Designs by Isabelle

by Laurence Yep

  Luisa stayed cautious for the next two turns, again doing stuff from the pirate routine. I was just as careful when I added my own moves. I did a few steps from my Waltzing Flowers choreography, but I kept them simple because I was afraid of making a mistake.

  After three consecutive victories, though, Luisa was feeling pretty good about herself. She pursed her lips thoughtfully for a moment and then smiled wickedly. Shifting her weight from one leg to another, she began to sway her shoulders and move them up and down.

  “Hey, no fair,” I said. “You’re samba-ing.”

  “The steps can come from any style of dance,” Jackie reminded me.

  Luisa began to move her feet rapidly. If she’d been dancing to real samba music, I probably couldn’t have followed what she did. Her family is Brazilian and her father is a musician, so she’s been dancing the samba all her life. But she had to slow down to the tempo of the pirate tune, so I could see every step she made. She finished with a pirouette.

  And that was her mistake.

  I’d done a bunch of pirouettes in my routine for The Nutcracker, so I was pretty good at them now. After I mimicked Luisa’s samba, I pictured a toy top in my mind as I spun once, twice, three times in near-perfect pirouettes.

  “Isabelle wins,” Jackie announced. “She’s the new captain.”

  Yes! I felt like taking a victory lap around the studio.

  With a shrug, Luisa handed me the baton—the butterfly charm. It was warm from her hand.

  “Really try to think of something new this time, Isabelle,” Jackie urged.

  Safely clutching the baton, I thought for a moment. What would a pirate do? Then I thought of my dad’s favorite old-time pirate movie—so old that it had been filmed in black and white.

  I smiled and struck a pose, standing on one leg while crossing the other in front. With one hand on my hip, I raised the other in a casual salute. Shifting my feet into the position for a jeté, I put up my hands as if I were holding on to a rope. Then I kicked off with all the energy I could muster, leaping into the air.

  Jade always said that leaps were one of my best skills as a dancer. So when I landed, I kicked off again, moving across the studio as if leaping from the deck of one ship to another. I ended by focusing on my other strength: I launched into a few pirouettes as I waved an imaginary sword over my head.

  “Good, Isabelle!” Jackie called, just as Luisa began copying my routine. She did all the moves successfully and finished with a high kick. Luisa was a good leaper, but not as good as me, so I kept the captain’s baton.

  Before we began the next round, though, Jackie had some advice for us. “You’re both holding your breath when you jump,” she pointed out, “and that makes you a little stiff. You need to keep breathing during your jetés.”

  Luisa and I each tried an experimental jump, focusing on our breath, and it did feel easier. I couldn’t believe Jackie had helped me improve one of my strongest moves with such a simple tip! I want to learn everything I can from her, I thought happily as I tried another leap.

  Luisa and I traded the baton back and forth so many times that I lost count. We were both laughing by the time Jackie turned off the music.

  “Let’s take a breather,” she said.

  Luisa leaned forward and rested her hands on her knees. Panting, I glanced at the clock in the studio. I was surprised to see that rehearsal was almost over.

  “That was good,” Jackie said. “I really saw your joy while you danced, girls.” She curved her back as she stretched and then sighed. “I haven’t had this much fun in a long time.”

  Neither have I, I realized suddenly. I’d been so nervous before rehearsal started, but now I was having the time of my life. I didn’t want the morning to end!

  As Jackie reattached the butterfly charm to her bag, she said, “That game was a big help to me. Between Mr. Amici’s choreography and your improvs today, I’ve got enough ideas to come up with two good solos for you.”

  I blinked. I thought the improvs had been a warm-up. Was Jackie really going to create routines for us based on our made-up moves?

  Jackie must have seen the confusion on my face, because she said, “A lot of choreographers base their dances on what they see their dancers create and on the moves they do best.”

  That made sense, and it was exciting to think that Jackie was going to use some of the moves we had come up with. It was as if we were her creative partners. “Do you want more?” I asked with a glance toward Luisa. “We could dance another round.”

  Luisa shrugged. “Sure, why not?”

  “I love your enthusiasm!” Jackie said, laughing. “You’ll need to call on that joyful energy when you perform in the show. Your grand finale really has to wow the audience—to make sure that they have as much fun as you’re having while you dance.”

  I thought about our future audiences—sick children and other patients at hospitals. Suddenly I had an idea.

  As the words started rolling off my tongue, it was hard for me to stop them. “My dad works as an administrator at a hospital, and sometimes I go with him to visit the children’s ward. We take along a ‘fun box’ full of costumes and props so that the kids can dress up,” I said. “Maybe we could get the kids in our audiences involved if we bring along something like that!”

  Jackie’s smile lit up the studio. “Yes, we could turn the whole show into a kind of costume party,” she said, sweeping her palm in an arc through the air. “We’ll call it the ‘Big Hart Party.’ How fun! I knew I could count on you for fresh ideas, Isabelle.”

  “I bet my dad would loan us his box,” I said, pride and excitement swelling in my chest.

  “Yes, and all the performers could distribute props from the box,” said Jackie excitedly. Then she paused. “Hmm. But you’ll all be in different costumes. It’d be nice if we had some visual cue to tie all of you together at the start and maybe at the end.”

  Suddenly I had another brainstorm. “How about capes?” I asked.

  “Yes, I like that! Where would we get so many capes on such short notice, though?” Jackie asked.

  “I could ask my mom to help,” I said. My mom is an amazing seamstress who often helps sew costumes for our dance productions.

  Jackie wrinkled her forehead. “Wait, slow down for a minute. You’re going to need a new costume for the pirate routine, aren’t you?” she asked. “Your mom will most likely be busy enough with that.”

  “We can come up with something and still do the capes,” I promised. “I … I usually help my mom a lot with the designing and sewing.” It felt funny telling Jackie that. I didn’t want her to think I was bragging, but I knew that if we worked together, my mom and I could get the job done.

  “Isabelle is a really talented designer,” Luisa piped up. “She helped design some of the costumes for The Nutcracker.”

  I shifted uncomfortably at Luisa’s praise.

  “Is that right? That’s great to hear, Isabelle, and I do like your cape idea,” Jackie said. “But focus on your costume first, and then we can see about the capes, okay? And as you think about that pirate costume, steer clear of the usual pirate clichés.” She fluttered a hand near her throat. “You know, no frilly shirts or coats with lots of braid.”

  Jackie looked out the window as a new thought occurred to her. “In fact, let’s think outside the box for your character,” she said. “Perhaps you’re not even a pirate at all. Maybe you’re another character inspired by the sea. What do you think?”

  It was Luisa who answered, almost proudly, “Isabelle will come up with something special. She always does.”

  I felt myself stand a little taller then, rising to the challenge.

  When Jackie dismissed us at the end of practice, Luisa and I started to do a reverence—a curtsy done as a way to thank ballet teachers at the end of class. But Jackie waved for us to stop.

  “We’re shipmates now,” she said, holding out her index finger like a sword.

  I stared at it, puzzled, bu
t then Luisa put her own index finger over Jackie’s finger. “Shipmates,” she repeated.

  I rested my finger on top of theirs. “Shipmates.”

  Jackie’s hand dipped and then rose several times, taking our hands with it, and then we broke apart. I didn’t think any pirate had had an adventure as special as this—it was scary and wonderful and fun, all at the same time.

  As we left the studio, we met the Waltzing Flowers in the hallway. Ms. Hawken must have just let them out, too.

  “So, what’s Jackie like?” Olivia demanded eagerly.

  “She’s really nice,” I said.

  “Well, duh, of course she’s nice,” Renata snapped. She looked envious that we had spent so much time with Jackie. “She organized this tour, after all.”

  “She doesn’t act like a star at all,” Luisa said. “She’s just a regular person.”

  “What did she have you do?” Olivia asked.

  “We played an improv game where we danced like pirates and tried to outdo each other,” I said, grinning at Luisa as I remembered how much fun we’d had.

  “And next week we’ll learn solo routines she’ll create for us based on our own best moves,” Luisa added proudly.

  From the corner of my eye, I saw Renata. I wished I had a photo of her face at that moment. She looked as if she had just sucked on a whole basketful of lemons.

  © 2014 American Girl. All rights reserved. All American Girl marks, Isabelle™, and Girl of the Year™ are trademarks of American Girl. Used under license by Scholastic Inc.

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  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental and not intended by American Girl or Scholastic Inc.

  Illustrations by Anna Kmet

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Available

  First printing 2014

  e-ISBN 978-1-338-19719-8

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