gentleman said, "Hello, dear."
"Hello." My voice was barely louder than a whisper.
My new grandmother gazed down at me and from head to toe I was assessed, weighed, measured.
"She is petite. Nearly thirteen, you say?" she asked Celine.
"Yes, Mother, but she moves as gracefully as a butterfly. I wouldn't want her to be any different," Celine said proudly.
"What if she doesn't grow much more?" Mrs. Westfall asked, and as she stared down at me I noticed she was sparkling with jewelry. Around her neck she wore a dazzling diamond necklace and her fingers were covered with rings, rubies, diamonds, all in gold and platinum settings.
"Of course she'll grow," Sanford said and his indignant voice surprised me.
"I doubt it," my new grandmother muttered. "Well, where are we supposed to sit?" she said, turning and looking at the already well-filled auditorium.
"Those are our seats to the right there." Sanford nodded at some empty chairs in the first row. That appeared to please my new grandmother.
"Well, let's sit down." She headed toward the seats with a graceful gait, her head held high.
"Good luck, young lady," my new grandfather said.
"Afterward," Celine said, taking my hand, "we'll all go out for dinner and celebrate."
"Just relax and do your best," Sanford told me and gave me his special smile.
"Oh no," Celine cried when she turned in her chair. "It's my brother. Who expected he would come?"
Daniel came strutting down the aisle, a big wide grin on his face. He wore a cowboy hat, a pale yellow western shirt, jeans, and boots. Everything looked new, but because the rest of the audience was dressed as if it were really a city ballet theater, he stood out and caused an immediate wave of chatter.
"That's how you come dressed to this?" Celine said as he approached us.
"What's wrong with what I'm wearing? It cost enough," he added. "Hey, break a leg," he said to me. There wasn't a seat for him so he took a place against the wall, folded his arms, and leaned back.
Soon after Daniel arrived I left my family and joined the other performers who were at the barres exercising. Dimitri stopped and came over to me.
"Relax," he said. "You're too tight. This isn't exactly the Metropolitan Ballet, you know. It's just a bunch of proud parents mooing and gooing." "Are your parents here?" I asked.
"Of course not," he said. "This isn't anything."
"It is to me," I admitted. He smirked. Then he smiled that arrogant smile and I was sorry that I'd let him know how important tonight was to me.
"Just pretend I'm out there with you and you'll be fine. In fact," he said leaning toward me, "imagine I'm naked."
My face instantly grew hot. He laughed and moved off to join the older students. I saw them all looking my way. He was whispering to them and they were smiling and laughing. I tried to ignore them, to concentrate on what I was doing, but my heart wouldn't stop thumping and I was having trouble catching my breath.
Finally, Madame Malisorf took the floor and the room grew so still you could hear someone clear his throat way in the back of the audience.
"Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for coming to our semiannual recital. We will begin today with a demonstration of some of the basic, yet difficult ballet exercises, what we call the adage portion of our class, to be performed by my primary class students. You will note how well the students maintain position and balance.
"All of them, I am happy to say, are now dancing sur les pointes or on pointe, as we say. As some of you who have been here before know, toe dancing was developed early in the nineteenth century but did not become widely used by ballet dancers until the eighteen thirties, when the Swedish-Italian ballerina Marie Taglioni demonstrated its potential for poetic effect. Heritage, style, technique, grace, and form are what we emphasize at the Malisorf School of Ballet.
"Without further comment, then, my primary students," she announced, did a small bow, and backed away, nodding at the piano
"Hello." My voice was barely louder than a whisper.
My new grandmother gazed down at me and from head to toe I was assessed, weighed, measured.
"She is petite. Nearly thirteen, you say?" she asked Celine.
"Yes, Mother, but she moves as gracefully as a butterfly. I wouldn't want her to be any different," Celine said proudly.
"What if she doesn't grow much more?" Mrs. Westfall asked, and as she stared down at me I noticed she was sparkling with jewelry. Around her neck she wore a dazzling diamond necklace and her fingers were covered with rings, rubies, diamonds, all in gold and platinum settings.
"Of course she'll grow," Sanford said and his indignant voice surprised me.
"I doubt it," my new grandmother muttered. "Well, where are we supposed to sit?" she said, turning and looking at the already well-filled auditorium.
"Those are our seats to the right there." Sanford nodded at some empty chairs in the first row. That appeared to please my new grandmother.
"Well, let's sit down." She headed toward the seats with a graceful gait, her head held high.
"Good luck, young lady," my new grandfather said.
"Afterward," Celine said, taking my hand, "we'll all go out for dinner and celebrate."
"Just relax and do your best," Sanford told me and gave me his special smile.
"Oh no," Celine cried when she turned in her chair. "It's my brother. Who expected he would come?"
Daniel came strutting down the aisle, a big wide grin on his face. He wore a cowboy hat, a pale yellow western shirt, jeans, and boots. Everything looked new, but because the rest of the audience was dressed as if it were really a city ballet theater, he stood out and caused an immediate wave of chatter.
"That's how you come dressed to this?" Celine said as he approached us.
"What's wrong with what I'm wearing? It cost enough," he added. "Hey, break a leg," he said to me. There wasn't a seat for him so he took a place against the wall, folded his arms, and leaned back.
Soon after Daniel arrived I left my family and joined the other performers who were at the barres exercising. Dimitri stopped and came over to me.
"Relax," he said. "You're too tight. This isn't exactly the Metropolitan Ballet, you know. It's just a bunch of proud parents mooing and gooing." "Are your parents here?" I asked.
"Of course not," he said. "This isn't anything."
"It is to me," I admitted. He smirked. Then he smiled that arrogant smile and I was sorry that I'd let him know how important tonight was to me.
"Just pretend I'm out there with you and you'll be fine. In fact," he said leaning toward me, "imagine I'm naked."
My face instantly grew hot. He laughed and moved off to join the older students. I saw them all looking my way. He was whispering to them and they were smiling and laughing. I tried to ignore them, to concentrate on what I was doing, but my heart wouldn't stop thumping and I was having trouble catching my breath.
Finally, Madame Malisorf took the floor and the room grew so still you could hear someone clear his throat way in the back of the audience.
"Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for coming to our semiannual recital. We will begin today with a demonstration of some of the basic, yet difficult ballet exercises, what we call the adage portion of our class, to be performed by my primary class students. You will note how well the students maintain position and balance.
"All of them, I am happy to say, are now dancing sur les pointes or on pointe, as we say. As some of you who have been here before know, toe dancing was developed early in the nineteenth century but did not become widely used by ballet dancers until the eighteen thirties, when the Swedish-Italian ballerina Marie Taglioni demonstrated its potential for poetic effect. Heritage, style, technique, grace, and form are what we emphasize at the Malisorf School of Ballet.
"Without further comment, then, my primary students," she announced, did a small bow, and backed away, nodding at the piano
Similar Books
