thanks, Gina. I'll be sure to pass the advice onto her. Mustering up the courage to speak with the pro dancers and the director is a big issue for her. They are good people, I can tell, but she's terrified to "step out of her place." She's also got an emerging issue right now with not feeling like she's getting enough actual rehearsal time (and opening night's in a week). This is the first year this particular company has gone to three rotating casts, and she's in one of those that are spending most of the rehearsals observing and marking in the back. Like, she's gotten 15 real minutes of rehearsal in the last week. Seriously.

Any suggestions on how to handle this? I don't know if the lack of floor time is the result of disorganization or if the director feels like this one cast just needs the most work. But it's wearing on her nerves and, as usual, she won't speak up and ask someone about this. Her father and I are really trying to get her to resolve these problems on her own, but maybe 12 is too young to negotiate this? I realize also that professionals are sometimes expected to go into performance with little actual rehearsal, so I don't know if we should just encourage her to approach this as a great opportunity to learn a part through osmosis?