This kid

.... started her festival today at 9.45. She played a beautiful solo, came 2nd in a huge class. The day went on, including a rehearsal time at home and a mad dash to find ribbons for the afternoons outifit. She went on to do two duets - with two more seconds. And then at 5.30 did her final class of the day- a blues piece that she’s fantastic at. She lost herself about 2/3 of the way. For the briefest of times. And she found herself, picked up where she’d left off and didn’t bat an eye lid. She was such a pro about just getting on with it. Then when she stopped she stood up from the piano and looked at me, mortified. She cried in my lap a while, so upset with her little self. She asked if I thought she deserved last place. We sat through the adjudication. The adjudicator stunned her when she told her how much of a non event the “brief anxiety in the middle” had been. That the way she’d moved on and not let it affect her had been so impressive. She came 3rd. Her face when her name was called was utterly wonderful. A look of complete disbelief, followed by a bemused, joyful smile. Her adjudication sheet called the performance “masterful”. Girl did good today. Girl did very good. And not because she came away with a stack of placings.