Hello everyone, it's been a while. I am in grad school, so my schedule has been kind of hectic. I have been a fan of Ballerina/Leap for a while and am fascinated by Odette (based on Emma Livry). So I decided to write a fic about her past, present, and future.
The usual: I don't own anything, the characters, etc.…. That belongs to the movie producers etc.…
So now we will begin with the Pre Movie stuff and Odette's past, beginning with Marie Taglioni, aka Odette's (Emma Livry) teacher.
There she was, on top of the world. Pas De Quatre. The Performers: Lucile Grahn, Carlotta Grisi, Fanny Cerrito, Marie Taglioni. Each ballerina had their own variation that was performed during the show, highlighting their strengths. After that performance, Marie adapted her skills elsewhere and became a teacher. Marie, of Italian origin, decided to travel to Paris to scout some potential talent. She is offered a position at the Imperial Opera at the Theatre Le Peletier. She has many students, including a vain, uptight, and insufferable student named Regine Le Haut.
Enter Odette Emma Milliner a French ballerina. Marie watched the teenager make her debut at the Imperial Opera at the Theatre Le Pelletier. She danced La Sylphide, the ballet that Marie Taglioni made famous. Impressed with her graceful, light as air movements and delicate form, Marie decided to seek out the young teen and train her protégée.
"Hello, child." Marie approaches Odette after her performance of La Sylphide. Odette immediately recognizes her and curtseys. "Hello Madame Taglioni. It is a pleasure to meet you." Marie gazes at the child; she didn't seem any older than thirteen despite being fifteen. Her waist-length chocolate hair and wide blue eyes gave her an angelic quality. Marie smiled and said, "Could you demonstrate the ending of La Sylphide, the death scene for me?" Odette executes it with a level of grace and emotion that makes Marie's throat tighten. "Wonderful, child." Marie praises her, and Odette beams.
Often, children were given to the opera to become dancers. Odette had not heard from her parents since they released custody of her to the opera. It is later revealed that they have passed on. The girls were living in dorm rooms inside the opera. Odette was placed with a girl even younger than her, named Rosita Mauri. Rosita was of Spanish descent; she was very energetic but also unconfident and shaky in her movements.
Odette was placed in Marie's class. Odette enters the room full of dancers, where she notices Rosita. She goes over to talk to Rosita when another figure steps in her way. "Oh, look, a new student. Well, dear, in case you didn't know, a ballerina must have her hair up in a bun during class." Regine approaches Odette and yanks her long locks from behind. Odette yelped in pain as Regine yanked her hair up into an awful bun. Rosita approaches them, wide-eyed. She immediately leads Odette away from Regine. "Don't mind her; she's always mean." Odette glances back at Regine, "Oh, it's alright. She is probably just a bit too overbearing. I won't hold it against her. She's probably very nice, just nervous about first impressions." Now Odette wasn't naïve per se; she just believed in the good of all people. Odette took her hair out of the painful bun that Regina yanked in and soon replaced it with a long-braided bun.
Madame Marie entered the room. "Ladies, I would like you all to meet our newest student Odette Milliner. We will begin with some warm-up exercises; then I will call out a sequence of moves which you all will perform." Odette straightened her back and got into position next to Rosita.
Practice went well; Marie was very impressed with Odette's gracefulness and lightness. She added emotion and meaning to the movements. Unlike Regine, who was precise with her dancing, her movements were stiff with a lack of emotion. Later the girls were placed on a larger stage, where they were instructed to dance with some of the male dancers in Lucien Petipa's class. All of the dancers were between thirteen and eighteen, Odette being fifteen, Rosita being almost fourteen, Regine being sixteen, and Louis being eighteen.
"Mademoiselle LeHaut, please step forward," Marie instructed, and Regine followed. Lucien followed, "Monsuier Merante, please step forward as well." Regine and Louis faced each other and began to dance. Odette recognized it as a number from Swan Lake. She had memorized that ballet by heart; it was her parent's favorite. Hence her name and why she was at the Opera. When Louis and Regine were finished, Marie and Lucien frowned, not completely satisfied. Marie stood up, "Thank you, Regine. Now Mademoiselle Milliner, would you please step forward." Lucien looked apprehensively at the delicate and rather tiny ballerina. "It is a pleasure to meet a bright young talent. What is your name, dear?" Lucien inquired. "Bonjour, Monsieur. My name is Odette Milliner. I am Madame Marie's newest student." Lucien smiled, "Well, Odette, let's see how well you live up to your name."
Odette took her place next to Louis. She looked up at him and smiled. He gazed down, lost in the beautiful blue crystals of her eyes. They both took a deep breath and readied themselves for their performance. As they danced, everyone watched in awe. Odette was as graceful as a snowflake and light as a feather. She and Louis were both physically and mentally emotionally involved in the dance; it seemed as if they were the characters themselves. They performed a passionate dance full of love and were perfectly in synch. As Louis wrapped his arm around her waist and twirled her, he gazed at her with so much love in his eyes. Odette, however, was so caught up in the performance. At the end of the dance, Odette's eyes began welling up with tears; she was so invested in the dance. When they ended, Louis gently wiped a tear from her cheek. They turned to stare at Lucien and Marie, who looked at them shocked.
"Never have I witnessed anything as wonderful as that," Marie said. Lucien stood up, "So full of passion, delicacy, and perfectly synchronized with each other. That was simply wonderful. You, my dear, certainly live up to your name." Odette blushed and ducked her head. Neither of them noticed that Louis's arm was still safely wrapped around her waist, holding her close.
"Next dancer is Rosita Mauri and Auguste Vacourbeli." That broke Odette and Louis reverie. They soon parted, Louis, bringing her hand up to his lips and kissing it, and went back to their respective groups. Rosita passed Odette beaming and winked. Odette blushed. After all of the dancers had experimented with their fellow partners, it was time for them to head to their dorms to sleep. As they were walking, Rosita and Odette bumped into Louis and Auguste. "That was a wonderful performance, mademoiselle; we should dance together more often." Louis complimented Odette and kissed her hand once more. Odette felt a small blush on her cheeks. She smiled, "Thank you; it helps to have such a talented partner. I do have to note that Regine is rather stiff in her movements." Louis smiled, "That she is. You, however, are the most graceful and beautiful dancer I have ever seen." Odette felt her face burn, and she smiled. "Thank you." Rosita smirked at Auguste and said, "Come on, Odette. We have to hurry back before Madame Marie discovers we are late." The girls rushed off. Auguste smirks at Louis, "It would seem that she has captured your attention." Louis gave him a deadpanned look as they began walking back to their dorm. Regine glared from down the hall. She would have her revenge on Odette for humiliating her during practice.