Amelia Bedelia Dances Off

by Herman Parish

  Dinner was actually delightful, and the salad was very tasty. Aunt Wanda told funny stories about Amelia Bedelia’s father when he was growing up. The stories reminded Amelia Bedelia that her dad had been young once, just like her.

  After dessert, Wanda said, “Amelia Bedelia, now I can give you part two of your early birthday present. Are you ready?”

  Amelia Bedelia clapped her hands as though she was still five years old. Aunt Wanda always gave her the best presents. She had a special talent for picking something fun and exciting and surprising. Amelia Bedelia couldn’t expect a pony, but she’d never get matching socks and underwear, either.

  “Here you go,” said Wanda, handing an envelope to Amelia Bedelia.

  Amelia Bedelia looked puzzled as she opened it and read the card.

  “Dance lessons?” she asked.

  “Dance lessons!” said Wanda. “Ten lessons at Dana’s School of Dance.”

  “But . . .” This didn’t seem like the sort of present Wanda usually gave her.

  “Honey,” said Amelia Bedelia’s mother. “What do you say?”

  “But I was hoping for a drum set,” said Amelia Bedelia.

  “Drums?” said her father. “Why do you want drums?”

  “Thank you, Wanda,” said Amelia Bedelia’s mother. “My daughter is being rude. Sweetie, tap dancing is like drumming, with your feet. Please thank your aunt.”

  “Oh, I’m sure it’s going to be just ballet stuff,” said Amelia Bedelia. “And I really don’t want to be a ballerina!” She jumped out of her chair, twirled, and leaped around the table, waving her arms in wacky ways before slumping back into her seat.

  “Bravo!” said her father, clapping his hands. “You could teach dance lessons.”

  Amelia Bedelia crossed her arms and glared at her father. She totally understood why Aunt Wanda thought her younger brother was a pest. Sometimes her dad made her crazy.

  “You picked up tap dancing right away, Amelia Bedelia,” said Wanda. “You’re a natural. Just give dancing a chance.”

  “I don’t understand you,” said Amelia Bedelia’s mother. “You usually love to try new things. Plus, we had fun today with Dana. What would change your mind?”

  Amelia Bedelia began drumming on the table.

  “Forget drums,” said her father. “You’re dreaming, pumpkin.”

  “What if I get you a drum to dance with?” asked Aunt Wanda.

  “Wanda!” said Amelia Bedelia’s father. “Don’t encourage her.”

  “Don’t discourage her,” said Wanda.

  Amelia Bedelia’s mother stood up. She could see a storm brewing. “I’ll help you clear the table, Amelia Bedelia,” she said.

  “Okay, Mom,” said Amelia Bedelia. She cleared her aunt’s plate. “Thanks for the dancing lessons, Aunt Wanda. I’ll give them a try.”

  Wanda gave her a hug and said, “That’s the spirit, honey.”

  “You don’t have to get me a drum too,” said Amelia Bedelia. “You’re way too busy. Dad says you are a real busybody.”

  Wanda glared at her brother. “Do tell,” she said.

  “Amelia Bedelia,” called her mother. “I need your help in the kitchen.”

  Amelia Bedelia’s father turned red. “What I meant, Wanda, is that you always have a lot on your plate.”

  “No she doesn’t,” said Amelia Bedelia. “Look at her plate, Dad. It’s clean and empty.”

  “Amelia Bedelia!” called her mother again. “Come in here now!”

  Amelia Bedelia’s first dance lesson was the very next day. Her mother called the dance school to find out what Amelia Bedelia would need to wear. Then she raced around town buying everything, picked up Amelia Bedelia after school, and drove her to Dana’s School of Dance.

  Amelia Bedelia looked through the shopping bags in the car.

  “What’s this?” she asked, holding up a skimpy piece of fabric.

  “It was on the list,” said her mother.

  Amelia Bedelia read the tag. “Leotard?” she asked.

  “Check,” said her mother.

  “No, it’s solid pink, not checked,” said Amelia Bedelia. She held up another item. “Do I have to wear these?”

  “Those are tights,” said her mother.

  “I need to move freely,” said Amelia Bedelia. “Tights are tight. I need looses.”

  Amelia Bedelia’s mother smiled. “I’ll buy you a pair of looses as soon as someone invents them,” she said. “The school is in this mall.” She turned into a parking lot next to a long one-story building.

  “This is weird,” said Amelia Bedelia. “What kind of mall is this?”

  “Strip,” said her mother.

  “No!” said Amelia Bedelia. “I’m not taking my clothes off in a mall parking lot.”

  “Of course not, sweetie,” said her mother. “I’m sure Dana has a changing room. Come on, we’re running late.”

  They got out of the car and walked toward a big window with decals of ballerinas flitting around curly gold letters that said DANA’S SCHOOL OF DANCE. To Amelia Bedelia, the sign might as well have said 10,000 POISONOUS SNAKES INSIDE. Her mother opened the door, took her by the hand, and practically had to drag her inside.

  “Hello, hello! We met yesterday,” Dana said. “I’m Dana.”

  “I’m still Amelia Bedelia,” said Amelia Bedelia.

  “We’re late,” said Amelia Bedelia’s mother.

  “No problem,” said Dana. “Your daughter can change quickly in the girls’ dressing room and meet the rest of the class in Studio One, through that door.”

  “Have fun, sweetie,” said Amelia Bedelia’s mother. “I’ll be back in a bit.”

  Amelia Bedelia changed into her leotard and tights and entered Studio One. There were five other kids in the class. Most of them were smiling and looked happy to be there. One did not. The tallest kid was actually frowning, clutching a skateboard. He looked like Amelia Bedelia felt. She went over and stood next to him, even though he was a boy.

  “Okay, everyone, this is Amelia Bedelia, and she is joining our class today,” said Dana. “She is a talented tap dancer. She picks up things quickly.”

  “Hi, I’m Brad,” said the boy. “Brad McDonald.” His skateboard slipped out of his hand, onto the floor. Amelia Bedelia picked it up and gave it back to him.

  “Thanks,” said Brad. “You really do pick up things quickly.”

  “Over here is Gracie,” said Dana. A girl curtsied—she had a skirt that floated around her like a pink cloud, and a matching pink leotard and tights. Amelia Bedelia looked down at her own outfit, which seemed loose and baggy compared to Gracie’s. Now she wished her tights were tighter.

  “Hi, I’m Willow,” said a girl in a tie-dyed leotard, giving a quick little wave from across the room. Amelia Bedelia waved back. She liked Willow immediately.

  “Last but not least,” said Dana, “the Hernandez twins.”

  A boy and girl who didn’t even look related did a quick, complicated dance step together. It ended with the boy twirling the girl around, then catching her as she fell back across his thigh.

  “Wow!” said Amelia Bedelia.

  Those kids were incredible dancers! Amelia Bedelia felt like running right out of Studio One and racing home to play with Finally in the yard. Luckily, she had a strategy for this type of situation. Whenever she didn’t know what to do, she asked a question. Besides, she was curious. “How can you be twins?” she asked. “You don’t even look alike.”

  “We’re fraternal twins,” said the boy. “I’m Alex.”

  “I’m Alexandra,” said the girl. “Our mom named us so that when she hollers ‘Alex,’ at least one of us answers.”

  “Smart mom,” said Dana. “As you can tell, Amelia Bedelia, the students in this class have a wide variety of experience. Don’t worry. You’ll catch up. And you’ll have fun, I promise. Now, let’s get some basic moves under your belt.”

  Amelia Bedelia looked down at her waist and panicked. She had no belt! Whe
re would she put the basic moves? She looked around the studio quickly. None of the other kids wore belts either. Whew! She relaxed.

  “Each week I’ll bring in expert dancers to share their skills. My focus is modern dance. So let’s start with some warm-up exercises while we think about how and why we move.”

  Dana asked Brad and Willow to drag a giant floor fan into the middle of the studio. She turned it on to the highest speed.

  “Line up behind me,” said Dana. “Put your arms in the air like this, and keep them loose. When you pass in front of the fan, imagine that you are tall grass in a storm.”

  Amelia Bedelia did not have to imagine too hard. The blast of air nearly knocked her over. She swayed back and forth with her arms in the air.

  “Wonderful work!” said Dana. “Now. Again! Only this time, imagine you are a tree.”

  They all walked around again, this time pretending to be trees. Amelia Bedelia noticed that Willow had a huge smile on her face and she was moving her arms as if they were willow tree branches swaying in the wind.

  Next they imagined they were waves at the beach, then eagles, then snakes. Oh, well, thought Amelia Bedelia, wiggling across the floor. At least there were not ten thousand poisonous snakes. She had to admit that she had more of a feeling for nature than she’d had before Dana’s class.

  The next week when Amelia Bedelia arrived at Dana’s, it looked as though Studio One was being remodeled. She almost crashed into Brad and Alex, who were carrying a big sheet of plywood.

  “Watch it, watch it!” shouted Alex.

  Amelia Bedelia jumped out of their way. Brad and Alex placed the plywood on the floor, right next to another sheet of plywood that they had already positioned. Amelia Bedelia watched the piece of plywood like a hawk. It did not do a thing. It just lay there on the floor. She wasn’t sure what she had expected, but this was super boring.

  “I think two sheets will be enough,” said Dana. “Thanks, guys!” Now Amelia Bedelia was completely confused.

  “You’re putting sheets on the boards?” asked Amelia Bedelia. “Who would want to sleep on wood?”

  Dana laughed. She stepped on one board and then the other, bouncing lightly to make sure they were stable. “These are sheets of plywood, to protect my floor from our guest dancers today.”

  “They must be huge! How can dancers hurt a floor?” asked Amelia Bedelia. “How heavy are they?”

  “Oh, they’re light on their feet,” said Dana. “But they hit the ground very hard with their heels.”

  “Harder than tap dancing?” asked Amelia Bedelia.

  “Much harder,” said Dana. “These are flamenco dancers.”

  “Hah!” said Brad. “This isn’t dance class, this is a nature course! First we get to be grass blowing in the wind, and now we get to watch dancing birds.”

  “Birds? Dancing?” said Dana. “What are you talking about?” She gave Brad a bewildered look.

  “You know, those goofy-looking pink birds with the big black beaks? The ones that stand on one leg?” he said. “People stick plastic ones on their lawns. My sister loves those things, I think because—”

  Dana exploded with laughter. The Hernandez twins were laughing so hard they could barely speak.

  Brad just stood there, looking very confused. “What . . .”

  Dana put her arm around Brad. “Oh, honey,” she said, “the bird you’re describing is a flamingo. This is a dance called the flamenco, with a C instead of a G.”

  Just then, a couple came through the door of the studio. The man was carrying a guitar and the woman wore a lacy red shawl over a long black dress that was full and frilly at the bottom.

  “Everyone, this is Senor and Senora España,” said Dana. “Pull up a piece of floor and sit down.”

  Amelia Bedelia, Alex, Alexandra, Willow, Brad, and Gracie sat in a circle around the plywood and listened.

  “Flamenco comes from the south of Spain,” said Senor España. “It combines music and song and dance to produce rhythmic patterns with percussion.”

  When Amelia Bedelia heard the word “percussion,” she could not contain herself. She put her hand in the air. “But don’t you need a drum for that?” she asked.

  “There are other ways to play percussion,” said Senor España, smiling. He strummed on his guitar and then rapped on its shiny wooden surface with his knuckles. “Like that,” he said.

  “And like this,” said Senora España. She raised her arms above her head and clapped out the same sequence of beats with her hands. “From the top to the bottom,” she said. Then she produced the same pattern by striking her heels on the plywood floor.

  Senor España played his guitar. “The best way to show you how it all works together is with a dance,” he said. He began playing a beautiful melody, and his wife began clapping her hands and striking her heels very hard on the floor at the same time. Gracie covered her ears. Amelia Bedelia loved it. She felt like she was sitting inside a giant popcorn popper.

  When the dance was done, everyone clapped and then laughed, because it sounded like the dance was still going on. They could hear the echo of the percussion in their ears.

  The Españas began dancing again, much slower this time. Senora España held up her hands and demonstrated her claps in slow motion. The class joined in. As they got used to the rhythm, the guitar and the dancing got faster, and soon their clapping sounded like applause. Suddenly, the Españas stopped playing and dancing and froze, but the class kept clapping. They both bowed and said, “Thank you, thank you!” Everyone laughed.

  Senora España took Willow, Gracie, Alexandra, and Amelia Bedelia to one side of the plywood floor to teach them some flamenco steps. Senora España actually had nails driven into the bottom of her shoes, but the girls put on their tap-dancing shoes, and they still managed to make a lot of noise!

  Senor España gave Brad and Alex a short lesson on flamenco guitar techniques and beats.

  There was time for one more dance. This time, Senor España played the guitar and danced as well. First Senora España would tap out a rhythm, then he would dance an answer to it, with the guitar uniting the two sequences of sound. Senora España unfurled a fan and used it to draw attention to the movement of her hand.

  As Amelia sat there watching the Españas dance, she thought about the fact that flamenco was amazing but hot. If she had that fan, she would use it to cool herself off. She leaned over to Brad. “What are you thinking?” she whispered.

  Brad was quiet for a moment. Then he whispered, “I think my sister is right. They would look great on our lawn.”

  Amelia Bedelia covered her mouth to keep from laughing out loud.

  The next week, Amelia Bedelia was dreading the lesson as much as Gracie was looking forward to it. It was going to be all about ballet. Dana had invited her own ballet teacher to visit the class.

  “It’s okay,” said Dana, talking on the phone as she walked into Studio One. “Take your time, drive safely.” She turned to the class. “Apparently there’s a traffic jam, so Madame Dansova will be late. Let’s warm up until she gets here. Spread out and find a spot near the mirror.”

  Amelia Bedelia found a spot near the back of the room. She was warm already, probably too warm for a place near the mirror.

  “You call her Madame Dansova. Is she French?” asked Willow.

  “No,” said Dana. “She’s Russian.”

  “But you told her not to hurry,” said Amelia Bedelia.

  “She is Russian because she’s from Russia,” said Dana.

  “No wonder she’s late,” said Amelia Bedelia. “Russia is really far away from here.”

  “Oh, she lives in this country now,” said Dana. “And she’ll be here any minute.”

  “Is she half French?” asked Willow. “My mom is.”

  “No, Madame Dansova is completely Russian,” said Dana.

  “We can wait,” said Amelia Bedelia.

  Dana looked puzzled. “Thank you, Amelia Bedelia,” she said. “Now, did you k
now that many of the terms we use to describe steps in ballet are French?”

  “Why French?” asked Alexandra.

  Gracie raised her hand.

  “Gracie?” said Dana.

  “King Louis XIV of France loved ballet so much that he started the first ballet school,” said Gracie. “Since many of the steps were created at that school, they have French names.”

  “Thank you, Gracie,” said Dana. “Madame Dansova was a ballet mistress at a very famous ballet company. We’re lucky to have her.”

  “What does a ballet company make?” asked Brad. “Tutus?”

  Everyone except Gracie and Dana began to laugh.

  “DANCERS!”

  They all turned to the doorway. The laughter ceased.

  “Madame Dansova,” said Dana, rushing to the door. “How wonderful to see you!” The ballet mistress wore a fur hat and muffler, even though it was fairly warm outside.

  “A great ballet company makes one thing only,” said Madame Dansova. “It makes great dancers. Dancers who move with such grace and style that you cannot take your eyes off them. You must watch them. They transport you to another world.” She spoke precisely, with a thick Russian accent.

  Amelia Bedelia glanced at Gracie. She seemed to be in a trance, in that other world completely, just from listening to Madame Dansova speak. The spell was broken when Madame Dansova said, “All right, boys and girls, let’s all go to the barre.”