by Ann Bryant
“Oh wow, Izzy! You must be amazing!” said Bryony.
“Well I already knew you were brilliant, just from watching you move,” said Nicole.
“And I also,” said Antonia.
“Thank goodness you didn’t get in,” said Sasha quietly, “or I’d be sitting here with a completely different best friend who might not be as nice as you and then I’d be totally miserable.”
There was a pause before we all cracked up laughing, and I gave Sasha a big smile because that was such a nice thing to say.
“I think we ought to put some of your ballet pics up now,” she whispered to me when the others had got off my bed and there were just the two of us left.
So we went through them all together and Sasha started to arrange them on the pinboard, working from the outside in until there was space for just one more, right in the middle. “Look, this little place is perfect for that photo of you in your last show, Whizz.”
But for some reason I didn’t want that photo up for all to see. I wrinkled my nose. “Isn’t there anything else?”
“Oh, why not that one of you? It’s great!”
How could I explain? “Because…I feel as though I’ve been two people until today – the new me and the other me. And that photo reminds me too much of the other me. And I don’t want to be reminded of that, now there’s only one me.”
Sasha laughed. “Whatever you say, Iz!”
And I knew I hadn’t explained it very well, but it was true. There was only one me.
The real me.
Chapter Ten
It’s nine fifteen in the evening and I’m standing in one of the wings of the theatre, with Miss Morgan, Rachel, Leanne, Mimi and Debra. In the wing opposite are Olivia and Maria. We’re all wearing different-coloured leotards and flesh-coloured tights, and we’ve got our hair scraped back tightly. My own leotard is silver and I absolutely love it.
We’re keeping our limbs moving very gently after the warm-up we’ve already done. On the other side of the heavy dark red curtain is just about every girl in the whole school, and lots of teachers too. They’re all chattering in loud, excited voices about the dance act that’s just finished, the one before us. It was Natalie dancing the flamenco, and even from the wings I thought she looked brilliant.
I’d watched the first half of the show with my friends in the auditorium. There was loads of jazz and tap and disco and Latin American, and it was all wonderful. The louder the music and the more energetic the dancing, the more the audience seemed to love it. So right now, knowing that any minute we’d be dancing our slow, smooth ballet dance, it was very, very scary.
“What if they don’t like it?” Mimi asked Miss Morgan, her teeth chattering with fear. “It hasn’t got a beat. It’s not as cool as the other stuff.”
“Don’t be silly. You’ll be brilliant and they’ll love it,” said Miss Morgan firmly.
“But it’s so different from everything else in the programme,” said Debra. “And I definitely heard someone in the audience groaning a moment ago when they saw what was next. They said, ‘Oh no, not ballet!’”
I was already nervous, but at those words of Debra’s, I started to feel sick.
“Okay, girls, get into your positions,” said Miss Morgan. “And have faith in yourselves. If the audience don’t love you, I’ll eat my hat!”
“I hope you’ve got an edible hat,” said Rachel shakily as she moved onto the stage. I followed her, and took up my position in the centre at the front, noticing that, as usual, Maria and Olivia weren’t looking at me at all.
We’d only had two rehearsals all together after my practice on my own with Miss Morgan, because we didn’t need any more than that. The dance was ready for the show. But neither Maria nor Olivia had ever said a single word to me from start to finish during those rehearsals. Abi had watched both times and given me loads of compliments at the end, and the other four seniors always patted me on the back and said, “Well done.” But Olivia and Maria made it all too clear they didn’t like me being in the show. And I had to work hard on clearing my mind of them as I prepared my starting position with my head bowed.
We stood like seven statues on the dark stage as our music began and the noise on the other side of the curtain slowly quietened. Then as the curtains opened, there was complete silence. A second later the stage was flooded with bright light and I was glad I couldn’t see the faces in the auditorium. I started to imagine there was nobody there and that I was dancing for myself. I knew the others would be gliding in intricate patterns behind me, which looked so beautiful, while I simply had to raise my head very slowly, and then my arms, and then one leg out to the side until my toe was pointing up higher than my head. It was probably the hardest step in my whole part, because I had to hold my balance for so long, but I did it, and I heard gasps from all over the audience, which I hadn’t been expecting. So when the music swelled and it came to my leaps and spins, I felt as though I was being lifted right up. And somehow there was an energy amongst the seven of us dancing our hearts out that had never been there when we’d rehearsed. Maybe the music was louder, or maybe it was the bright lights, or just our nervousness, but we were different from how we’d been in rehearsal, and I didn’t want the dance to end because the audience were different too. They seemed stunned, and even when the last note faded and we stood in our final positions, there was a breathtaking silence before the applause rang round the theatre in massive, vibrating waves. No one in the audience spoke, they all just clapped and clapped. And then they were on their feet, still clapping.
I reached out to the sides as Miss Morgan had instructed me to do, so that Maria and Olivia would hold my hand on either side and the other four join on the two ends of the line for the final bow. We’d only practised this once and Maria and Olivia had let my hands drop instantly at that practice, as though they couldn’t bear holding hands with a Year Seven. But this time they kept holding tight. Then we all had to take four steps backwards at exactly the same moment, raise our joined hands and drop into another bow, before the curtains closed. And that’s exactly what happened.
Miss Morgan rushed onstage a moment later and hugged us all. She said she was so proud that she could burst into tears. We all started to leave the stage, but then we realized the clapping was still as loud as ever, even after all this time, so Miss Morgan told us to get back into our line, and the curtains started to open once more.
“You come in the line too, Miss Morgan,” said Maria, letting go of my hand, to encourage Miss Morgan to join us. And that’s how we were when the audience saw us. A massive cheer went up as Miss Morgan took a bow with us. But she only stayed for a moment, and even after she’d hurried back to the wings the audience was still cheering and clapping. And next thing I knew, Maria had let go of my hand again and when I glanced sideways, I saw that she was giving me a genuine smile. “Take a bow on your own,” she whispered.
She got the others to move back so I was left alone at the front of the stage. As I did a deep curtsy, so many whoops came out of the audience, and flashes from people’s cameras and phones, that I felt like a real star. But I couldn’t stay on my own – it wasn’t fair on the others. So I went back to hold their hands and bring them all forwards for one last bow, before the curtains finally closed.
“I should think that The Royal Ballet School must be kicking themselves!” said Emily as we made our way up to Emerald dorm later that evening, going very slowly because we were all texting out parents about the show. I’d already texted Mum, and she’d replied with just three little words, except that one of them took up about three lines of the screen.
I’m soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo proud!
It was really lovely and flattering the way my friends had talked and talked about our ballet piece ever since the end of the show, saying it was the best part of the whole show and that everyone had thought so.
“You just shocked us all!” said Nicole.
“Knocked us out!” added Bryony.
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br /> “Knocked us out?” asked Antonia, in big alarm.
“It’s just a saying,” explained Sasha, laughing.
Then we all got ready for bed, and just before we had to hand in our phones for the night, mine bleeped that I’d got two texts.
“Oh, it’s from my brother!” I said, scanning the first message.
Just wanted u 2 know Claire nd I r back together. I missed her 2 much. All a stupid mistake! Mum says ballet was big success. Congrats! Max x
My eyes filled with tears of happiness. I understood more than anyone just how wrong it felt when you missed something with all your heart. It wasn’t easy reading the second text through my tears.
Got ure no. from Sasha. U were total star. I never thought ud b able 2 do it. I was wrong. Luv Olivia xx
I knew I wouldn’t get to sleep for ages that night because I was far, far too happy for sleep. But it didn’t matter, because the next day was Sunday and we were allowed a lie-in. And then there was only one more week of term before the Christmas holidays. Sasha and I had made big plans to see each other, even though our families lived nearly two hundred miles apart. I was so happy that our parents had agreed to that, because I knew I’d miss her terribly otherwise.
We all lay in bed talking and talking, then just when my eyes were beginning to droop a bit, I turned my head to look at my pinboard as I did every night, and immediately sat up in big surprise because something had changed. Right in the middle, the blank space had been filled with a picture of me wearing a silver leotard and smiling as though I owned the world.
“What…? When…? How…?” I began in big confusion.
“Sasha took it,” laughed Emily. “Then Bryony rushed off at the end – as she’s the fastest runner,” she added, “and transferred it to a computer and printed it out! So, hey presto, we have the one and only…Izzy!” Emily had spoken in an over-the-top dramatic voice and was pretending to raise her glass, as though she was at a grand party, proposing a toast.
The others laughed and joined in the fun, raising their own imaginary glasses. “To the one and only Izzy!” they chorused.
And Sasha and I exchanged our own special smile, because we both knew just how true those words really were. Ballet had found its place in my life again, and at long last I really had finally found the one and only me.
Izzy’s Dance Fact File
Ballet is my absolute passion, but there are lots of other types of dance too. Check out my fun facts – maybe they’ll get you in the mood to give dance a whirl as well!
* All sorts of dance styles are practised and performed in the UK, including African, ballroom, belly dancing, body-popping, break-dancing, classical ballet, contemporary, flamenco, historical, Irish, jazz, jive, line dancing, national and folk, salsa, square-dancing, street dance, tango and tap. Phew!
* Most ballerinas wear out 2-3 pairs of pointe shoes in a week – for some performers, a single pair is not enough to get through a whole performance!
* In Bharatanatyam, Kathak and Odissi – different forms of classical Indian dance – dancers wear heavy anklets of multiple bells called gungru or ghungroo to emphasize the rhythms of their feet. Dancers can wear up to two hundred bells – a hundred on each ankle.
* A single ballet tutu for a performance can cost over £1000 and take 75 hours to make.
* Girls who take part in Irish dancing competitions nearly always wear very curly wigs. Wigs were originally introduced for seriously competitive dancers who would go to a feis (Irish dance competition or festival) every week and found that constantly curling their hair damaged it. But the wigs caught on like wildfire – even though they’re quite uncomfortable to wear!
* Dance marathons were very popular in America in the 1930s. Marathoners danced for hours and sometimes days at a time to compete for cash prizes. Americans Mike Ritof and Edith Boudreaux hold the world record. From 29th August 1930 to 1st April 1931, they danced for 5,148 hours and 28 minutes – that’s 214 days!
* Dancing is such great fun and it gets you fit too! Instead of going to the cinema, try going dancing with your friends or making up a routine to your favourite song – an hour’s dancing can be the equivalent of going for a 6km walk. If you do high-energy salsa dancing, you’ll get an even better workout!!
Now turn the page for a sneak preview of the next unmissable School Friends story…
Chapter One
“Ouch!”
What’s Bryony doing attacking me like this? She’s supposed to be my best friend. I stopped staring at the cloudy grey sky through the gap between the treetops, and raised my eyebrows at her in a vague kind of way.
“Ems, come back from whatever planet you’re on!” said Nicole, laughing. “We’ve been trying to attract your attention for ages!”
And when I looked round I saw that it wasn’t only Bryony and Nicole who were finding me amusing, but all of my little group of friends.
“What were you daydreaming about, anyway?” asked Sasha.
It was true I’d been miles away, thinking about my other best friend, my beautiful horse, Barney, who lives back home in Ireland. I was imagining myself galloping him across open fields on a beautiful summer evening when all the work on our farm had been done – well, all the work I had to do at least, because Mum and Dad and my big brother Will always work till really late in the summer.
But how could I explain all that to my friends? None of them have got much of a clue about horses, and they certainly don’t know the first thing about farming. I still love them dearly, though, because the six of us have been together in the same dormitory here at Silver Spires Boarding School for Girls for a term and a bit now, and the others don’t seem to mind that I’m always either daydreaming or, if you press my other button, rushing to get out in the fresh air. They’re not bothered that I don’t care about fashion or that I’m not the best in the world as far as lessons are concerned. They all just accept the way I am. Well, apart from a few times like right now, when I think I do get on their nerves.
But I always know how to bring them round. “I was daydreaming about winning the lottery and just wondering which friends I might take with me on my trip to see the wonders of the world!”
That had exactly the effect I expected. Izzy and Sasha stopped trying to keep warm by jogging on the spot and gave me big beaming smiles, while Antonia and Nicole both shuffled close to me and linked their arms through mine, and Bryony started batting her eyelashes about two centimetres away from my face in a totally over-the-top way, which looked so funny, knowing what a tomboy she is. We must have seemed like a really weird little group standing in the middle of the main lane that runs through the Silver Spires grounds.
“Okay, I’ll take you all!” I said, sighing a bit and pretending they were a lot of pestering children that I had to keep quiet somehow.
When they’d finished being amused by me for the second time in two minutes, Izzy started doing vigorous star jumps. “How come you don’t feel the cold, Emily?”
“I’m just used to it, I suppose,” I told her with a shrug. Then I looked at my watch. “Surely a few of the guests should have arrived by now, shouldn’t they?”
Well that sent Izzy and Sasha straight back into their big excitement zone. “I can’t wait to see them. I’ve got so many questions!” said Sasha.
“Me too!” squeaked Izzy. “And I bet they’ve got loads to ask each other, too. I mean, it’ll seem so strange meeting up for a grand reunion party after all these years.”
And then Nicole and Antonia were joining in with the buzz, while Bryony and I stood quietly to one side. Neither of us was looking forward to the afternoon in quite the same way as our friends were, and we’d only really come outside to look out for the guests arriving because the others had wanted us to.
“I suppose it’ll be quite interesting when we get talking to people, but I’m not as excited as the others, are you?” I asked Bryony quietly.
She’s a very thoughtful person, my best friend, so she didn’
t answer me straight away. But then her face suddenly brightened. “I’m looking forward to the tea!”
“Me too!” I said, giggling. “All those totally fab home-made cakes and biscuits!”
“I hope they decorate the hall to make it very grand,” said Antonia, joining in with us now. “And use Silver Spires’s best silver teapots and china!” she added, with a dreamy look in her eyes.
“Is that what your dad would do in his restaurant in Italy?” I asked her, because I’m interested in how the different countries all have their own traditions and ways of doing things.
“Afternoon tea isn’t a custom in Italy, like it is in England,” Antonia replied. “But yes, it’s true, Papà makes his restaurant look extra-specially wonderful for important occasions.”
Just about every time Antonia speaks I think how much her English has improved. When she joined Silver Spires with all the rest of us Year Sevens last September, she had trouble with lots of English words and she had a really strong Italian accent. But now you only notice her accent a bit. Nicole, her best friend, has helped her loads with the language. Antonia’s also taught Nicole quite a bit of Italian, which Nicole has picked up really quickly, as she’s the brainiest one in our group.
When Antonia started talking about decorations, I’d been imagining the big hall here in the beautiful old main building of Silver Spires full of women in their sixties all enjoying their grand reunion, introducing themselves to each other and chatting away about what they’d done since they’d left Silver Spires all those years ago. Now I suddenly felt myself wanting to break into giggles again.
“Isn’t it funny the way everyone always calls them old girls?” I spluttered. “I mean it sounds kind of rude, doesn’t it, to say, ‘A load of old girls are coming to a reunion party at Silver Spires’!”