"Alright, everyone! Places!" Mrs. Damocles ordered all young ballerinas.
The girls, including Lola and Jane, all huddled together close to the ballet instructor to listen to what she has to say.
After the whispering among the girls grew silent, Mrs. Damocles started her announcement, "Welcome to the tryouts for the Young Girls' Royal Woods Ballerina Championship! As you all know, it's a ballet competition where girls ages four to nine perform their beautiful ballet performances! Since this is a competition, each girl is nominated or eliminated based on how well the performance went. Each ballerina will be eliminated until one is left, and that one remaining will be the winner of the competition! Not only does that lucky ballerina win a huge, golden trophy, she also wins a plane ticket to New York City!"
A wave of excitement hit the girls after Mrs. Damocles mentioned the trip to New York City for the second time. It's been a dream for many of these girls to visit the city that never sleeps, but none of them are more excited than Jane Fitzgerald. Just hearing the mentioning of New York City again brought Jane's elation levels to its all-time highest. If she wants to win that plane ticket, then Jane must try her hardest to earn it which is not a problem since she is a very talented ballet dancer.
After the excitement calms down, Mrs. Damocles resumes her announcement, "Now, with the description of the competition out of the way, let's talk about the tryouts. Like in the competition, some of you girls will be eliminated since I only have limited space for my class; ten to be exact, and there are about twenty-five of you girls here, so fifteen girls will be eliminated and ten will be accepted based on your performance."
A sense of worry grew among the ballerinas. They all have been so excited about competing in the championship that they never thought that fifteen of them will be rejected due to the limited space Mrs. Damocles has for her class. Without a doubt, so many girls will have their dreams about going to New York City crushed if they are rejected, so they really need to try their hardest if they want to achieve their dreams. Jane, however, is not feeling any peck of worry because she is confident that she will be accepted into Mrs. Damocles class. No doubt the ballet instructor will be impressed by her ballet performance.
"These are the judges," Mrs. Damocles points to the people sitting at a table meters away from her. One of them, a nervous man wearing a grey suit and a blue tie, waved at the girls as he sweats anxiously. "They are the ones responsible for recording the scores for each of you depending on your performance. The girls with the top ten highest scores will be accepted into my class and into the competition." The instructor takes a few deep breaths after talking too much. "With all that said, shall we start the tryouts?"
And with that, the girls, including Jane and Lola, cheered with excitement. The moment they all been waiting for has finally arrived.
"Great! Now who wants to go first?"
The excitement immediately turned to nervousness after Mrs. Damocles asked that question. Remembering what Mrs. Damocles said about fifteen girls being rejected and only ten being accepted, the girls grew nervous about going first fearing that they might get rejected. Even Lola, despite being the second-best ballerina in her previous class, grew worried about being rejected. Some of these girls, besides Jane, could perform better than her, and there is a possibility that she might not make it to the top ten. Jane, on the other hand, did not feel even a tiny peck of worry. She is confident that she'll be one of the top ten. To her, her ballet performance is foolproof. There is no way she will be rejected. Chances are low. If she is rejected, then those people have problems.
"I'll go first," Jane finally spoke up, feeling as confident as ever.
"Oh, you want to go first?" Mrs. Damocles sounded a bit surprised. "Well...okay then. Why don't you stand right here and begin when you're ready?" She pointed at the black X between the judges' table and a background of Japanese pink blossoms.
"With pleasure," Jane casually walks past the girls, her confidence levels at its highest. Many of the young ballerinas are shocked that Jane isn't feeling a tingle of nervousness as if she knew the judges will accept her no matter the circumstances. Lola, however, isn't too surprised as she knew Jane will perform to the best of her ability. Jane is considered by Dana Dufresne to be the best ballet performer in her class to date, so Lola has faith that Jane will be accepted into the competition. You got this, Jane, Lola said mentally, smiling proudly at her chubby friend.
As Jane stood on the X, she faces the judges and shoots them a determined look, letting them know that she won't let them down. Mrs. Damocles walks to the table and sits down on an empty chair, waiting for Jane to begin her performance. As the plump ballerina turned to look at her future ballet teacher, she couldn't help but notice a familiar look on her face. It's the same face Mrs. Damocles flashed at Jane for a split second when she first greeted her and Lola. It felt as if she isn't happy to see Jane perform. Jane felt really confused about this, and a bit creeped out. Was there a grudge Jane had not known about? Are Mrs. Damocles and Mrs. Fitzgerald in some form of rivalry? Did they secretly hate each other? What is it? Jane shook her head, trying to forget about it. That is not important. What's important is her ballet performance. Maybe her performance would cheer up Mrs. Damocles, hopefully.
Jane takes a deep breath before finally starting her performance. The choreographer, who is sitting on a piano next to the judges' table furthest to the left, began playing Moonlight Sonata by Ludwig von Beethoven as soon as Jane began her performance. Jane slowly lifts her right leg up and bends it behind her body to a ninety-degree angle in an attitude position. Then, she brings her leg back down and makes a small leap, straightening her legs to one hundred eighty degrees, before landing on both feet and making three complete twirls before pausing. Next, she slowly slides her feet along the floor in opposite directions and gradually descends towards the ground before landing softly. Jane had performed a split. After that, she lays on the floor and rolls her body a bit to the left before slowly standing. As Jane stands, she lifts her left leg as high as she can. Then, she puts it down and begins twirling and leaping towards the right back to her previous position. Next, the most extraordinary part occurs: Jane makes a huge leap and twirls in midair, lifting her right leg to ninety degrees before landing and performing so many ballet moves any ballet expert can think of. Jane's spectacular performance awed the judges and most of the girls, including Lola. The only person that is not impressed is Mrs. Damocles. She yawned at Jane's performance like she was watching a very boring movie.
After Jane performs many more impressive ballet moves, she finally ends her performance with a split. The judges, the choreographer, and the young ballerinas began clapping and cheering for Jane. A content smile crept up to Jane's face, knowing she performed well. Suddenly, the applause was interrupted by the sounds of slow clapping echoing throughout the gym, sounding almost sarcastic. Everyone turned their attention to the clapping to see that it was Mrs. Damocles who was making those slow, sarcastic claps, looking as unimpressed as ever. Everyone, especially Jane, stared at the instructor in complete and utter confusion. Did she not enjoy Jane's performance? The ballet teacher then directed her eye pupils toward Jane as she had something to say to her.
"Impressive. Very impressive," Mrs. Damocles did not care if her tone was laced with sarcasm. "That was an excellent performance, but I'm afraid that wasn't enough to impress me unlike everyone else here. You're rejected."
Those two awful words shattered Jane's heart into millions of tiny pieces. If felt like an arrow piercing through Jane's heart. Jane stood there in complete and utter disbelief as those two words echoed throughout her mind. The confidence Jane felt before her ballet performance immediately vaporized into nothingness. The judges and the other ballerinas, especially Lola, are just as shocked as Jane was. Lola could not believe what she just heard. Jane got rejected? How? How was this possible? Her performance was flawless! Why did she get rejected?
After remaining silent for what seemed like forever, Jane finally spoke up, "What?! H-h-how is this possible?! Didn't I perform to the best of my ability?! T-t-the judges didn't even say what my score was yet! Heck, everyone else here had not got their scores yet because they didn't perform yet! I thought some of us will be rejected after everyone received their scores! So why am I rejected?" the pudgy pageant queen sounded like she was on the verge of crying.
"Hmmm…" Mrs. Damocles began to think as she placed the pin of her pen on her chin, "how should I say this?" She paused for a bit. "Let's just say...you don't fit the proportions of a typical ballerina."
"And what does that mean?" Jane asked, sounding mostly confused and a bit upset.
"In other words...you're too big to be a ballerina."
Everyone, especially Lola, gasped at the words that were uttered right out from the ballet instructor's mouth. If Jane's heart wasn't shattered into a million pieces before, then it would've shattered after hearing such a comment. Jane was completely and utterly horrified as she stared at Mrs. Damocles in utter disbelief. Even Lola herself is shocked, though she knew that what Mrs. Damocles just said is mostly true. On television and dance performances, the pageant queen had seen ballerinas that are thin and can perform well, so for a while she believed that ballerinas have to be skinny in order to perform perfectly and gracefully, but all of that changed when she first saw Jane perform her ballet recital perfectly and gracefully despite her larger body size. The myth that all ballerinas are thin is nothing but a myth, at least the small part of it. So hearing Mrs. Damocles mention the ballerina stereotype to justify her rejection of Jane despite her flawless, spectacular performance is not only shocking to Lola, but also a disgrace to the other few large people that are also ballet dancers. For Jane, her disbelief slowly turned to indignation. Rejecting her from the start is one thing, but rejecting her solely because of her bigger body size is another.
"Now listen up, old lady!" Jane snapped. "Did you not just see my flawless performance?! I performed perfectly and gracefully! I've been practicing for weeks! And you're just gonna sit here and reject me all because I'm not thin?!"
"Yeah!" Lola stepped forward, approaching Jane to support her while flashing an angry stare at Mrs. Damocles. "It's not fair Jane is rejected from the competition just because of her size!"
Mrs. Damocles is unfazed by the two angry girls standing a foot away from her. "So, you girls are not aware of the ballerina's standards, hm?"
"What?!" said Lola and Jane.
"Have you heard of the ballerina 'stereotype'?" Mrs. Damocles asked, making quoting gestures when she said "stereotype."
"What about the stereotype?!" Jane demanded.
"Well," the ballet instructor began, eyes glaring at Jane, "what you see as a ballerina 'stereotype' is actually standards for a ballerina body. The people that claim that ballerinas are stereotyped for having thin bodies and long legs are liars. A thin body with long legs is not a choice, it is a necessity. You see, ballerinas have to be slim in order to perform perfectly and gracefully. Don't have a slim figure, then you'll lose the championship, so why bother putting the fat ballerina in my class?"
Jane and Lola couldn't believe their ears. Is this lady just going to ignore the fact that Jane, despite her larger weight, performed her recital flawlessly? Not only that, but she has the audacity to refer to Jane as a "fat ballerina;" even though it's true it still sounds offensive and, obviously, sizeist.
"Are you blind, lady?!" Lola exclaimed, now angrier than before. "Did you not just see Jane's performance?! You're 'ballerinas have to be slim in order to perform well' statement is nothing but bogus! And you know that because you saw it with your own eyes, lady!"
Mrs. Damocles directed her eyes towards Lola, growing a bit irate, but still maintaining her happy composure. "Young lady, the reason why I rejected your friend because if I let her into my class and into the competition, then other young ballerinas who will enter next year's competition will think that it's okay to be fat and won't even bother achieving the standards for a ballerina body, therefore defeating the purpose! Also, why are you defending her if you achieved your ballerina body yourself? I mean, look at you! You have a slim body and long, thin legs! You're perfect! If you're the one who just performed, then I would've picked you."
"EXCUSE YOU?!" Lola is now just down-right upset. "How dare you compare my body to hers! I mean, I do have a perfect body, but so does Jane! Now you're just fat-shaming Jane, and I will not let you get away with it!"
"Yeah!" Jane agreed. By this point, she is the most indignant she has ever been. She may have experienced discrimination based on her weight before, but this is the worst she has ever experienced. This is the last straw. "I will report you to the authorities and file a discrimination report. What you just did is a violation of my rights, and I am NOT having it!"
It was at this moment that Mrs. Damocles had enough. These girls are starting to get on her nerves, and she needs to get rid of them as soon as possible. "You know what? FINE! If you girls don't want to face reality, then why don't you just leave?! And you're banned from any of the future ballerina championships! I am done with BOTH OF YOU!"
"You know what? FINE BY US! We rather want to be banned from every ballerina championship than have a fat shamer as a ballet teacher!" Lola exclaimed angrily.
And with that Jane and Lola exit the gymnasium and started walking home. Mrs. Damocles watched them go, not feeling any remorse or guilt. She felt that what she did was justified.
"Um, are you sure what you did was right?" the male judge asked nervously. "I mean, the plump girl did feel a bit hurt by your comments on her weight."
"Of course I'm right, Joe!" replied Mrs. Damocles. "We ballet instructors have to enforce body standards on our ballet students. I mean, this country is already suffering from an obesity problem, and people like that Jane Fitzgerald girl are just gonna make it worse. All I'm doing is helping her, and she doesn't want to accept it. Ungrateful little girl, or should I say...ungrateful big girl."
"Noted," said Joe.
Mrs. Damocles suddenly stood up, returning to her happy composure, and approached the girls.
"Okay ladies, with those two undisciplined brats out of the way, why don't we resume our tryouts? Also, if you're overweight, then you're not qualified to be in my class and the competition, so you may leave." Mrs. Damocles said with a smile.