The Triplet Ballerinas

Ballerinas: Arabesque

The arabesque (air-uh-BESK) is one of the most beautiful and graceful positions a ballerina can create in ballet. The dancer makes straight lines with her legs and arms. Her body is supported on one leg while the other leg is extended horizontally backward. The standing leg can be either straight or bent, but the back leg must always be straight, either on the ground or raised in the air.

There are several different versions of arabesque that are defined by the position of the dancer’s arms. In first arabesque, the arm that is on the same side as the supporting leg is extended out in front of her body with the other arm extended on the side or towards the diagonal back. In second arabesque, the arm that is on the same side as the back leg is extended out in front of her body and the arm on the side of the supporting leg is to the side or diagonal back. In third arabesque, a dancer has both arms extended in front of her body with the arm on the same side as the supporting leg slightly higher than the other so that the hand is anywhere between the top of her head to a foot above her head.

The ballerina can always achieve a good arabesque by remembering to turn out her legs and feet, stretch her legs, point her toes, and keep her stomach muscles strong. Beverly

My Triplet Ballerinas: Mother’s Day Gifts

Guest blogger: Megan J. My triplet ballerinas are my daughters, Makenna Anne, Jaeli Jo and Maysie Jailyn.

My first Mother’s Day was over 12 years ago when I was pregnant with the triplets. Before that, this special day only meant just celebrating my Mom. It was always hard thinking of something to buy her that would mean a lot. After becoming a mom myself, I realize no matter what I get her, it will always mean a lot to her.

Now, I look forward to the little gifts the kids make me or the ones they buy me. When I got home from the store the other day, after leaving them at home with their dad, I walked into the garage and saw a pot of calla lilies. These are my favorite flowers and I always enjoy getting them. I have a few spots in the flower bed where they come back each year, but most of them don’t make it through the winter. So, the more, the better! The triplets have usually remembered over the last couple years that this is my favorite flower. They have had to remind their dad a few times though, but I think he remembers now thanks to them! I told my husband how nice it was he even got me purple ones, which are my favorite color. I added that I couldn’t believe he remembered! He then let me down easy and said it was one of the triplets who told him. They know me well!

My children usually still need help to come up with gift ideas for me and be reminded of the day. My birthday is right before Mother’s Day so that is two gifts they have to come up with. But, honestly, I would be happy with a hug and “I love you” on both days.

My Triplet Ballerinas: Blessed With Three

My triplet ballerinas are my triplet grand-daughters, Makenna, Jaeli and Maysie. I have been blessed with these three granddaughters who call me “grandma”. They are my first grandchild(ren) so that makes it even more special.

Before the triplets came along, I spent my free time mostly scrapbooking. Of course, I wanted to scrapbook about these wondrous, new grandchildren. I wanted to scrapbook about them and any other grandchildren I had through the years. Sadly, finding time for scrapbooking became second to spending my time helping take care of the triplets and, later on, other grandchildren. So then, any hobbies I had were put on the back burner and I never really returned to them.

These days, you will find me still taking care of my grandchildren sometimes, but marketing and promotion of “The Triplet Ballerinas” has now replaced scrapbooking and any other hobbies. Years ago, I had no thoughts of writing a children’s book, but I was inspired by my own triplet granddaughters to do so. I truly have been blessed with three beautiful triplet granddaughters. Beverly

Ballerinas: En Pointe

“En Pointe” means to dance on the tips of the toes. When ballerinas dance en pointe, they wear specially-made pointe shoes that support their feet and toes. They keep these in place with ribbon. A ballerina depends on her pointe shoes to be extremely sturdy. Pointe shoes are made from cloth and glue and baked hard in a special oven. The tip of the shoe is a rigid box made of densely packed layers of fabric, cardboard and/or paper. The shoes are covered in pink satin and dyed different colors to match the ballerina’s costume. Pointe shoes should be fitted to the shape of the ballerina’s foot. On average, these shoes cost between $45 and $120 per pair, but most dancers pay $65-$75 for a pair of pointe shoes.

Ballerinas first started to dance en pointe over 150 years ago. The age to start dancing en pointe is usually not before 11 years old, although some ballet teachers rely on ability not age. Whatever age a dancer is when she first puts on her pointe shoes, I am sure she feels like she is floating on air.

My Triplet Ballerinas: Best Friends for Life

My triplet ballerinas are my grand-daughters, Makenna, Jaeli and Maysie. Once in awhile, I will watch a movie or a TV show that reminds me of them.

Recently, I watched a movie about a tomboyish 12-year-old girl, Ryan, who was best friends all through elementary school with Tina. Tina spent the summer before they started middle school visiting relatives. She returned on the first day of school wearing fashionable clothes and makeup and soon attracted the attention of boys. Tina moved on with a new, popular crowd. Meanwhile, Ryan was still a tomboy starting something new on her own because the person she thought she could count on had left her behind. Since Ryan only had one friend her whole life, she was uncertain how to make a new friend and ended up alone.

While I watched this movie, I compared Ryan and Tina to my own triplet granddaughters. I don’t think any of them will feel so alone the way Ryan does in this movie because they will always have each other. They have best friends for life who can never leave them behind (even if they want to). Hopefully, when the triplets themselves start middle school soon, they will have no problems making friends separate from each other because they know what it is like to have more than one best friend. I am sure they will always be able to count on each other also no matter how much they might change. Beverly

My Triplet Ballerinas: Triplet Moments

My triplet ballerinas are my grand-daughters, Makenna, Jaeli and Maysie.

As each year passes, I see my triplet granddaughters maturing more and more. They aren’t toddlers or young girls anymore but are now “tweens” and soon will become teenagers. They have interests that extend beyond a grandparent and more towards their friends and/or electronics.

As a parent or grandparent, you probably want to see your children or grandchildren grow up to be the amazing individuals they can be, but it is still hard to see them leave those little girl years (and to some extent even the adults in their lives) behind.

But then, there are the moments when you get a glimpse of the little girl in them that still needs you and the moments when they want to play a game with you, watch a movie or show with you or even just sit and cuddle with you. Most especially, there are the moments when you get the attention of all three of them instead of only one or two of them at a time. These are the moments to cherish forever. Beverly

My Triplet Ballerinas: Triplet Identity

Guest Blogger: Megan J. My triplet ballerinas are my daughters Makenna Anne, Jaeli Jo and Maysie Jailyn.

As triplets, the girls sometimes struggle finding their own identity. Many times, they are referred to as “the triplets” or even my identical twins within the set as “the twins”. I, too, often do this and I need to be more considerate and refer to them as individuals.

With all three in the same grade at school, they “share” friends, and even a few cousins, close in age. Sometimes, Jaeli struggles to feel “seen”. She will come to me with tears in her eyes and say that she feels “invisible”. She feels as though Makenna and Maysie get more attention and others want to be their friend, but not hers. This makes me very sad. Jaeli has the biggest heart of the three girls and, although she has a temper on her, she is the most loving and also the most shy.

Jaeli and I have sat down and discussed ways we can make her feel more included and “seen”. Together, we decided a sleepover at her cousins by herself would be a great start. We will continue to find ways to help her discover who she is and how she can open herself up to make new friends outside of her sisters.

Ballerinas: Leap

In “The Triplet Ballerinas”, Annie’s ballet move is leaping-sometimes high! Leaping seemed to fit her personality. What do you call a ballet leap (or jump) in ballet? The most common leap is called a grand jete’. This is a long horizontal jump starting from one leg and landing on the other. This is usually a step for advanced jumpers though. To make a jump even higher, the dancer lifts her head and arms and looks toward her high arm.

Some other leaps are the switch leap (this one starts like a grand jete’ and then switches in the air), tour jete’ (this is a turning leap), straddle leap (a Russian leap mostly found in jazz dance), supported leaps (this is one where a dancer uses a partner to help her get off the ground or to catch her at the end of a leap) and a pas de chat (this is a small leap performed directly to the front of the stage).

My Triplet Ballerinas: Triplet Birthdays

My triplet ballerinas are my grand-daughters, Makenna, Jaeli and Maysie.

The triplets were born on July 2nd, 2008, so when the Fourth of July came around each year, we knew it was about time for another birthday and a big combined birthday party. Before the triplets started school, it was mostly just family at their birthday parties. Once they started school though, the triplets would each invite a couple school friends (along with their cousins and family friends) to their combined theme birthday party.

In 2013, when the triplets turned 5 years old, Rapunzel came to visit with her long, blonde hair and her signature purple dress. Since they have a summer birthday, a backyard Pool Party Birthday was needed in 2014 when they turned 6 years old. In 2015, when they turned 7 years old, it was a Princess Birthday Party inspired by a trip to Disney World earlier that summer. There were a lot of Disney princesses around that year including Makenna’s “Ariel”, Jaeli’s “Belle” (of course, since they both love to read!) and Maysie’s “Cinderella”. In 2016, when the triplets turned 8 years old, they discovered American Girl dolls so they had an American Girl Tea Party with all their friends and any doll they wanted to bring. In 2017, when they turned 9 years old, it was a Rainbow and Unicorns Birthday Party with “horn hairdos” and t-shirts that said “Happier than a unicorn eating cupcakes on a rainbow!” In 2018, when the triplets turned 10 years old, they had a Fashion Show Birthday Party. This involved makeovers, manicures and even a fashion show runway for everyone to show off their glamorous selves and ended up being the last themed birthday party for the triplets. In 2019, when the triplets turned 11, it was decided there would be no more big birthday parties for awhile.

It seems like just yesterday the triplets were babies and celebrating their first birthday. Now, they are young ladies, growing up more with every year that passes. Beverly

Ballerinas: Positions

All the movements in ballet come from five positions. The basic ballet positions for arms and feet are simply known as “First Position”, “Second Position”, “Third Position”, “Fourth Position” and “Fifth Position”. All basic ballet moves start from and end in one of these five positions or a slight variation of.

First Position: Hold your arms in a circle in front of your ribs and turn your legs out from the top of your legs down to your heels. This is the easiest ballet position for the feet.

Second Position: Open your arms to a rounded position with the hands lower than the shoulders and with a space between your feet as wide as your hips. Make sure your legs are still turned out. The position of your feet are similar to “First Position” except your feet are farther apart.

Third Position: One arm stays in “Second Position” and the other arm moves to “First Position”. Your legs should be together with the front foot halfway across the back foot. This position is a bit difficult for beginners to perform.

Fourth Position: Lift the front arm into a round position over your head. Slide the front foot forward so there is a space between your legs.

Fifth Position: Move both arms in a circle above your head. The fingers on both hands don’t touch each other. Cross your front foot so only the big toe of the other foot can be seen and the feet are touching. This is the most widely recognized position in ballet.