in the talent show

There's a new-ish movie out for kids called "Jump In!" It's a Disney movie full of feel-good-about-yourself and do-what-makes-YOU-happy-not-what-other-people-think-you-should-do plot lines. The basic premise is a teenage boy (played by Corbin Bleu ... I would be shrieking and excited at the mere mention of his name if I were about 25 years younger) who is the boxing son of a champion boxer who ends up following his heart to compete with some friends in a double dutch competition. Along the way, of course, he is ridiculed by some people that he likes to jump rope ... but those people come around in the end--in true Disney movie predictability / feel-good fashion. Setting aside the enormous cheese factor, the movie is engaging, even for us grown-up types. So, you can imagine that it's a near obsession for the kid types.

The tricks these kids do while jumping rope are nothing short of amazing. It takes an incredible amount of talent, skill and stamina to perform like the kids in the movie do. My kids (and I) are completely impressed, which is what brought about the following conversation between Austin and me:

"Hey Mom, I want to be in the talent show this year."
"You do? What are you thinking you want to do?"
"Jump rope."
"Really? Are you going to do tricks or just see how long you can jump?"
"Tricks, like in Jump In! ... I want to do stuff like Izzy" (the character's name)
"That sounds cool, Austin. I suppose you better start practicing some of your big moves, huh?"
"Yeah ... I'm gonna do that now. Okay?"
"Have fun!"

And that's where it all began ...

He chose a song from the soundtrack of the movie (it's the remixed version of the song Jump! Jump! Think "Criss Cross will make you Jump! Jump!"). He practiced everyday. He auditioned in front of his class--which made him feel a little nervous, but also "kind of cool" because his classmates clapped really loud and for a long time and told him they thought he was "awesome". He waited anxiously for 2 weeks to see the posting of who made it--and he did. We were very excited .... and he was determined to practice even more.

On Wednesday, we (Tim even took the morning off so he could go watch) took the kids to school and got good seats in the gym. The performers came in and all took their seats to the side of the stage in order--Austin would be third. Then the rest of the school filed in to the gym and sat on the floor. First performer was a joke telling second grader. Lots of participation (during the Knock! Knock! jokes) and good laughs from the audience. Second performer was a guitar playing second grader. He played (and very well) the Star Spangled Banner. Good applause and cheering from the crowd when he finished. Then it was Austin's turn. He was up on the stage with his jump rope. The music started and he was off. He did some one-legged jumping, then switched legs. He did some backwards jumping and then one-legged backward jumping. The crowd started clapping along with the music. Then he did a really long series of speed jumping ... and the crowd started cheering and clapping. He continued varying his skills throughout the song ... the kids loved it. When he finished, the audience clapped and cheered loudly. He was tired, but I could tell he was proud of himself. Tim and I were really proud of him, too.

The talent show continued with about 20 more acts of singers, musicians, dancers and even a contortionist--all kids ranging from Kindergarten through 3rd grade. (The 4th-6th graders performed in the afternoon.) It was a very good show. We were impressed with all the talent. Later that night, Tim and I were talking about the different acts and agreed that the best performance was from a cutie pie 2nd grader doing a dance to a jazzy version of the "Itsy Bitsy Spider". Her years of dance classes really showed. We also agreed that Austin's performance was in the top five of all of them.

He's already planning what he wants to do for next year's talent show--breakdancing!!