At the Barre

“Ms Romey?” Mary peeks her head into my room. She gracefully picks up the path of clothes laying on my wooden floor. Tulle skirt, blue jacket, leggings, graphic tee, workout shorts, ballet tights, burnt orange headscarf. She gathers them into her arms and lays them into my hamper.

“Ms Romey, it’s time to get up. Breakfast is waiting for you downstairs.” She responded as she pulled my curtains back.

“Do I really need to go to class today?’ I ask leaning against the mountain of pillows behind me.

“No, but I think it would be best if you went.” Mary swiftly moves from the window seat to the foot of my bed. She gathers the blankets thrown to the floor last night and places then neatly by my dresser.

“Fine, I’ll go but I won’t be happy about it.” I sigh and get out of bed.

“Okay. I have laid out a towel and face cloth by your shower.” Mary says as she straightens the sheets and pulls the covers up to pillows.

“Okay,” I grumble dragging my feet to the bathroom. When I got out of the shower my bed has been made and Mary has laid out a pair of black dance shorts and a white tank top. I grab my blue dance jacket out of the hamper and pull it on over the tank top.

I shuffle down the stairs and see that some yoghurt, fruit and a glass of orange juice has been laid out for me. I sit down to eat and Mary comes over to put my hair into a bun. My mum walks in, talking on the phone. “Madame, I’m telling you this is not a good idea. The girls thought that they had one more day to prepare.” Mum grabs a strawberry off of my plate and gives me a smile. “Yes, I understand that you have to be out of town, but I could run the auditions. Yes, I understand. Of course, I will tell Rome.”

I raise my eyebrows at my mum. “So…” She sighs. “Madame Moreau must fly out tomorrow to help her daughter get ready for a show in Paris. So, auditions for Swan Lake are going to be today.”

“What!!? We’re not prepared, we all needed this extra day to get ready!” This is a problem. The auditions for Swan Lake are supposed to be in three days and my class hasn’t finished learning all of the important steps. Madame Moreau, my dance teacher, is extremely strict about perfect form and not knowing the steps is going to guarantee a bad audition. “This is awful.”

I make it to the studio with my mum. Butterflies are racing in my stomach as my class begins to stretch. I can see the nervousness in all the girls’ faces. Madame Moreau floats into the room. Clearly, this is not messing up her schedule.

“Dancers, listen up. I have been informed by your teachers that you have not finished learning the pieces for the auditions. While I would like to get started, I understand that I cannot go on until you all are informed. You will break into your groups. Three people will audition at a time. You will have an hour and a half before we begin the name call. You may start.”

We all tiptoed in the corners of the room. Whispers spread around the room as the girls gathered into groups. Belle, Lucy, and I practised and practised for an hour and a half spinning and jumping. We were all super nervous.

“Belle, Romey, and Lucy? You are up.” We made our way onto the stage. The music started and we took our places. Bradley emerged from stage left and placed himself in the middle of the three of us.

“You may begin.” Madame Moreau said emotionless. We went through the whole dance without forgetting any steps. The music slowed and Madame Moreau wrote one last thing on her clipboard and set her pen down.

“Next.” She looked up at us with no praise and we left the stage. All of the dancers waited backstage as Madame Moreau went through the auditions one by one.

“Everyone, gather.” Madame Moreau cleared her throat as we all sat on the stage waiting for her announcement. She read off dozens of positions until there were only three left. And my name hadn’t been called yet. “Prince Siegfried: Bradley, Odile: Chloe and finally, the star, our swan, Odette: Ms Romey Tahle.” I did it. I got my first lead part, everything that I had been working for the last 11 years. “I am sorry if your name wasn’t called, but we have another production in Spring!” Madame Moreau came over to me. “Congratulations Romey, you really blew me away.” And then, she gave me a smile. Which never everhappens.