AN: I'm so excited! My semester's over! I'm free from college classes for
an entire month. I'm going to miss school (it gives me something to do
during the day and allows for lots of writing time) but I could use the
break. I'm going to try to update more often now that I'm free from tests
and papers. So, is it just me or is everyone out there excited about Return
of the King? It's going to be beyond belief!
Tini-angel: Thanks for the compliment. Spiro, my ballet teacher and the person I have to face at 8:30AM every Saturday, actually gives these speeches every year and when he does, it is really time to be afraid.
TitanicHobbit: No problems. I know way too much about ghastly reports and having to do them. It's part of the school package. I also know quite a bit about having to rush to dance lessons--- it's not my fault, though, because I don't drive. Thanks for the review, no matter how long or short!
PixiePea000: Spiro's already in "Show Mode" and it's only December. It's something you want to miss but something you have to see, especially when he goes all Morpheus and does his prophesizing bit. He does give some really amazing speeches when he's like that. They'll get to Middle Earth eventually and, yes, we will be seeing more from the dancers we all love to hate. By the way, GOLLUM and watch out for Agent Elrond Smith!
Elainor: Thanks! It's kind of like the idea that once you've left, there's no going back. She knows she's not human and she has to tough out what's left of her time on earth.
elvenrocker: It's more along the lines of like a plastic toy but not a very good one. Legolas, since he's from Middle Earth and all, wouldn't know what plastic was and, I'm assuming, is use to bows made out of wood.
Disclaimer: I own nothing except for a handful of made up characters. Tolkien thought up the concept and, as such, it belongs to him. I'm just playing in his world. I'm broke and in college. All I own are Pointe Shoes.
"All of you! Here! Now," Spiro shouted, as he turned of the CD player with an audible click.
Sensing the instructor's foul mood, the entire class walked swiftly to where he was standing. The look in the eyes of the instructor was one of pure anger. He wasn't going to be kind, this time around, making recommendations of how to improve the dance. This time around, he was going to make demands and, most likely, single out dancers for their mistakes. When in a really rotten mood, he had a tendency to do such things. Public humiliation was a teaching tool in this class.
"Sit!" he barked.
Everyone, moving as one unit, took seats on the floor around Spiro. The Junior dancers sat towards the front and looked as if they were going to burst into tears at any given moment. Behind them sat Emma's class, most looking stony faced. Emma sat the furthest away she could possibly sit, her knees drawn up into her chest and her mind very far away.
One by one, Spiro began to berate his dancers; even Michelle's highly touted "staff" felt his ire. He picked apart the slightest mistakes, from a miscue by the arms to the missing of an accent on a specific gesture.
"Any you," he said, turning his ire towards Emma, "what were you thinking cutting in front of Lauren like that during your duet. That's not how I wanted it. You have a problem with making up your own choreography, Emma. Ever year it's the same thing with you. Around show time, you turn into this little ditzy blond. Another thing, you're arms are a mess. I don't know what to tell you anymore about them. They've always been a mess and there's nothing I can do to help you with that. You stepped out on the wrong foot during your ending step and make sure to spot when you turn. You never spot. One more thing, stop bunking into people. You're just a hazard on stage."
Emma looked at Spiro and just nodded. It was her way of telling him that she understood his comments and would try to work on rectifying them. She hadn't made that many mistakes and her arms we're that bad this year but she didn't make to move to correct Spiro. She knew he was just venting his anger.
After humiliating the Junior dancers, Spiro turned to address the class as a whole.
"All of you are giving me garbage. I could care less what's wrong with you and your little existences outside of my class. When you're here, I want all of you here. By all of you, I mean body, mind, spirit, and heart. All of you need to discard whatever's bothering you. Close your eyes and go to your place. Someplace where you're happy and can fully be part of this class," Spiro announced.
Everyone did as they were told, closing their eyes. You learned quickly not to cross Spiro when he was in one of his moods. It was an excuse to catch up on a few moments of sleep for many of them, anyway.
Emma tightly shut her eyes, knowing exactly where she could dance with a clear head and a free mind, spirit and heart.
What seemed like hours later, Spiro called for them to open their eyes. Several sets of eyes, many of them being rubbed by tired owners, focused on the somewhat calmer ballet teacher.
"Now we're going to share," he stated with a malicious grin, "Kim, where did you go?"
Kim looked slightly agitated at being chosen to speak first but, being one of the veterans in the class, knew better than to balk at the order.
"I'm at Yankee Stadium watching a game from field level with my boyfriend- you know Syd, Victoria's father-and Derek Jeter wins the game with a home run. I get to run out onto the field and make out with him," Kim stated.
Emma, mentally, groaned.
"Leave it to Kim," she mused, "and, besides, everyone knows the New York Mets are the best team ever."
Spiro went around the room to everyone present in the class. He wanted to know where they went to mentally relax themselves. It was his way of apologizing for his earlier remarks.
"What about you, Emma?" he, finally, asked the elven clad child.
Emma sighed, knowing that her answer was going to raise more unpleasant questions. She could have over simplified her answer but that would not have been honest.
"Different places," she, simply, replied.
"Explain," Spiro requested, starting to sound exasperated.
"Well, different places for different dances. When we do this dance, I think of once place but, when I do my private, I think of another place," Emma elaborated.
"And can you tell us about these places?" Spiro pressed.
Emma thought for a minute, organizing her ideas, and nodded.
"When we do this dance, I think it would be normal to think about the sections in the book or the movie that go along with the parts of the dance. I can not get myself to do that, for some reason. For this dance, I'm in the woods. It's dark and scary and I know that there are bad things in the woods. Things that would probably kill me if they had the chance. I'm not scared, though, because I know that there are good things living in the woods too. They're watching from the bushes to make sure nothing bad happen. You don't see them because, they're very quiet and blend in but you know they're there. For my private, I'm in a white castle-like building. There are lots of people there and I'm supposed to dance for them. I do because it makes me happy knowing I'm making them happy," Emma responded.
No one in the class moved for a handful of moments. They weren't quite sure what to make of Emma's explanations. Finally, many of them decided she was just crazy or crazier than they initially thought.
Legolas, who had been listening the entire time, just shook his head. He knew Emma was making an attempt to relay the fact her mind was dwelling in her natural home of Mirkwood or, for some strange reason, the White City of Minas Tirith. It also seemed she was trying to tell then that it was in those locations her heart, her spirit, were most comfortable in.
He smiled a bit, knowing Emma's elven keen eyes would pick up on it.
She returned the smile, assuming that he understood just what she was trying to express.
"We're going to do this dance once more so try to remember what we just talked about," Spiro ordered.
Tini-angel: Thanks for the compliment. Spiro, my ballet teacher and the person I have to face at 8:30AM every Saturday, actually gives these speeches every year and when he does, it is really time to be afraid.
TitanicHobbit: No problems. I know way too much about ghastly reports and having to do them. It's part of the school package. I also know quite a bit about having to rush to dance lessons--- it's not my fault, though, because I don't drive. Thanks for the review, no matter how long or short!
PixiePea000: Spiro's already in "Show Mode" and it's only December. It's something you want to miss but something you have to see, especially when he goes all Morpheus and does his prophesizing bit. He does give some really amazing speeches when he's like that. They'll get to Middle Earth eventually and, yes, we will be seeing more from the dancers we all love to hate. By the way, GOLLUM and watch out for Agent Elrond Smith!
Elainor: Thanks! It's kind of like the idea that once you've left, there's no going back. She knows she's not human and she has to tough out what's left of her time on earth.
elvenrocker: It's more along the lines of like a plastic toy but not a very good one. Legolas, since he's from Middle Earth and all, wouldn't know what plastic was and, I'm assuming, is use to bows made out of wood.
Disclaimer: I own nothing except for a handful of made up characters. Tolkien thought up the concept and, as such, it belongs to him. I'm just playing in his world. I'm broke and in college. All I own are Pointe Shoes.
"All of you! Here! Now," Spiro shouted, as he turned of the CD player with an audible click.
Sensing the instructor's foul mood, the entire class walked swiftly to where he was standing. The look in the eyes of the instructor was one of pure anger. He wasn't going to be kind, this time around, making recommendations of how to improve the dance. This time around, he was going to make demands and, most likely, single out dancers for their mistakes. When in a really rotten mood, he had a tendency to do such things. Public humiliation was a teaching tool in this class.
"Sit!" he barked.
Everyone, moving as one unit, took seats on the floor around Spiro. The Junior dancers sat towards the front and looked as if they were going to burst into tears at any given moment. Behind them sat Emma's class, most looking stony faced. Emma sat the furthest away she could possibly sit, her knees drawn up into her chest and her mind very far away.
One by one, Spiro began to berate his dancers; even Michelle's highly touted "staff" felt his ire. He picked apart the slightest mistakes, from a miscue by the arms to the missing of an accent on a specific gesture.
"Any you," he said, turning his ire towards Emma, "what were you thinking cutting in front of Lauren like that during your duet. That's not how I wanted it. You have a problem with making up your own choreography, Emma. Ever year it's the same thing with you. Around show time, you turn into this little ditzy blond. Another thing, you're arms are a mess. I don't know what to tell you anymore about them. They've always been a mess and there's nothing I can do to help you with that. You stepped out on the wrong foot during your ending step and make sure to spot when you turn. You never spot. One more thing, stop bunking into people. You're just a hazard on stage."
Emma looked at Spiro and just nodded. It was her way of telling him that she understood his comments and would try to work on rectifying them. She hadn't made that many mistakes and her arms we're that bad this year but she didn't make to move to correct Spiro. She knew he was just venting his anger.
After humiliating the Junior dancers, Spiro turned to address the class as a whole.
"All of you are giving me garbage. I could care less what's wrong with you and your little existences outside of my class. When you're here, I want all of you here. By all of you, I mean body, mind, spirit, and heart. All of you need to discard whatever's bothering you. Close your eyes and go to your place. Someplace where you're happy and can fully be part of this class," Spiro announced.
Everyone did as they were told, closing their eyes. You learned quickly not to cross Spiro when he was in one of his moods. It was an excuse to catch up on a few moments of sleep for many of them, anyway.
Emma tightly shut her eyes, knowing exactly where she could dance with a clear head and a free mind, spirit and heart.
What seemed like hours later, Spiro called for them to open their eyes. Several sets of eyes, many of them being rubbed by tired owners, focused on the somewhat calmer ballet teacher.
"Now we're going to share," he stated with a malicious grin, "Kim, where did you go?"
Kim looked slightly agitated at being chosen to speak first but, being one of the veterans in the class, knew better than to balk at the order.
"I'm at Yankee Stadium watching a game from field level with my boyfriend- you know Syd, Victoria's father-and Derek Jeter wins the game with a home run. I get to run out onto the field and make out with him," Kim stated.
Emma, mentally, groaned.
"Leave it to Kim," she mused, "and, besides, everyone knows the New York Mets are the best team ever."
Spiro went around the room to everyone present in the class. He wanted to know where they went to mentally relax themselves. It was his way of apologizing for his earlier remarks.
"What about you, Emma?" he, finally, asked the elven clad child.
Emma sighed, knowing that her answer was going to raise more unpleasant questions. She could have over simplified her answer but that would not have been honest.
"Different places," she, simply, replied.
"Explain," Spiro requested, starting to sound exasperated.
"Well, different places for different dances. When we do this dance, I think of once place but, when I do my private, I think of another place," Emma elaborated.
"And can you tell us about these places?" Spiro pressed.
Emma thought for a minute, organizing her ideas, and nodded.
"When we do this dance, I think it would be normal to think about the sections in the book or the movie that go along with the parts of the dance. I can not get myself to do that, for some reason. For this dance, I'm in the woods. It's dark and scary and I know that there are bad things in the woods. Things that would probably kill me if they had the chance. I'm not scared, though, because I know that there are good things living in the woods too. They're watching from the bushes to make sure nothing bad happen. You don't see them because, they're very quiet and blend in but you know they're there. For my private, I'm in a white castle-like building. There are lots of people there and I'm supposed to dance for them. I do because it makes me happy knowing I'm making them happy," Emma responded.
No one in the class moved for a handful of moments. They weren't quite sure what to make of Emma's explanations. Finally, many of them decided she was just crazy or crazier than they initially thought.
Legolas, who had been listening the entire time, just shook his head. He knew Emma was making an attempt to relay the fact her mind was dwelling in her natural home of Mirkwood or, for some strange reason, the White City of Minas Tirith. It also seemed she was trying to tell then that it was in those locations her heart, her spirit, were most comfortable in.
He smiled a bit, knowing Emma's elven keen eyes would pick up on it.
She returned the smile, assuming that he understood just what she was trying to express.
"We're going to do this dance once more so try to remember what we just talked about," Spiro ordered.