Breaking Pointe (7 page)

The Silver Shoes girls were huddled next to the stage door; Jasmine in her sparkling white tutu, me in my red, and then all the other girls in their blue and white dresses.

‘I wish I hadn't eaten so many snakes!' Paige whispered to me, clutching her stomach.

I smiled at her but didn't say anything. I knew she'd be all right, she was a good dancer – I'd never seen her mess up. Plus I was in my
dancing zone. I just wanted to focus on what I was about to do.

After all, I still had one last thing to prove.

Winning the basketball grand final would be no good if it meant that I wasn't concentrating and messed up the dance.

The door opened and the backstage manager nodded us through to the side of the stage.

We were next.

‘Okay, girls, quietly now,' said Ms McGlone, ushering us along. We tiptoed through as silently as ice melting. For a moment we could have been icebergs bobbing along in a black sea.

Except for me, in my red. I looked down at myself and I suddenly really liked that my costume was different from the other girls'. It made me feel strong, and powerful, but in a weird, gentle way. Like the Fire Maiden must feel.

We stood and watched the performance before us through the gaps in the curtains.

‘How are you going, Riley?'

I looked to my right where Ms McGlone was standing, watching the group on stage. ‘Tut tut tut.' She shook her head. ‘Sickled feet.'

‘I'm doing fine, Ms McGlone,' I said. ‘Ready to dance.'

Ms McGlone spared me a small smile. ‘I know you are,' she whispered. ‘There's a reason why you're the Fire Maiden.' She touched me on the arm lightly and then shuffled through the Silver Shoes girls. ‘Eliza!' she hissed. ‘Your crown is crooked!'

The group before us finished and the curtains swooshed closed. I love when they do that. It means that something special is about to happen.

No sooner had the girls run off than Ms McGlone ushered Silver Shoes on, and
guided Jasmine over to the other side of the stage. Both of us started off in the wings.

I watched as Ms McGlone arranged the girls to within an inch of their lives. Not one finger was out of place. Paige risked me a quick glance, but Ms McGlone caught it and turned her face around.

The way she did it wasn't mean, though. It was quite affectionate, and I saw how much this dance and Silver Shoes meant to Ms McGlone. I stood straighter and wanted more than anything to make her proud.

Across the stage I could see Jasmine standing straighter as well, preparing herself for our big entrance. She saw me looking and smiled. Not a nasty Jasmine smile, but a friendly one, and it said ‘good luck' and ‘we're about to do something amazing'. It was a smile that said she loved being here as much as I did.

I was glad that I was dancing against her. I knew we would raise each other up on stage.

The bell rang. Ms McGlone blew us all a kiss and hurried off. The curtains swooshed back open, and there were the Silver Shoes icicles, frozen in sadness.

The music began. I watched from between my two curtains, in the darkness offstage. I felt that I was right where I needed to be.

My mind felt clear, my legs felt strong, and my heart was full of this wonderful dance I was about to perform.

It had been a hard couple of weeks. But I'd made the right choice. And it didn't matter if Silver Shoes came first or last in the ballet eisteddfod, because I felt like I'd won either way.

And with that thought in my head, I drew myself up, and the Fire Maiden stepped out onto the stage.

Full name:
Riley Oliana Nason

Nickname:
Riles

Age:
10

Favourite dance style:
Ballet

Best friend:
Ashley

Family:
Nana (Mum), Tata (Dad), Bubu Yalewa (grandmother); three older brothers: Fergus, Aidan and Heath; baby sister, Del

Favourite colour:
Red

Favourite food:
Babakau, mangoes, papaya

Favourite school subject:
Maths, PE

Hobbies:
Dancing, athletics, basketball, watching sport on television, cooking with Nana, swimming, surfing

What I want to be when I grow up:
Not sure. An athlete or a dancer!

Best dancing moment:
Earning my pointe shoes

Things I love:
Dancing, sport, when Fergus takes me to watch national basketball and rugby games, the Olympics, when our relatives visit from Fiji, going to Fiji, Fijian festivals (especially the Hibiscus Festival – once I was crowned the Hibiscus Princess!), swimming, surfing, Nana's cooking

A
fouetté
is a turn that requires a strong whipping motion. In it, the working leg is extended and pulled around to the side and then bent until the foot touches the supporting knee while, at the same time, the heel of the supporting foot is raised. Follow the movements in the illustrations below, to perform a
fouetté
with momentum and control.

Tips

• Practise standing in
  passé en relevé
  at the bar. In this position, hold your body core tight and try to keep your hips down.
  
• When turning, remember to spot. This will help your balance and allow you to do multiple
  fouettés
  in a row.
  

Hello everyone, here is a list of some of the terms you'll find inside. Don't worry if you can't pronounce them. When I first started ballet I had trouble matching the written names to the spoken steps! Most of these names are French. Although a ballerina may look effortless when she performs these steps on stage, they take years and years of repetition and practice to get perfect – trust me, I know!

Love, Riley

 

allegro
(ah-leh-groh)
jumps that are performed to a sharp and fast tempo

 

barre
(bar)
a bar at waist level used for support during warm-up exercises

 

chassé
(shah-say)
to glide smoothly, to the back, side or front

 

entrechat
(ahn-truh-shah)
to jump in the air from two feet, beat your legs together in the air and land on either one or two feet

 

fondu
(fohn-doo)
this means ‘to melt' – to stand on one foot while bending one and extending the other at the same time

 

fouetté
(fweh-tay)
to stand on one leg and to change direction of your hip and body while keeping your leg in the same place

 

jeté passé
(zjeh-tay pah-say)
a jump ending with one leg to the back

 

pas de basque
(pah duh bask)
a ballet step in three beats, with a circular/sweeping movement of your right leg on the second beat

 

pas de chat
(pah duh shah)
a move that's just like a cat stepping – both feet are off the ground when you jump from one foot to the other

 

pas de ciseaux
(pah duh see-zoh)
a ‘scissor' jump – when you are in the air, your legs pass each other and you land on one leg

 

passé en relevé
(pah-say uhn rehl-leh-vay)
when your standing leg is on demi pointe while your working leg points to the side and folds so that your knees touch together

 

penché
(pahn-shay)
a move where one leg is pushed backwards while your other is in standing position and you lean forward

 

pirouette
(pee-ru-whet)
a turn performed on one foot, on the spot

 

plié
(plee-yay)
to bend your knees. A
grande plié
is when you bend your knees fully and your body is lowered to the floor

 

pointe
(pwant)
the tips of your toes

 

promenade
(prohm-nahd)
a walk

 

relevé
(rehl-leh-vay)
to rise from your foot to your demi-pointe (the ball/toes)

 

sissonne
(see-sohn)
to jump from two feet onto one; this can be in a closed, open, forward, backward, sideways, over or under position

 

spot
to fix your gaze on one point as you turn so you can maintain balance and direction

 

turn-out
a move where you rotate sideways from your hips/thighs, with heels together and toes out. It allows greater freedom of movement and is the base for jumps and spins