañera is a celebration, in Latin American cultures, of a girl's 15th birthday and of the transition between childhood and women hood. It consists of a church service, a waltz danced by the girl (or girls) turning fifteen and her friends, a fancy meal, a big cake, and a party... and don't forget the poofy dresses and high heals.

Here at NPH we want our children to have a chance to participate in traditional events and coming of age ceremonies in their culture and the Quinceañera is no exception. All the girls turning fifteen within the year partake in the Quinceañera celebration. Each girl picks a caballero (a boy to be their "date"/dance partner for the day), an entregador (someone to walk them into the event and "give them away"/hand them off to the boys) and five family members or friends from the home to attend the event with them. Donations have been made so each girl is able to pick the color and style of their dress and the color of their insanely high heeled shoes. Whats left...learning a waltz!

Somehow I got roped into helping choreograph the waltz for the Quinceañera with Molly and Erika. Which at times has been tiring and at times has been stressful, but overall has been one of my fondest memories at NPH this far. You all know as well as I do that I can't dance and I am certainly not the waltz type, but you would be surprised what watching a few youtube videos and brainstorming can do. We have been practicing for the past three months with a group of 22 girls and boys to try and perfect the dance for the Quinceañera. There have been days I have not wanted to go and their have been practices we just canceled because the kids would not listen, but I am amazed at how far the kids have come and how great the dance looks. I am so proud of all the kids and how hard they have all worked.

Two more practices left and then its showtime!
Here is a clip of one of our practices this week (first time with the orchestra). I took the video on my flipcam, but had trouble uploading it. Check it out on Molly's blog!