Fairplay, Denver Cereal Volume 6 by Claudia Hall Christian Page B

Girls enter ballet
companies when they are young, usually very young and usually
younger than Sissy. Ulyana was ten when she entered
Kirov.”
    “ Ulyana?” Sandy
asked.
    “ Kirov?” Heather
asked.
    “ Russian ballet company,
maybe the best in the world,” Anjelika said. “I think Sissy is
better than Ulyana Lopatkina or at least as good. She will be tall
but Ulyana is tall as well.”
    “ Sissy’s already been to
New York,” Sandy said. “She went when she was ten but she hasn’t
had lessons for a couple of years.”
    “ Because of her family
problems,” Anjelika nodded.
    “ They asked her back this
summer,” Sandy said.
    “ Why didn’t she go?”
Anjelika asked. “She wants to dance, yes?”
    “ Sissy?” Sandy asked. “She
came out of the womb wanting to be a ballerina.”
    “ Why did she not go to New
York?” Anjelika asked.
    Sandy flushed with rage. Feeling her
mother’s anger, Rachel squirmed. Sandy looked down to comfort
her.
    “ Her mother,” Heather
said.
    “ She told Sissy that they
would live together,” Tanesha said. “Sissy didn’t want to miss the
chance for her family to be together.”
    “ And now?” Anjelika
asked.
    “ They gave her spot to
another girl,” Sandy said.
    “ Surely, they will take
her back,” Anjelika said.
    “ I…” Sandy shook her head.
“I can’t do that to Sissy. I’m sorry.”
    “ Well, my father is coming
to Denver to see Valerie and Mikhail before the baby is born,”
Anjelika said. “I’d like him to see Sissy dance.”
    “ She’s at dance every
afternoon,” Sandy said. “She’s with Ivan in the evenings three
times a week.”
    “ She had to agree to see
Ivan in order to get back in the Denver Ballet,” Heather said.
“They said she was too rusty.”
    “ I think you misunderstood
them,” Anjelika said. “I believe they want Sissy to see Ivan
because she’s too good for their school. Ivan is Russian trained.
He is what she needs. The rest is mindless exercise for a talent
like Sissy.”
    Sandy, Heather and Tanesha were so surprised
they could only blink at Anjelika. Sandy recovered first.
    “ Are you sure?” Sandy
asked.
    “ Oh yes,” Anjelika said.
“She needs more practice. The good thing is that she knows
it.”
    “ I don’t know how she
could fit it in,” Sandy said.
    “ I’d be happy to run
drills with her on the nights she’s not with Ivan,” Anjelika said.
“She needs to practice every day.”
    “ She’s had such a hard
time,” Sandy said. “She needs to heal and be a kid for a
while.”
    “ Yes,” Anjelika said. “I
gave this lecture over my children. You have heard my Jillian’s
version?”
    Sandy, Heather and Tanesha nodded.
    “ We have to be crafty,”
Anjelika said. “Give Sissy enough practice to perfect her talent
and also give her a life. I bet between us, we can make that
happen. Does Charlie dance?”
    “ No,” Sandy said. “Too
girlie for him.”
    “ I’ll speak to Ivan,”
Anjelika said. “I am confident we can find an exercise program for
all the kids that will help Sissy and still be fun.”
    “ Sure,” Sandy said. “And
I’ll talk to Aden about the rest of it. Have you met
Ward?”
    “ He likes Sissy,” Heather
said.
    “ Sissy likes him,” Tanesha
said.
    “ Is he a dancer?” Anjelika
asked.
    “ Ivan said he has the
lines,” Sandy said. “But I don’t think he’s ever
trained.”
    “ Why don’t we get him
involved in our program?” Anjelika asked.
    “ I’m seeing his mother
this week. I’ll ask,” Sandy said. “I know I could use more
exercise.”
    “ Me too,” Heather
said.
    “ Good,” Anjelika said.
“We’ll set something up for the rest of the summer.”
    “ The next four weeks,”
Sandy smiled at Sissy’s oft repeated words.
    “ Yes,” Anjelika said. “And
I’ll see if we can get some real ballet talent here to watch Sissy.
In the meantime, my father will be here next weekend and stay for a
week or so.”
    “ How can he…?” Tanesha
blurted