Author's Note: I have absolutely no actual dance experience. I just really admire dancers, so I apologize for any mistakes made. I have links to all dances used for choreography inspiration, if anyone's curious.
The Citadel was the West Point of Dance Schools. Only twenty students graduated each year, and spots in premier dance companies were handed out almost at the same time as diplomas. Graduates of the Citadel had guaranteed futures, which was a rare thing in a performing arts career. Kaidan Alenko had known that the Citadel was his dream school ever since he had first donned a pair of dance shoes.
He'd been four years old, watching a ballet on television. He'd thought it was beautiful, and tried to imitate the dancers, nearly breaking a dozen bones in the process. His parents enrolled him in classes after he broke a lamp trying to pirouette, telling him that they would gladly pay for dance classes in exchange for him promising not to break anything else. Kaidan took the agreement to heart, and learned to control exactly where his limbs were at all times. By the time he was a good enough dancer to enter competitions, Kaidan was meticulous about control, and his form was nearly perfect as a result. The only critique he still received on a regular basis was that he needed to "feel" the music more, and let his emotions guide his movements. But Kaidan knew that if he did that , then he would get sloppy, and in his opinion, a clean performance was always better than a sloppy one.
His 'emotionless' performances got him far enough to be invited to the competition portion of the Citadel application. He had passed the initial audition, interview, and academic criteria. All he needed to do now was attend a six-week course held on campus, judged by Citadel teachers, and handle himself well enough to make the final cuts. There were twenty spots in the freshman class, and forty-two applicants.
The first two weeks were made up of solo freestyles of differing moods, tests to make sure the dancers were well-rounded. Dancers who had only taken Tap had to find a way to dance Modern, and Jazz dancers had to learn Hip-Hop in a day. Luckily, Kaidan knew enough of most genres to have no problems, given he stuck to the Hip-Hop wasn't too difficult, as he could fake emotion with the heavy beats and exaggerated movements. He was most excited for the last dance, though.
The Citadel was famed as a classical ballet school, first and foremost, so the last dance before initial cuts was a ballet. That was the day when everyone was the most on edge. The dances were public, and each dancer was given a critique after their dance, so most students watched and took the opportunity to learn from the other dancer's mistakes. Kaidan took notes.
Tali Zorah- Exotic looking girl with free movement. Would be good at theater pieces, but lacks refinement and experience.
Garrus Vakarian- Strong, but rigid dancer. Needs to loosen up. Might be nerves.
Ashley Williams- Tough and fiery, moves a bit erratically, but has power.
Kaidan also meticulously checked his watch, getting up an hour before his scheduled dance time in order to warm up. He already had on his dance clothes on under his sweatpants, but he needed to stretch for at least a half hour to be limber enough to show off his skills. The time was also useful for getting in the right mindset.
He was in the middle of a particularly important hamstring stretch when he heard a voice pierce through his focusing playlist. Kaidan yanked out one ear bud to hear the question repeated.
"Alenko, right?" Kaidan nodded, but didn't open his eyes, mouthing his remaining stretch count as if to stress that he was busy. Fourteen, fifteen, sixteen…
"You were at the Arcturus dance competition, right? Four years ago?" Kaidan opened his eyes, wondering who would bother to interrupt him. He usually didn't make friends with other dancers, because there really wasn't much space for friendship in the competitive atmosphere. He didn't know who to expect, but he was especially shocked to see a face that was almost a legend among dancers his age.
"Shepard?"
The woman chuckled, moving into a lunge. She was warming up as well.
"Yeah. Arcturus?" Kaidan nodded, that particular competition one of the more memorable ones in his career. He had gotten the highest technical score of the day, a quarter point shy of his personal best, but he still hadn't had the highest scoring dance. That had gone to Shepard, and the points she earned from that dance were enough to earn her the title of 'Spectre', a designation for lifetime achievement at national ballet competitions that was only earned by a handful of dancers every generation. Her lifetime point tally was as high as some professional dancers', and at age 15, she was the youngest to ever receive the award. It skyrocketed her into fame well outside of the dance sphere. She'd even made it onto a few national morning news shows, where she became a spokesperson for the entire dance community. But she'd disappeared after that, and no one had seen her at a dance function since.
"I didn't know you would be here." Kaidan was struck had been many rumors concerning Shepard's whereabouts the past few years, but the most common one was that the Citadel had recruited her early. That was unheard of, and obviously untrue, if she was preparing to dance an audition for them now. She looked at him oddly, and he realized that he must have seemed a bit too surprised to find her here. He didn't want to insult her; he'd have to find an excuse for his awkwardness. He faintly remembered that she had been in the next age category up at Arcturus, which would have put her into last year's freshman class. "I uh- I thought you were nineteen." Kaidan felt his face flush as his hurried half-explanation fell on his own ears.
"Missed last year's class by three days. The Citadel's pretty strict about age requirements." Shepard replied, going back to her stretch. She didn't seem offended, and Kaidan felt as if he'd dodged a bullet. Making enemies with one of the most talented dancers would definitely not help his chances of making it in the dance world.
"But I'm here now." Shepard popped up out of her stretch fast enough to make Kaidan's joints hurt, and flashed him a grin. "Thought you'd end up here too, your form is impeccable." Her eyes danced around his figure, following his stretch, and Kaidan felt his face flush. She seemed far from offended, perhaps the exact opposite. Was she flirting with him?
Shepard rolled her shoulders and popped onto her toes, her leg muscles bulging through her tights. She glanced out onto the stage, where the lights flashed to indicate the next dancer's turn. "My time to shine. See you up next, Alenko."
She lept off of her pointe and towards the stage, leaving him with his mouth agape. He had remembered her being a natural, but she was so calm, it was almost scary. Most of the other dancers backstage were showing their nerves through varying shades of white faces and nervous fiddling. Kaidan stood and made his way into the wings to watch Shepard, knowing that her critiques could be the most enlightening of the day.
Her music started, but Shepard stayed completely still, on the edge of the stage. When she began to walk forward, it was slow, and her feet were far ahead of her body. She moved to the center of the stage in a way that was both graceful and awkward, as if she didn't quite understand how her limbs moved. She looked like a newborn horse, trying to discover how to move on long legs, and not yet knowing their strength. Slowly, her movement became more controlled. She went through a series of turns and lifts, showcasing the grace of long limbs that had looked so awkward at the beginning of her dance. At one point, she lifted a foot and held it in the air, her knee bent at a ninety degree angle. She flexed her foot up and down, toes curling, before setting it down and dragging it along the floor as her entire body turned. Then she was off again, leaping out of the odd movement in a way that was dizzying. Kaidan wondered how she didn't fall.
She moved beautifully, there was no doubt about that, but something was odd about her dance. She wasn't en pointe, like so many of the other dancers had been, and Kaidan knew she was capable of dancing completely en pointe. Shepard also didn't have some of the more advanced ballet moves in her dance, instead swapping them out for ones that looked like they belonged in a modern dance. Kaidan could only watch, wondering what she would do next.
She was in the middle of a pirouette that transformed into a pump turn, her leg flung out viciously to keep her body upright. Then, in the time it took Kaidan to blink, she was down. Her right leg had fallen under her. Kaidan was shocked, until she rolled out of it with all the grace of a cat, and he knew that the fall had only been part of her dance. An unexpected part of the dance, as classical ballet almost never called for floorwork. It slowly dawned on Kaidan that Shepard wasn't dancing classical ballet at all. She was dancing contemporary ballet. Contemporary ballet was a mixture of the high control of classical ballet and the freedom of movement allowed in contemporary dances, and it was rare to see in a formal dance setting. And Shepard, a Spectre, was dancing contemporary ballet in an audition for theCitadel.
She was good, though. Mind-bogglingly good. She moved, and Kaidan felt a strange pull, as if he should join her. Her dancing called to him, and he felt himself growing emotional. Her body sang of a perfect mesh of strength and beauty; she was a weapon that could kill with an expertly executed turn or leap. She moved, and Kaidan could hear her body speak to his soul. Is this what his dances were missing? He watched Shepard more closely, hoping to somehow figure out how she could make him feel so many things just y moving her body.
She stopped suddenly, her torso collapsing forward, and she curled inward. She was done.
"Thank you." The Head Judge said, somehow managing to use the same voice he had with every other dancer. Kaidan didn't know if the judges would be awed by Shepard's dance, or appalled at her choice of genre, but he wished he had his notebook with him so he could write down their comments.
"Miss Shepard, you dance with a great deal of emotion, and you are very comfortable performing. You could dance with more control, as when you let yourself get too into the mood of the dance, your focus slips, and there are some technical issues. If you could find a balance between emotion and control, you could be one of the best dancers this establishment has ever seen." The judge paused, looking up from his pad of paper. "Your choice to dance contemporary was an interesting one, especially considering your Spectre designation. May I ask, why did you choose to dance in that particular style?"
Shepard smiled, as if she had wanted the judge to ask that exact question. "For the past few years I have been touring the globe, watching as many different dance companies has possible. I discovered contemporary ballet on accident, and fell in love with it. I had always enjoyed classical ballet, but when I discovered the mix between finesse and power that contemporary ballet had, I knew that it was what I really should have been dancing my entire life."
The judge nodded, and Shepard left the stage with a small bow. Kaidan hadn't noticed that the rest of the dancers backstage had crowded around the wings until they skittered away, not wanting to be caught staring. Kaidan stayed where he was, partially because he was the next dancer on board, and partially because he wanted to watch the judges' faces to see if they gave away any more thoughts about Shepard's dance.
Shepard flew into the wings, her face flushed from her dance, and her eyes glittering. She glanced to Kaidan, her mouth open in a beaming grin. "Break a leg, Alenko." Kaidan nodded, wanting to say something about her dance, and how it made him want to leap onto the stage and follow her anywhere she wanted to take him, but she was gone before the words would come.
Kaidan shook, both to loosen his limbs, and to clear his mind. He had to get back into his zone. Watching Shepard had distracted him, and if there was one thing he knew about dancing, it was that distractions would ruin you.
He was ruined. He hadn't extended as far as he knew he could on his leg lifts, and he had felt his muscles wobble towards the end of his dance. That hadn't happened in years, at least since that time he'd nearly passed out on stage because he hadn't eaten. He was so embarrassed, he almost didn't hear the judges' critiques, but he just barely caught them around the rushing in his ears.
It boiled down to the same critiques he'd gotten since he was a child: good form, not enough emotion. Kaidan had hoped to get a critique that he could actually use. Something like 'point your toes more' or 'tighten your core when you leap', but the judges had instead focused on his apparent 'lack of emotion'. Kaidan made his way backstage and started stretching again, breathing deeply to cool himself down. He'd just have to concentrate more, make sure that nothing distracted him again. He'd be more careful, as long as he made it through the first round of cuts. He cursed mentally, furious that he'd blown his best dance, especially since he didn't have another to make up for it. He was absolutely ruined.