Ok... so this chapter is really short and is different from the rest.
It's basically Jamie filling out an application.
Ok... and from what I realized some of you don't know Billy Elliot so I thought I'd help with that that a little. First it was a private made movie about a boy in northern England during the miners strike who wants to dance. Now not only is it a movie, but it is also a fantasy (my favorite) musical written by Elton John. It has beautiful choreography and music and I highly recommend seeing it. The movie is good to although I personally like the musical better.
And now that that's out of the way.
Disclaimer: I don't own Glee.
"Got the video working Emmy?" Jamie asked, peering around the tripod at his friend.
"Don't worry... my brother left me detailed instructions"
"But you're so bad at these things!" Jamie whined nervously.
"Relax! If it doesn't work we can just do it again!" Emmy was actually starting to sound annoyed.
"But what if I do it better once and it doesn't record and..."
"Ok stop! It's annoying."
"Are you ready Jamie?" Mrs. Alderman said, walking into her studio.
Jamie took a deep breath, "I... no. Are you sure about this?"
It was for the application. They wanted a video of basic dance moves to be uploaded with the application. There was a list.
First through fifth position.
Demi-Plie. Grand-Plie.
Eleve.
Battement tendu.
Demi-pointe.
Pirouette.
Simple stuff. And because it's simple it needs to be perfect. Not a toe out of place. He can't mess up. Not once.
"If I didn't think you could do it, you wouldn't be applying... now first position."
Jamie easily moved his feet into first position.
"Jamie... that's wrong."
"What?" he looks down... his feet are in third position, his face turns red, "oops.:"
Emmy giggled and walked over to him, "Ok, you need to relax."
"How am I supposed to relax? This is my life! This is what I want to do with my life! I can't be stuck in Lima! I can't! I can't." He ended in a whisper, panicking now, he dropped to his knees.
"Ok here you go," Mrs. Alderman sighed, holding a bag to his mouth, "maybe we should this later, when you're calm."
"No! I CAN DO THIS" Jamie cried, tears in his eyes.
"Don't worry honey," Mrs. Alderman said, "It'll get done."
Jamie put his head in his hands and nodded slowly through his sobs... "Ok."
Jamie sat at his desk, staring at the computer screen, staring at the never ending packet of paper in front of him.
The moment Mrs. Alderman handed him the application (a waste of paper considering it was online) Jamie knew he wanted this more than anything in the world. He's been bracing himself to be tormented in high school his entire life but to go to dance school... where it's ok to love ballet... where he doesn't need to be ashamed... where he can be free...
Name.
Okay... that's easy.
James Hunter Hudson.
First question finished.
Dance experience.
Um... Thirteen minus eight is... five years? really?
wow.
Flashback
Eight year old Jamie sits on the bench waiting for his friend and sighed. He's so bored!
He watches the little girls as they pranced around the room giggling.
Finally, unable to take it anymore he gets up and walks into the room.
He marches up to the women in charge.
"I'm Jamie and I'm eight years old."
She glared at the boy, "I'm older and I don't care."
He looked up at her, "I want to dance."
Emmy giggled, "Don't be silly Jamie, boys can't take ballet."
"Oh yeah?" He shouted, "I bet I'm better than you!"
"Ok ok." The women shook her head, "You can join in for the end of class, but just for today... no more ok?"
He nodded, "Sounds good to me."
End Flashback
Jamie smiled at the memory... such a long time ago now.
That one class turned into what he hopes is a lifetime.
Biggest roll model for dance: Theresa Alderman.
Relationship: Dance Teacher
Write a brief paragraph about what this person means to you.
Ok then.
An eight year old boy does not have as much freedom as one may think. There are many expectations. For example, will he play soccer, basketball, or football. Or does he like action figures? It's around eight when you begin to get labeled. And it's around eight where I nearly got lost. I didn't like what most little boys liked. All I wanted to do was dance. Mrs. Alderman found me, or rather, we found each other. She brought dance to me, or I suppose, if you know her, forced it upon me. Without her, I would not be filling out this application. I would not have any passion. I wouldn't be me.
Biggest Roll Model in Life: Finn...
Finn. Is he? Yes Finn raised him in so many ways. He's always been there for Jamie. But has it ever been his goal to be just like Finn? Not really. Who has truly influence him?
Biggest Roll Model in Life: Kurt Hummel
Relationship: uh...
Um... Step Brother... not yet. But close enough.
Paragraph... ok
I am a ballet dance. That will not change whether or not I get into this school. I am and will always be a ballet dancer. I will always like to read Vogue, and watch musicals and disney movies. I will always want to spend an hour or more on my hair. But I hope I will not always be ashamed of it. Kurt is my almost-step-brother and every time I see him all I can do is marvel at how true he is to himself. Kurt is gay. He's funny. Slightly girly. And he's an amazing brother. And he's not afraid to tell that to the entire world. No matter what he's been through and what others think of him. He's shown me that if I want to be really happy, I have to accept myself for who I am and love every aspect of myself. I love dancing to the point at which it is a part of me. It' s who I am. Maybe someday, I'll know who the rest of me is too, and because of Kurt, I won't be afraid of it either.
Why are you applying for the International Dance Academy? What does dance mean to you?
Well that's easy.
It's...
It's...
well fuck.
It's everything.
It's life.
It's breathing.
It's air.
It's me.
I need dancing. Whether it's professional or just alone in my living room I will always need dancing. My goal in life is not to be a professional dancer. My only goal is to dance. And if I can make a living out of it, than my dreams will be realized. I want to go to this school because here I will feel safe to portray myself through the music. Through everything.
The way I see it I'm always dancing. Whether I'm actually in class or sitting at a desk doing nothing. Life is a dance; it has its flow, its breaks, its ups, and its downs. But when I'm moving it's different. I feel weightless and more. It's as if I'm not even there anymore. I'm no longer in my body but watching from somewhere above thinking about how beautiful the world is. Despite the suffering, despite my dead father, or the bullies at school, when I'm dancing there's only beauty. And don't feel anything either. It's like I'm lightening moving through the sky with a flash. Like electricity. And then I'm free. I'm free.
Well that kind of explains it. It's the best he can do in words at least.
He smiles at the application. He can do this. He wants this more than anything and when you want something this bad, you have to get it right.
He's not even ashamed of ballet anymore. He's proud. But it's still a secret. One he is so used to keeping that he can't imagine telling anyone. But... he should. At least one person here. One person needs to know. Someone he trusts.
Kurt was in his kitchen baking brownies for after dinner.
"Kurt?"
"Yeah Jamie. What's up?"
"I need to talk to you."
Kurt followed Jamie into the dark dance studio, video camera and tripod in hand.
"Are you sure this is ok?" He asks cautiously.
"Oh yeah... I sneak in here all the time." Jamie replied, brushing off Kurt's worry.
Kurt carefully set up the camera.
"Ok. Are you ready?"
Jamie nodded.
"Record. First position."
Ok... I realize I put such a pivotal moment in the story in too abruptly but I promise there will be a flashback to what was actually discussed during a later chapter (probably the next one) and from what I have in mind the next one will be a lot longer too.
Thanks for reading.