by Jean Ure
Tiffany rolled her eyes. “You don’t say!”
“It’s just as difficult for boys as it is for us. Sean always says that if you make mistakes, you make them together. You don’t go round blaming the other person. He says if a girl holds her own weight and uses her own muscles to keep in position, it makes life a whole lot easier, cos otherwise, if she just lets go and expects the boy to do all the work, it doesn’t matter if she’s skinny as a rake, she can still feel like a sack of potatoes. Some girls,” I said, “just treat their partners like they’re a kind of machine. Sean says boys really hate it when they do that.”
There was a pause. A few people nodded. Alex said, “Mm.” Sort of doubtfully, like she wasn’t too sure. Caitlyn was looking down at her plate.
“Well!” Tiffany smiled brightly at me across the table. “Thank you so much for the lecture, and for letting us have your brother’s thoughts on the subject. We do all know he’s your brother, by the way. You don’t have to keep reminding us.”
What on earth was her problem? I hadn’t been reminding anyone. I hadn’t even said that Sean was my brother. I’d just thought it would be interesting for people, knowing how boys felt. That was all!
At the end of the day, as we were on our way out, a handful of dancers from the Company appeared and began making their way up the stairs. The theatre was only just down the road, so occasionally, when their own studios were all occupied, the Company liked to borrow one of ours for last-minute rehearsals. We were quite used to seeing familiar faces. Even, sometimes, famous ones. Like last year, Mei had told us, she had actually caught sight of Alessandra Ferranti in one of the studios.
Ferranti was a big, big star, over from Milan for a special guest appearance. You didn’t expect to encounter people that famous every day of the week. Today it was just a handful of minor soloists, plus Sean and Dana Martinu, his current partner. I guessed they’d come for a quick run-through of Pulcinella, which was a new short ballet being introduced into the repertoire.
“Hey, Sean!” I called out to him, up the stairs.
He turned, impatiently. “What?”
“You and Danny will be coming on Sunday, won’t you?”
“Of course. Wouldn’t miss it.”
“In that case—”
“What?”
“Could you be very sweet and kind and bring one of the Company’s postcards with you? Something pretty? For Miss Lucas? Please?”
He said, “Yeah, OK, if I remember,” and disappeared with a bound up the last few steps.
Tiffany, following me and Caitlyn into the street, said, “Wow! That was really important.”
I said, “Yes, it was, as a matter of fact.”
“Sounded it,” said Tiffany. And then she rolled her eyes at Amber, who rolled hers back, and they marched off together down the road.
“Honestly,” I said. “What is their problem?”
Caitlyn shook her head.
“What am I supposed to have done now?”
She sighed. “I don’t know. Maybe …”
“What?”
“Maybe …”
I looked at her, through narrowed eyes. She was supposed to be on my side!
“Maybe what?”
“Maybe you shouldn’t have called out to Sean like that?”
“Why shouldn’t I call out to him? He’s my brother!”
“But he’s a member of the Company,” pleaded Caitlyn. “He’s one of their leading dancers.”
“So what? He’s still my brother! If I can’t even talk to my own brother …”
Caitlyn bit her lip.
I said, “Oh, this is just stupid!” Reluctantly, though, I had to admit she might have a point. Lowly dance students didn’t normally yell up the stairs at members of the Company, specially if they were one of the stars.
“All I wanted,” I said, “was just to make sure he was going to be there on Sunday.”
“You knew he was,” said Caitlyn. “You already told me!”
I said, “Yes, well, he might have changed his mind. Something else might have turned up.”
“Not when it’s your mum and dad’s wedding anniversary!”
“He leads a very busy life,” I said. “I just needed to know. Cos of getting a card for Miss Lucas.”
Caitlyn looked at me. The theatre is only just up the road. There wasn’t any reason we couldn’t have gone there ourselves and bought a card.
I said, “Oh, all right, in future I’ll pretend I don’t know him!” And then, very quickly, cos I was getting a bit bored with the subject, plus I really didn’t see why I should be made to feel guilty, just for talking to my own brother, I said, “You could always come, if you like.”
“On Sunday?” Her face lit up.
I said, “Yes! It’ll be fun. We’re all going out for a special meal.”
“But isn’t it just for family?”
“Not really,” I said. “Danny’s coming. And Steve.”
Steve is Jen’s husband. He’s an accountant. Absolutely nothing to do with ballet. Danny at least is a photographer, who is known for his portraits of dancers.
“Shall I speak to Mum?” I said.
“Oh, Maddy, no!” She sounded horrified at the idea. “Your mum might think I was the one that had asked!”
“So I’ll tell her you weren’t. I’ll tell her it was my idea. I don’t see why Steve and Danny can come and not you.”
“That’s different! They are family. Please, Maddy, don’t say anything to your mum!”
She was so agitated that I promised her I wouldn’t, but in the end I did. I waited till we got home on Sunday night then said, “Could Caitlyn have come, if I’d asked?”
“Of course she could,” said Mum. “Why didn’t you?”
“Cos she begged me not to. She got all silly and shy and said she wasn’t family.”
“Well, no, but she’s your friend and we all know her. You could have brought her along. It’s a pity you didn’t.”
I said, “That’s what I think. I think it would have been good for her. Seize every opportunity, that’s what you once said. Otherwise she’s going to miss out on so much! You know she’s got this huge thing about Sean?”
Mum laughed. “Her and about a million others!”
I said, “Yes, it’s pathetic. But she’d have been, like, in heaven, just being able to sit at the same table.” Except, probably, she’d have been too covered in embarrassment to enjoy it.
“Never mind,” said Mum. “You can take her backstage with you on Saturday. You’re going to the matinee, aren’t you? She can say hallo then. That’ll make up for it!”
“Alex wanted to know if we had anything exciting planned for the rest of the weekend,” said Caitlyn, as we made our way to the Underground after Saturday-morning classes. “I didn’t tell her we were going to the ballet.”
“Why on earth not?” I said.
“Well, cos Tiffany was there, and you know how she gets.”
I said, “Yes! All mean and jealous.” Just because my brother had got tickets for us. What was so wrong with that? It was what anyone would do. It was what I would do, if I was in the Company. I’d get tickets for my family and friends. It would be very odd if I didn’t, if you asked me.
I said this to Caitlyn. I said, “If you’ve got connections, it’s stupid not to use them. You worry too much, that’s your problem. But if you don’t want to go and see Sean …”
A heartfelt squeak came out of her. “I do!”
“It’s a bit ungrateful,” I said. “When he goes to all this trouble.”
Not that it was any trouble, not really. But he’d come up with the tickets all by himself. It wasn’t like I’d had to beg for them. I hadn’t been asking for favours!
“He got them for us specially,” I said, “cos he knows it’s one of my favourite ballets.”
“Love, the Magician?” said Caitlyn. She sounded surprised.
“El Amor Brujo,” I said. I like to use the Spanish title, not
just to show that I know what it is and how to pronounce it – El Amor Bruho, not Broojo, as I once heard someone call it – but because I am a little bit in love with everything Spanish. The Three-Cornered Hat is another ballet I adore. Another is Blood Wedding. They are more my thing than Caitlyn’s. She is mostly into the romantic and classical, like the first ballet we were going to see, Masquerade. Masquerade is one of Dad’s earliest works and is what Mum calls “a froth”. Very, very beautiful with gorgeous costumes, and music by Tchaikovsky. No storyline or drama; just pure dance. Exactly what Caitlyn likes best!
“Don’t you care for El Amor Brujo?” I said.
“I don’t know,” said Caitlyn. “I’ve never seen it.”
“Oh, you’ll love it,” I assured her. “Carmelo is one of the parts that made Sean’s name!”
“I’ve read the storyline,” said Caitlyn. “It sounds a bit complicated.”
“It’s quite simple, really,” I said. “There’s this young girl called Candela, who’s in love with a handsome gypsy called Carmelo – that’s Sean – but Candela’s parents force her to marry someone else, who’s unfaithful with a girl called Lucia, so Lucia’s husband gets jealous and kills him, which means Candela’s free to marry her sweetheart – that’s Carmelo – except her dead husband starts haunting her and she does a danza del terror with his ghost – very scary! – and the only way to get rid of him is if they do a ritual fire dance, her and Carmelo. Everybody knows the ritual fire dance,” I said; and I did a bit of it, there in the Waterloo Road, to show her. “You’ll recognise it when you hear the music, it’s brilliant!”
“So what happens?” said Caitlyn.
“Oh, well, it gets rid of the ghost! Lucia’s spirited away by her dead lover—”
“Candela’s husband.”
“Yes. So Candela isn’t haunted any more and she and Carmelo can finally be together and – well!” I took a deep breath. “That’s it. I suppose it does sound a bit confusing, but—”
Caitlyn giggled.
“Just enjoy it!” I said.
“I will.” Caitlyn gave a little hop and a skip. “I’m really excited!”
I was, too, though I’d never have admitted it. I’d seen Sean dance a zillion times. I’d seen him in El Amor Brujo more than once. But this was the very first time I’d ever been to the theatre on my own, without either Mum or Dad, or Jen; so even though it was an afternoon performance, which I never think is quite as thrilling as an evening one, it still felt like a special occasion.
“Look,” I said. “Dad lent me his opera glasses … You can use them, if you want. Like if you want close-ups of people.”
She blushed at that. She knew what I meant by people!
“Here.” I pushed them at her. “I don’t need them.”
“Maybe I won’t, either,” said Caitlyn, bravely.
“You might as well,” I said. “We’re quite a way back.”
The Millennium Hall, where City Ballet perform, is almost like a second home to me; I’ve been going there almost ever since I can remember. Up until quite recently Mum used to refer to it as “the new place”, which always amused me cos I wasn’t even born till after the Millennium. Back in Mum’s day, the Company had used an old music hall theatre in the East End. Mum always said it was “very historical, very uncomfortable”. The Millennium Hall is bright and modern. City Ballet shares it with the London Players, who are a theatre company. It has a big stage for large-scale works, such as Swan Lake or Sleeping Beauty, or if the Players put on a musical or maybe some Shakespeare, and a smaller one for more intimate works. It also has a couple of studios which people can use for experimental pieces, or sometimes poetry recitals or musical evenings.
Seen from outside, the building looks a bit plain and boring, but inside it is quite magical. It has this huge foyer with a wide staircase going down to the main auditorium, and photographs of actors and dancers covering the walls. Not just present-day people, but what Dad calls “stars of yesteryear”, as well. There’s several of Mum, all young and sparkling, in various ballets. My favourite is Mum as the Firebird. There are also a couple of Dad, one as an Ugly Sister in Cinderella and one as the Showman in Petrushka. Not very romantic, but Dad mainly stuck to character roles. He was always more interested in choreography than in dancing. There are loads of Sean, of course, and if you looked hard enough you could even find one of Jen, as the Fairy of the Crystal Fountain in Sleeping Beauty, one of the very last roles she danced.
Just as I had predicted, Caitlyn and I were seated high up in the gallery, which I think is actually the best place for ballets like Masquerade as it means you can see all the patterns made by the dancers, though maybe it’s not quite so good for dramatic works, where sometimes you feel it would be good to be a bit closer. I whispered encouragingly to Caitlyn that she should use Dad’s opera glasses. I think she was quite grateful to be given permission!
“So what did you think?” I said, as the curtain came down at the end of El Amor Brujo. “Did you like it?”
“It was amazing,” she breathed. The expression on her face was one of pure bliss. I felt a giggle bubbling up and sternly suppressed it. She had had Dad’s opera glasses glued to her eyes practically the whole time! But it is not fair to laugh.
“Which did you like best?” I said. “El Amor Brujo or Masquerade?”
“Oh! Well … they’re so different,” said Caitlyn.
“But which one would you rather be in, if you could choose?”
I could see her struggling. She sighed. “It doesn’t really matter which one I’d rather be in cos nobody is ever going to cast me as Candela. They’re not,” she said, “are they?”
I had to agree that they probably weren’t.
“They will you,” said Caitlyn. “It’s your sort of part!”
“Like Giselle is yours,” I said. “That’s what you’ll be cast as.”
She looked at me, doubtfully. “Do you really think so?”
I thought, For goodness’ sake! I felt like telling her to stop being so humble. She must know she was dead right for Giselle! Apart from anything else, I’d told her so before. Lots of times.
I jumped up. “Let’s go see Sean!”
“What, in his dressing room?”
“Yes!”
She hesitated.
“So are you coming,” I said, “or not?”
“You go,” said Caitlyn. “I’ll wait for you in the foyer.”
In the end I left her to it; you just can’t help some people. I felt that if I had a crush on someone I’d jump at the chance to be near them. I certainly wouldn’t get all silly and embarrassed and hide myself away. She really had to make more of an effort if she wanted to get anywhere. I couldn’t see Tiffany turning down an invitation to go backstage and talk to one of the stars, even if she did resent him being my brother. She’d be there like a shot! Tiffany was someone who knew instinctively that you had to seize every opportunity. I didn’t much like her, but I didn’t blame her for being ambitious. Caitlyn might be a far worthier person, and even, probably, a better dancer, but you needed a bit more than that if you wanted to get noticed.
There was a whole load of people in Sean’s dressing room. If Caitlyn had been with me, I’d have wormed my way through, dragging her with me, but Danny was there, and he smiled and came over when he saw me, so I talked to him, instead.
“Where’s Caitlyn?” he said. “Didn’t she come, after all?”
I said yes, she was waiting for me in the foyer.
“She was too shy to come round and say hallo. Not that she’d have had much chance, anyway.”
Danny said, “No, it’s a bit crowded, isn’t it? Do you want to hang on here, or shall we go back out front and find her?”
“Might as well,” I said. “Tell him I came round – oh, and tell him he was brilliant … as usual!”
“Will do.”
“So who are all these people?” I said, as we closed the door behind us.
Danny pulled a
face. “Don’t ask me! You know Sean … he’s like a magnet.”
“Well, so long as it keeps him happy,” I said.
“Oh, he thrives on it! The more the merrier. Still, I guess it’s what it’s all about … being a performer. Where would you all be without your adoring public?”
“Well, but it’s the same for you,” I said. “I know you’re not a performer, but it must make you feel good when people admire your photographs.”
Danny said, “Yes, and guess what? I’ve been commissioned to do a photoshoot for a new ballet book … The Lives of Young Dancers. All the way from first year right through to graduation. It’s going to be centred on your school, so I’ll be paying a visit some time to sort out the details.”
“Sounds exciting,” I said.
“It should be fun.”
“Will you be using lots of us, or just one or two?”
“I thought probably I’d concentrate on one boy and one girl from each year, plus lots of general stuff … classes, rehearsals, performances. That sort of thing. What d’you think?”
What I immediately thought was that if he was planning to choose me, from my year group, Tiffany was going to go completely ballistic. She would never let me live it down.
Just because he’s friends with your brother …
It even crossed my mind, just for a second, that maybe I should ask him not to choose me. He was almost certainly going to. After all, he was Sean’s boyfriend and that did make him almost a member of the family. It was only natural to help members of your family, even if some people did think it wasn’t quite fair. But then again, why should it bother me what people thought?
If you’ve got connections, it’s stupid not to use them.
Wasn’t that what I’d said to Caitlyn that very afternoon? It would be utterly stupid if I turned down the chance to appear in Danny’s book. What did I care about Tiffany and her raging jealousy? She certainly wouldn’t hesitate if she was the one with connections, so why should I?
Danny and I walked back up the steps together and into the foyer. I didn’t immediately spot Caitlyn. I thought probably she would be in the shop, browsing among the books and the postcards, but then suddenly I caught sight of her. I froze. “Omigod!” I said.