Anjali performing Ayar padi maligayil

I told Anjali that I had performed for this song when I was a child in a school concert. Over the past couple of weeks, she was very much excited at the prospect of dancing at the center, and adapted herself to so many variations of the dance. She practised something like four times a day and even invented a couple of steps. The first lateral skipping step and the last step where she sits on one leg and dances are both of Anjali's making. At first Sophia was supposed to dance with Anjali.

I had initially planned for Sophia to be Krishna and Anjali to be Radha. However, right at the first rehearsal, Sophia refused point blank to be Krishna and that kid is as stubborn as a mule that no amount of convincing would enable me to change her mind. So we tried to have a coreography with Anjali as Krishna and Sophia as Radha, but it didnt really work out visually.

And Sophia is way too young for complicated steps. She did try and we had several rehearsals where the children danced together for the first couple of stanzas. However, one week ago, Sophia changed her mind again and refused to dance. I assume that she didnt feel comformable with the nitty gritty details - the smiling, the face the audience and dont show your back, kneeel down and dont stretch your legs when you are sitting etc. I suggested alternatives to her - recite a poem, sing a song, patti suggested her to sing Gayatri mantra.

However, it had to be dropped because of lack of time in the program. Then husband suggested Sophia to sing while Anjali danced. That wasnt going to work out since Sophia was three and there was no way that she could get the rhythm and the beats.

So we came up with the idea of a sing along, which made Sophia happy. She felt a bit left out when Anjali had a whole lot of jewellery and she didnt - Anjali had fake hair and dangly earrings. howewver, we put on a netti chutti and a nice dress, including some makeup and lipstick. During a practice, husband asked Sophia if she was ready with her song.

 "Yes", she said "Then can you sing for me?" "I will only sing with the music", she responded She is not only stubborn as a mule, but also slippery as an eel. What can I do with her?