Caroline the Ballerina

Chapter 2

After school that next Tuesday, Caroline excitedly ran home from school. That day was to be Caroline's first lesson at the Peshtigo School of Ballet. She put on her sleeveless navy leotard, her ballet ankle socks, and her soft ballet shoes with elastic. She was waiting for her mother by the entryway when her best friend Sally walked in, dressed in a similar manner. They both bounced up and down, excited.

"Our first day!" exclaimed Caroline.

"I know! I can't believe it, we're gonna be ballerinas!" exclaimed Sally.

"Are you girls ready to go?" asked Margaret, Caroline's mother.

"Yeah!!" both answered simultaneously.

******

Caroline, Sally, and six other girls of the same age and similarly attired were sitting on aluminum folding chairs in front of the teacher in the "Peshtigo School of Ballet".

"Hello, class. My name is Miss Morgan. I'll be your ballet teacher for this class. I see your mothers made sure that you are all appropriately dressed, that's a good start. Now, did you all get a chance to look at the handout I gave to your mothers when you registered?"

The girls all nodded and responded "Yes, Miss Morgan."

"Good. Now, I don't expect that you've memorized or mastered the material yet, that's what this class is for. I just wanted you to become familiar with the basic positions and terms, so we can get straight to work while we're in class. I have a question for you all. Now, raise your hands – after reading the material about the foot and arm positions and ballet terms, how many of you think ballet is boring? Raise your hands now."

At first, nobody raised their hand. After a few seconds of checking the other girls, Sally slowly raised her hand. This gave Caroline courage and she reluctantly raised her hand also. Another girl followed suit and raised her hand, too. Soon, all eight girls had their hands raised.

Miss Morgan scanned her wards and smiled. "Good! I'm glad I have a class full of young ladies brave enough to tell the truth!" All the girls started to giggle, more from relief than anything. "You're right. If what you read in that handout was all there is to ballet, then it would be boring. But there's so much more to ballet than that… Now raise your hands again – how many of you like to read stories?"

With more enthusiasm this time, all the girls raised their hands. Miss Morgan pointed to Caroline. "Alright… Caroline, isn't it?" Caroline nodded. "What stories do you like to read?"

"I like to read Nancy Drew."

"Ahh… Nancy Drew, plucky young detective… Tell me, Caroline, do you remember back in first grade when you learned your ABC's?" Caroline nodded again. "It took awhile to learn, didn't it? And though your teacher tried to make it interesting by putting it to a song 'A B C D E F G, H I J K L M N O P…' it really wasn't all that interesting was it? I was just something that you had to do, right? But if you didn't learn your letters, you couldn't learn to read words. And if you couldn't read words, no "Nancy Drew", right…? So… how many of you are glad you learned your ABC's?"

Again with great enthusiasm, all the girls' hands shot up.

"Good, good. Now, the basic foot and arm positions are like letters. Every ballet step and jump starts and ends from one of these positions. The steps and jumps are like words. Put a combination of steps and jumps together and you have a dance. But, that's not all there is to ballet. Have any of you seen a ballet, either live or on TV?"

Betty spoke up "My mom and dad took me to Milwaukee last Christmas, we saw "The Nutcracker"."

"Ah, "The Nutcracker", probably the most popular of all ballets. Tell me Betty, besides dance, what else was there at the ballet?"

"Music… and pretty costumes!"

"Yes, that's right, Betty. Ballet is like a book, it's supposed to tell a story. Dance, which you're here to learn, is part of the story. But when it's done well, dance is used to interpret the music, to tell a story. The fact that you get to wear beautiful costumes while doing it is another plus. Now, I won't be in costume, but if everyone is good and puts forth honest effort this afternoon, I'll do a little dance for you, to show you what you have to look forward to. Would you all like that?"

"Yeah!!" they all responded.

"Okay! Now… who knows what the pole on the walls around the room is called?" Sally raised her hand. "Okay, Sally, tell the class what it's called."

"It's called the barre."

"That's right, Sally. I can tell you paid attention to the handout." Sally beamed at the compliment. "The barre is used to help us keep our balance or to support us as we do our stretches or as we try out new positions. Why don't we all get up and go to the barre so that we can practice our positions."

All the girls got up and lined up next to the barre.

"Alright girls, let's try foot position 1: Left and right heels together, feet out to either side, in a straight line." Miss Morgan walked down the line and inspected their positions. "Caroline, right foot out a little further, make it a straight line."

"I'm sorry" young Caroline apologized, as she moved her right foot to angle it straight out.

"Don't be sorry. You're here to learn. You're all here to learn… Good, very good… Now, from this position, you're going to do a knee bend, called a plié in ballet. First a demi-plié, a shallow bend. Slowly go as far down as you can, without lifting your heels from the floor… Okay, good… Now a grand plié, a deep bend. Your heels will lift from the floor, don't worry, that's expected. Go down as far as you can, until your thighs are almost horizontal, if you can. Hold on to the barre if you need to. Slowly, slowly… Very good! Now, back up. Congratulations! You just did what every ballerina does to start her practice, even the prima ballerinas. Even the best know how important simple stretches are. Once we've mastered these, then we'll add on the second part to our classes: Adage, or slow work, where we get into positions and try to sustain them, emphasizing our balance. And once we've mastered that, then we'll add a third part to our classes: Allegro, or fast work, where we practice faster steps, jumps, and turns. They're like words for our stories."

"And then we can dance?" asked Sally.

Miss Morgan smiled at her pupil's eagerness. "Yes Sally. Then you can dance… Alright, foot position 2: Same as position 1, but move the heels a foot apart…"

******

A few months later, Caroline and Sally were in Caroline's bedroom…

"So, what do you wanna do now?" asked little Caroline.

"Let's play 'ballerina'!" Sally cried out.

"Okay!"

Both girls stripped off their jeans and put on their ballet shoes. They knew they needed to stretch, even before playing, so they did pliés (knee bends) from all five positions.

"I'll start!" said Sally.

"Okay."

Sally thrust her left leg back, put her arms up, and stood as best she could on the ball of her right foot. "Look! I'm Suzanne Farrell!"

Caroline scoffed and kidded Sally "You only want to be Suzanne Farrell because you want Rufolf Nureyev to hold you."

Sally smiled, shakily held her pose, and half-heartedly denied it "That's not true."

Caroline then mocked "Yeah… you wanna be within kissing distance!" She then puckered her lips at Sally, produced a succession of smacking sounds, and started giggling uncontrollably.

The laughter was infectious and Sally broke her pose. In mock anger she cried "I'm gonna get you!" She grabbed the nearest pillow and started chasing Caroline. Since the bedroom was small, she soon cornered Caroline and swung and hit her. "Gotcha!" she laughed.

Caroline, in retaliation, grabbed another pillow, swung and hit Sally back. "Gotcha back!" she screeched.

 "So, I suppose you wouldn't want to be Suzanne Farrell, dancing with Nureyev?" asked Sally.

"No… I'd rather be Gelsey Kirkland… dancing with Mikhail Baryshnikov!" The both started giggling.

"Okay, okay. My turn" said Caroline. She stretched a little, then assumed a position similar to Sally's. "Look! I'm Gelsey Kirkland!"

Sally taunted Caroline "So… Gelsey… wouldn't you rather be kissing Mikhail instead of dancing with him?"

Caroline started smiling, but didn't respond.

Seeing Caroline smile, Sally taunted her even more. "Ummmm… I'm gonna tell Jesse Dawson you wanna kiss Baryshnikov!"

Caroline replied "Go ahead… he's only my boyfriend 'cause I won him from Connie Reynolds in a game of jacks!" Caroline broke her pose and both girls screeched and giggled.

"Oh Caroline, I hope ballet is always gonna be this much fun."

"Why wouldn't it be?"

******

At the end of another lesson, Miss Morgan addressed the class. "Class, I'm really proud of all the progress you've been making. Before you get your coats and leave, I have an announcement to make. There haven't been many movies made that contain ballet sequences, but on Thursday night an older movie, "The Red Shoes", one of the best, is being aired. First of all, how many of you can get the Green Bay public station, channel 38, as well as channel 2?"

Half of the eight girls, including Caroline, raised their hands.

"Well, you girls ask your parents if you can stay up late and watch the movie. It's on channel 38, it starts at eight, and last a little longer than most movies, until 10:15. I think you'll enjoy the dancing – and it's an excellent movie as well. For you girls that can't get channel 38 – ask your parents for permission to watch with a classmate… Well, that's it for this afternoon, girls. See you next week."

"Bye, Miss Morgan" all the girls responded.

A little later, as they stood outside in their coats waiting for Mrs. Duffy, Caroline asked her friend Sally "So… you gonna ask your mom if you can come over Thursday night?"

"That depends" Sally smiled. "Whatcha havin' for dinner?"

"Oh you!" Caroline punched Sally on the arm and both girls giggled.

******

Both girls having gotten permission from their parents, Caroline and Sally were in the Duffy family room Thursday night, watching "The Red Shoes". The story was a classic one of love and betrayal. Boris Lermontov, crusty but devoted to his art, manager of the famed Lermontov Ballet Company, hired two unknown, but talented youngsters, Victoria, a ballerina, and Julian, a composer. Lermontov, impressed by Julian's ability, asked him to compose a new ballet for his company, "The Red Shoes", but was stunned when his lead ballerina announced that she was leaving ballet to be married. Lermontov regarded ballet with the highest importance in life and looked at love with disdain. He offered the lead to Victoria, which led to a spectacular 20 minute ballet sequence in the middle of the movie. Great fame and fortune seem in store for them all… but this being a movie, romantic complications intrude. Victoria fell in love with Julian. He wanted to marry, wanted Victoria to be a wife and mother. She would still being able to dance, but only occasionally. When an outraged Lermontov discovered their romance, he demanded she choose: career or family. Victoria chose love. Lermontov, owning the rights to "The Red Shoes", refused permission for Victoria to perform it again and her career crumbled.

As the program ended, Margaret Duffy told the girls "Alright girls. I'm going to back the car out so I can take Sally home. Get bundled up and meet me in the driveway, Sally. Caroline, get ready for bed."

"Alright, Mom" Caroline replied as her mother left.

As Sally put on her coat and shoes, she asked Caroline "So Caroline, what would you do? Be a famous prima ballerina or marry Julian?"

Even at this young age, Caroline exhibited the traits that would cause her difficulties later in life: Her inability to tell people 'no' and her difficulty in making decisions.

"Oh, I couldn't give up dancing" answered Caroline.

"But you'd be breaking Julian's heart, who really loves you and wants to marry you."

After thinking about it, Caroline replied "You're right, Sally. I'd marry Julian."

"But you'd be disappointing Mr. Lermontov and giving up your career."

After thinking about it some more, this time Caroline replied "You're right, Sally. I'd continue dancing."

Frustrated with her friend's indecision, Sally stated "Caroline! You can't do both!"

Equally frustrated with having to make a decision, Caroline replied "Oh Sally… I'd find a way… You'd better go… Bye, see you tomorrow in school."

"Bye Caroline" Sally said as she walked out the door.