You're a Dancer Now
by Florence
/* Janet Jackson - If */
Chapter 1, No turning back.
/* A/N: This is my first fanfic, so I bet I need serious advice from you all. Plus, english is not my first language so feel free to comment on grammar, spelling etc. I would especially like advise on how to make Maria speak British and the americans American. I hope you like the story though, it has a lot of dance in it, I love dancing my self you see, but I'll try not to get too much ballet talk in it and maybe I'll add some romance (but I won't tell you who yet...). Love to y'all, Florence.
Disclaimer: Any characters, places and such don't belong to me but to those who own center stage so don't sue me, I'll never make any money from writing this. */
/* Massive Attack - Heat Miser */
I looked out the window. I saw a couple of small, white clouds beneath me and through them I saw the dark, blue sea. I sat back in my chair and tried to get some sleep, it was going to be a long flight. I'd only flown once before and that had only been a little airplane hired for my birthday. This was completely different. It was a huge aircraft and even so I felt trapped. I was on my way to the states and New York, leaving my safe home in a London suburb behind me. My family was still there and I wouldn't meet them for almost a year. I wouldn't even be home for Christmas and my wonderful boyfriend Martin was also in England. I would miss them so much, but they had all persuaded me to go. It was, after all, a chance of a lifetime. I had been accepted to ABA, American Ballet Academy, and I just couldn't turn it down. I loved dancing more than anything, but at first I was so scared to leave home that I seriously considered turing down the offer. I had such a nice life and could have danced in London instead and I knew how much I would miss my family. They had to convince me that they wanted me go and that I shouldn't be a coward, and when Martin told me the same thing, I gave in, and here I was, scared to death, on my way to New York. I grabbed my left leg and propped it up against the window to stretch. I was horribly stiff, I hadn't been able to take any classes all summer since we couldn't afford them, and even if I had tried to stay in shape, it hadn't gone too well. I picked up my photo of Martin, I was going to miss him so much, but now there was no turning back, I was heading for New York.
I jumped out off the cab and the driver helped me get all my bags out of the car. All the way from the airport I'd been fascinated by the huge buildings, all the traffic and all the people, and now I was finally here, ABA. It was quite a big building and there were tons of people who all seemed to be heading somewhere. I just stood there, amazed by the complex and everything around me.
"Hello, are you new here?" a soft voice asked. I turned around and saw a slim girl with blonde hair in a bun.
"Yes, I'm from England." I replied and smiled at her.
"I'm Anna", she said and shook my hand. "would you like some help finding your way around here? It can be pretty tricky in the beginning."
"Yes please, I'm Maria by the way." I said, happy to find someone who could show me where to go. She showed me to the front desk and I was given a few keys and my room number, 902C.
"Great, you'll be rooming with me and Aesha" Anna said and smiled. "Come on, I'll show you the way." She picked up one of my bags and headed for the elevators. The room turned out to be pretty small, but that was no problem since I was used to that. There wes a bunk bed and an ordinary bed.
"Which one is mine?" I asked timidly and Anna pointed at the top bunk.
"Great, I love that."
"Good, and here's your wardrobe, it's not very big though." At that moment a tall girl with brown hair came into the room. She smiled politely.
"Hey, you're Maria?, I'm Aesha, oh, and that's a lovely sweater you're wearing, could I borrow it some time?"
"Sure, thanks", I said. "But, it does need a wash. All my stuff have an awful smell from the flight."
"Yeah, mine too, I had to fly from Los Angeles." Aesha said, "Well, we have to be at class in two hours, so we should get our stuff unpacked and make this place a bit more like home."
*********
Anna and I went to class half an hour early to warm up. I was so excited and a bit nervous too, I was going to dance, but suddenly I got a bit scared. What if everyone was much better than me? Well, I had to do my best anyway, I was here to learn, not to be the best. The studio turned out to be much bigger than I was used to and it had windows looking out over a busy New York street. It was a bright room and the floor was perfect. Not too hard, not too slippy, just great. I sat down in a corner and pinned my hair into a bun. I did a few relevés and stretched before I put my pointe shoes on. They were pretty old and worn out and I really needed a new pair, but I didn't have the money, so I had to do my best anyway. My thoughts and warm up were interrupted by the teachers and the director, Jonathan Reeves, entering the room. Mr. Reeves had a nice, long speech and everyone seemed to listen very keenly. I did too, even though I was a bit restless because I couldn't wait to be dancing again. When he finally finished, a girl entered the studio, late. How rude, I thought, and she didn't even apologize. Anyway, class started at last. The teacher, Juliette Simone, seemed really nice, and even though she didn't really move with perfect grace she commented everyone and I liked that. When I started dancing I had a really hard time when people told me I did something wrong, but now I'd gotten used to it and actually got a bit offended when I didn't get comments. I needed the help and I knew that. We started off with pliés as usual. It was pretty simple, but when we did our port de bras I felt a bit stiff. Well, it'll be back to normal in a while, I thought. I was standing behind Anna. Anna seemed to move ever so gracefully and I tried to figure out how she did it. Juliette showed the next exercise, tendus and jetés.
"5th position. Four tendus effacé en avant, four croisé en arrière and then four de cote. One double tendu, finish demi plié en avant then we do a full soutenu en dedans. Five battement tendu jetés on half beat en avant, flic- flac en dedans, five en arrière, flic-flac en dehors. Then five de coté, flic-flac, and repeat, but this time, flic-flac en dehors and finish with seven en croix. Allright? Music please." I was relieved, I could do this.
"Focus ladies, point your toes and keep you supporting leg straight. Accentuate the music. It's not just a routine job. Make it look exiting!" Juliette said walking around the studio. She soon came to my barre and I got a bit nervous, what if I messed up completely?
"Who are you, dear?" she asked.
"Maria Smith, miss." I said, working hard on my jetés.
"Good, good accentuation, but you have to lift up your elbow a bit and your fingers are way to tense." She said and moved on. I tried relaxing my fingers a bit and tried to copy Anna, who'd gotten nothing but excellent remarks from Juliette. It was so fantastic to dance again.
/* Janet Jackson - If */
Chapter 1, No turning back.
/* A/N: This is my first fanfic, so I bet I need serious advice from you all. Plus, english is not my first language so feel free to comment on grammar, spelling etc. I would especially like advise on how to make Maria speak British and the americans American. I hope you like the story though, it has a lot of dance in it, I love dancing my self you see, but I'll try not to get too much ballet talk in it and maybe I'll add some romance (but I won't tell you who yet...). Love to y'all, Florence.
Disclaimer: Any characters, places and such don't belong to me but to those who own center stage so don't sue me, I'll never make any money from writing this. */
/* Massive Attack - Heat Miser */
I looked out the window. I saw a couple of small, white clouds beneath me and through them I saw the dark, blue sea. I sat back in my chair and tried to get some sleep, it was going to be a long flight. I'd only flown once before and that had only been a little airplane hired for my birthday. This was completely different. It was a huge aircraft and even so I felt trapped. I was on my way to the states and New York, leaving my safe home in a London suburb behind me. My family was still there and I wouldn't meet them for almost a year. I wouldn't even be home for Christmas and my wonderful boyfriend Martin was also in England. I would miss them so much, but they had all persuaded me to go. It was, after all, a chance of a lifetime. I had been accepted to ABA, American Ballet Academy, and I just couldn't turn it down. I loved dancing more than anything, but at first I was so scared to leave home that I seriously considered turing down the offer. I had such a nice life and could have danced in London instead and I knew how much I would miss my family. They had to convince me that they wanted me go and that I shouldn't be a coward, and when Martin told me the same thing, I gave in, and here I was, scared to death, on my way to New York. I grabbed my left leg and propped it up against the window to stretch. I was horribly stiff, I hadn't been able to take any classes all summer since we couldn't afford them, and even if I had tried to stay in shape, it hadn't gone too well. I picked up my photo of Martin, I was going to miss him so much, but now there was no turning back, I was heading for New York.
I jumped out off the cab and the driver helped me get all my bags out of the car. All the way from the airport I'd been fascinated by the huge buildings, all the traffic and all the people, and now I was finally here, ABA. It was quite a big building and there were tons of people who all seemed to be heading somewhere. I just stood there, amazed by the complex and everything around me.
"Hello, are you new here?" a soft voice asked. I turned around and saw a slim girl with blonde hair in a bun.
"Yes, I'm from England." I replied and smiled at her.
"I'm Anna", she said and shook my hand. "would you like some help finding your way around here? It can be pretty tricky in the beginning."
"Yes please, I'm Maria by the way." I said, happy to find someone who could show me where to go. She showed me to the front desk and I was given a few keys and my room number, 902C.
"Great, you'll be rooming with me and Aesha" Anna said and smiled. "Come on, I'll show you the way." She picked up one of my bags and headed for the elevators. The room turned out to be pretty small, but that was no problem since I was used to that. There wes a bunk bed and an ordinary bed.
"Which one is mine?" I asked timidly and Anna pointed at the top bunk.
"Great, I love that."
"Good, and here's your wardrobe, it's not very big though." At that moment a tall girl with brown hair came into the room. She smiled politely.
"Hey, you're Maria?, I'm Aesha, oh, and that's a lovely sweater you're wearing, could I borrow it some time?"
"Sure, thanks", I said. "But, it does need a wash. All my stuff have an awful smell from the flight."
"Yeah, mine too, I had to fly from Los Angeles." Aesha said, "Well, we have to be at class in two hours, so we should get our stuff unpacked and make this place a bit more like home."
*********
Anna and I went to class half an hour early to warm up. I was so excited and a bit nervous too, I was going to dance, but suddenly I got a bit scared. What if everyone was much better than me? Well, I had to do my best anyway, I was here to learn, not to be the best. The studio turned out to be much bigger than I was used to and it had windows looking out over a busy New York street. It was a bright room and the floor was perfect. Not too hard, not too slippy, just great. I sat down in a corner and pinned my hair into a bun. I did a few relevés and stretched before I put my pointe shoes on. They were pretty old and worn out and I really needed a new pair, but I didn't have the money, so I had to do my best anyway. My thoughts and warm up were interrupted by the teachers and the director, Jonathan Reeves, entering the room. Mr. Reeves had a nice, long speech and everyone seemed to listen very keenly. I did too, even though I was a bit restless because I couldn't wait to be dancing again. When he finally finished, a girl entered the studio, late. How rude, I thought, and she didn't even apologize. Anyway, class started at last. The teacher, Juliette Simone, seemed really nice, and even though she didn't really move with perfect grace she commented everyone and I liked that. When I started dancing I had a really hard time when people told me I did something wrong, but now I'd gotten used to it and actually got a bit offended when I didn't get comments. I needed the help and I knew that. We started off with pliés as usual. It was pretty simple, but when we did our port de bras I felt a bit stiff. Well, it'll be back to normal in a while, I thought. I was standing behind Anna. Anna seemed to move ever so gracefully and I tried to figure out how she did it. Juliette showed the next exercise, tendus and jetés.
"5th position. Four tendus effacé en avant, four croisé en arrière and then four de cote. One double tendu, finish demi plié en avant then we do a full soutenu en dedans. Five battement tendu jetés on half beat en avant, flic- flac en dedans, five en arrière, flic-flac en dehors. Then five de coté, flic-flac, and repeat, but this time, flic-flac en dehors and finish with seven en croix. Allright? Music please." I was relieved, I could do this.
"Focus ladies, point your toes and keep you supporting leg straight. Accentuate the music. It's not just a routine job. Make it look exiting!" Juliette said walking around the studio. She soon came to my barre and I got a bit nervous, what if I messed up completely?
"Who are you, dear?" she asked.
"Maria Smith, miss." I said, working hard on my jetés.
"Good, good accentuation, but you have to lift up your elbow a bit and your fingers are way to tense." She said and moved on. I tried relaxing my fingers a bit and tried to copy Anna, who'd gotten nothing but excellent remarks from Juliette. It was so fantastic to dance again.