Dancing Solo Read online

  With a sigh, Sarah rolled over and grabbed her cell phone off her bedside table. She ran through the list of dancers’ phone numbers. Then she took a deep breath and pressed call.

  CHAPTER 6

  ASKING FOR HELP

  Sarah pulled at her comforter on her bed nervously as she listened to the phone ring. Maybe she’d get lucky and Mandy wouldn’t answer. Maybe she was busy. Maybe she was still asleep.

  Just then, the ringing stopped. “Hello?” Mandy answered.

  Sarah cleared her throat and swallowed hard. “Um, hi, Mandy,” she said. “It’s Sarah.”

  Mandy didn’t say anything for a long moment. Sarah had a sudden urge to hang up, but she made herself go on.

  “So, um, I was just practicing the pirouette in my room,” she said.

  “Oh, yeah?” Mandy replied. She sounded a little suspicious.

  Sarah cleared her throat again. “Yeah,” she said. “It’s not going very well. In fact, I almost twisted my ankle.” She laughed nervously.

  “Are you okay?” Mandy asked.

  “Yes,” Sarah said. “It’s just . . . for some reason, I can’t quite get this step.” The words were hard to say.

  “I know,” Mandy replied. “That’s why I offered to help. But you said no.”

  Sarah felt her face get hot with embarrassment. All she wanted to do was hang up the phone and forget this conversation had ever happened.

  “Yeah, um, I remember,” Sarah admitted quietly. “I’m really sorry. I need your help, okay?”

  There. She’d said it. The words echoed in her ear. Sarah wondered what she would do if Mandy refused.

  “So, why now?” Mandy asked, sounding a little mad. “I mean, you didn’t want me to help you yesterday. Now you want my help just because you almost injured yourself?”

  “No, that’s not it at all!” Sarah insisted. “Well, maybe it’s part of the reason. But it’s not the whole reason.”

  She tried to explain. “I’ve just always been able to do things on my own when it comes to dancing,” Sarah said. “It’s kind of hard for me to ask for help. But I can see that I need it.”

  Sarah took a deep breath. “And I’m sorry for turning you down before,” she finished. “Really. It was dumb of me.”

  There was a long silence. Then Mandy sighed. “All right. I get what you’re saying,” she said. “Meet me in the studio in a couple hours, okay? Ms. Rousseau said it would be open if anyone wanted to practice.”

  “Okay, great!” Sarah said. “I’ll see you there. And thank you!”

  Mandy didn’t seem to know what to say. “Um, you’re welcome,” she finally replied before hanging up.

  Sarah bounced up from her bed and grabbed her towel for the shower. She didn’t feel tired anymore. In fact, she felt more ready than ever to tackle the pirouette.

  CHAPTER 7

  MASTERING THE MOVE

  Mandy was already at the studio when Sarah arrived.

  “Hi,” Sarah said, a little hesitantly, as she put down her bag. She still wasn’t at all sure how Mandy felt about her.

  But to her relief, Mandy turned toward her with a smile. “Hi,” she said.

  “It’s really nice of you to meet me —” Sarah started to say, but Mandy waved away her words.

  “Seriously, it’s no big deal, okay?” she replied. Mandy paused, then grinned. “Do you always worry this much?”

  Sarah laughed, a little surprised, and nodded. “Yeah, I do. I guess it must be sort of obvious,” she said.

  Mandy smiled. “Sort of,” she agreed. “Anyway, should we get started?” She moved to the center of the room.

  Sarah followed. It felt a little weird to have Mandy teaching her. But Sarah didn’t care anymore. Mandy seemed pretty nice, and it wasn’t exactly like Sarah was doing so great on her own.

  Sarah did a few warm-up moves, then turned to Mandy. “So, it’s the pirouettes that are just killing me,” she said. “You probably already know that.”

  Mandy nodded. “Yeah, I noticed that the other day. Your jetés are fantastic, by the way,” she told Sarah.

  Sarah smiled. “Thanks,” she said. “But I’m not going to be the Spring Fairy just by doing jetés. Not if I can’t do the pirouette too.”

  “True,” Mandy agreed. “Do you want to try to do one? Maybe I’ll be able to spot the problem.”

  “Sure,” Sarah agreed with a nod. She did a few waltz steps to get herself into the rhythm, then tried to draw herself into the pirouette. As usual, she managed to get her leg off the ground, but as soon as she started to turn, she lost her balance.

  She turned to face Mandy, a little embarrassed.

  But Mandy wasn’t laughing. Instead, she nodded seriously. “It’s basically what I thought the other day,” she said. “You’re not tracking with your eyes.”

  “Tracking?” Sarah repeated, looking confused.

  “Yeah,” Mandy replied. “It’s when you fix your eyes on one spot while twirling. Every time you come around, look back at that same spot. Here, I’ll show you.”

  Mandy did a few waltz steps, then lightly stepped into a pirouette. As she began to spin, she whipped her head around so that her eyes kept facing forward throughout the pirouette.

  Sarah watched her closely as she twirled. Mandy’s form wasn’t perfect, but her standing leg was completely solid.

  “There,” Mandy said. She stopped, a little out of breath. “I always turn my head and keep my eyes on the exit sign. You have to pick a specific place before you start spinning. Then don’t take your eyes off it.”

  “You make it seem so simple,” Sarah said. “I’ve been torturing myself over this.”

  Mandy shrugged. “You just needed some help. You’re a great dancer,” she said. “But you can’t do the turn without balance.”

  “That’s for sure,” Sarah said, nodding. “Okay, let me try.”

  Sarah stood with one leg extended behind her, the toe delicately touching the floor. She held her arms out in a circle in front of her and glanced around the room, looking for something to focus on. She picked the clock and fixed her eyes on it.

  Ignoring the nervous flutter in her stomach, Sarah drew her back leg up and kept her eyes on the clock. Then she used the force of her arms to whirl in a circle.

  One turn, there was the clock, then two, she saw the clock again. As Sarah came around the second time, she put her foot down and grinned at Mandy.

  “That was awesome!” Mandy cheered.

  Sarah had a huge grin on her face. “That’s two more turns than I’ve ever done on my own,” she said. “I owe you big time!”

  “It looked really good,” Mandy said. “You didn’t wobble at all. Try it again!”

  Sarah got back into position and focused on the clock again. Then she lifted herself onto one toe and began to spin. This time she made it through three turns.

  Sarah practiced again and again. Finally, she collapsed on the floor, exhausted. Mandy flopped down beside her.

  “I think I’ve got it. It’s not great, but at least I can complete three turns and not fall,” Sarah said. “It might not be good enough to get me the Spring Fairy, but at least I can get through the audition without embarrassing myself.”

  “You’re being too hard on yourself,” Mandy said. “It looks good.”

  Sarah turned to look at the other girl. “Thank you,” she said, clearing her throat. “Seriously. You didn’t have to help me, but you did it anyway.” Sarah paused, then went on. “This has been fun.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” Mandy told her. “It’s been fun for me too.”

  As they gathered up their things and turned out the lights, Sarah smiled. She’d done more than learn how to do a pirouette today. She’d made a new friend too.

  CHAPTER 8

  AUDITION TIME

  A few days later, Sara
h stood next to Mandy at the recital auditions. Mandy was biting her nails nervously as they watched together from the side of the studio.

  In the center of the room, Alex was performing her routine. Ms. Rousseau sat in a chair near the front of the room, watching the auditions closely.

  “Are you nervous?” Sarah whispered to her new friend.

  Mandy nodded in reply. Sarah reached over and squeezed her hand in encouragement.

  “You’ll do great,” Sarah said. “Just take deep breaths, and stay calm. Getting nervous isn’t going to help anything.”

  “Right,” Mandy replied. Her voice sounded shaky.

  Just then, Ms. Rousseau called, “Mandy Evans, you’re up!”

  “Good luck!” Sarah whispered as Mandy made her way to the center of the room.

  Mandy turned around and smiled. “Thanks,” she whispered back.

  When Mandy reached the center of the room, she nodded to Ms. Rousseau. The music started, and she began her routine with a series of pliés.

  In what seemed like seconds, Mandy was finished. She walked back over to Sarah.

  “My timing was off,” Mandy complained, shaking her head.

  “But your jetés were really high,” Sarah replied. “Ms. Rousseau is going to love that.”

  Just then, Ms. Rousseau called, “Sarah, you’re up next.”

  Mandy smiled at her. “Your turn,” she said. “Don’t forget to track. You’re going to be awesome.”

  Sarah took a deep breath and made her way to the center of the room. The polished wood surface looked huge spread out before her. She focused on the corner of the window frame across the studio — that’s what she would track back to.

  “All right, Sarah, whenever you’re ready,” Ms. Rousseau said.

  Sarah nodded, and the music started. She moved first into a gentle plié, then ran in a small circle of waltz steps, keeping her arms held wide. She leaped into her jeté, remembering to turn her head to follow her leading leg, and landed solidly back on the floor.

  So far, so good, Sarah thought.

  She was starting to relax now. She performed a solid arabesque, followed by a second jeté. Sarah felt her heart pound as she positioned herself for the pirouette.

  Sarah glued her eyes to the window frame across the room. Steadying herself, she balanced on one foot and lifted into the pirouette.

  Sarah began to spin, whipping her head back around with each rotation so that she stayed focused on the spot she’d chosen. She spun once, then twice, solidly.

  As Sarah spun for a third time, her eyes darted away from the window frame for a brief moment, and she wobbled slightly. She caught herself a little clumsily but managed not to fall.

  Despite her mistake, Sarah felt calm as the music ended. It hadn’t been a perfect audition, but it hadn’t been a disaster. And she’d managed to make it through the pirouette . . . with a little help.

  Mandy hugged Sarah as she made her way back over to the side of the room. “That was awesome!” she said. “You nailed the pirouette!”

  Sarah smiled back at her new friend. “Thanks to you,” she said. “I couldn’t have done it without you.”

  * * *

  An hour later, the dancers gathered in the hallway as Ms. Rousseau taped a sheet of paper up on the wall. As soon as the list was up, everyone pushed forward to see their parts.

  Sarah’s heart pounded as she ran her finger down the list until she saw her name.

  “Sarah O’Claire, supporting fairy, spring,” she read out loud. “Mandy Evans, supporting fairy, winter.”

  Sarah scrolled back up the list. Alex had landed the role of Spring Fairy.

  Sarah turned to face Mandy. “Well, neither of us got leads,” she said.

  Surprisingly, Sarah realized she wasn’t as upset as she would have thought. “But at least we both made it into the recital,” she said.

  “That’s a good way of looking at it,” Mandy agreed.

  “I probably wouldn’t have landed any role if it hadn’t been for your help,” Sarah said.

  “Does that mean maybe we can rehearse together for the recital?” Mandy asked hopefully.

  Sarah grinned and put her arm around her new friend. “Absolutely,” she said. “Let’s start now.”

  AUTHOR BIO

  Emma Carlson Berne has written more than a dozen books for children and young adults, including teen romance novels, biographies, and history books. She lives in Cincinnati, Ohio, with her husband, Aaron, her son, Henry, and her dog, Holly.

  ILLUSTRATOR BIO

  Katie Wood fell in love with drawing when she was very small. Since graduating from Loughborough University School of Art and Design in 2004, she has been living her dream working as a freelance illustrator. From her studio in Leicester, England, she creates bright and lively illustrations for books and magazines all over the world.

  GLOSSARY

  Annual (AN-yoo-uhl) — happening once every year or over a period of one year

  Audition (aw-DISH-uhn) — a short performance by an actor, singer, musician, or dancer to see whether he or she is suitable for a part in a play, concert, etc.

  Concetrate (KON-suhn-trate) — to focus your thoughts and attention on something

  Recital (ri-SYE-tuhl) — a performance by a single performer or by a small group of musicians or dancers

  Relief (ri-LEEF) — a feeling of freedom from pain or worry

  Routine (roo-TEEN) — a regular way or pattern of doing things

  Studio (STOO-dee-oh) — a room or building in which an artist, photographer, or dancer works

  DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

  Why do you think Sarah was so reluctant to ask for help with her dancing? Talk about some possible reasons.

  Discuss how Sarah and Mandy’s relationship changed from the beginning of this story to the end.

  Do you think Sarah was being a show-off at the start of this story? Talk about your opinion.

  WRITING PROMPTS

  First impressions aren’t always right. Write a paragraph about a time your opinion of someone changed from when you first met them.

  Write about a time in your life that you had to ask for help with something. What was it and who did you ask?

  Pretend that you are Ms. Rousseau. Who would you choose as the Spring Fairy? Write a paragraph about your choice.

  MORE ABOUT BALLET

  ARABESQUE indicates a position of the body where a dancer stands on one leg with the supporting leg and foot either en pointe, demi pointe, or on a flat foot. The back leg may either touch the floor in tendu back or be raised at an angle.

  JETÉ is a ballet jump or leap during which a dancer transfers his or her weight from one foot to the other; the dancer throws one leg to the front, side, or back and holds the other leg in position while landing.

  PLIÉ means “to bend” and is a move done when a dancer smoothly and continuously bends his or her knees. This can be grand-plié, which is a bend to the deepest position, or a demi-plié, in which a dancer bends his or her knees until just below the hips while staying turned out at the joints, keeping the thighs and knees directly above the toes. The goal is to keep the heels on the ground as long as possible.

  PIROUETTE is French for “to turn” and is a move done on one leg, starting with one or both legs in plié. Male ballet dancers typically rise up into relevé while female dancers rise into pointe before turning on one leg.

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  Jake Maddox books are published by Stone Arch Books

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  Copyright © 2014 by Stone Arch Books

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Maddox, Jake, author.

  Dancing solo / by Jake Maddox ; text by Emma Carlson Berne ; illustrated by Katie Wood.

  pages cm. -- (Jake Maddox girl sports stories)

  Summary: Sarah knows that she is the best dancer in her class, and she is eager to show off at the upcoming recital — but when a new move proves unexpectedly difficult and she has to ask for help, her confidence is shaken.

  ISBN 978-1-4342-4142-9 (hardcover)

  ISBN 978-1-4342-7930-9 (pbk.)

  ISBN 978-1-4342-9286-5 (eBook PDF)

  ISBN 978-1-4342-9799-0 (eBook)

  1. Dance--Juvenile fiction. 2. Self-confidence--Juvenile fiction. 3. Helping behavior--Juvenile fiction. 4. Friendship--Juvenile fiction. [1. Ballet dancing--Fiction. 2. Self-confidence--Fiction. 3. Friendship--Fiction.] I. Berne, Emma Carlson, author. II. Wood, Katie, 1981- illustrator. III. Title.

  PZ7.M25643Db 2014 [Fic]--dc23

  2013028667

  Designer: Alison Thiele

  Production Specialist: Charmaine Whitman

  Artistic Elements:

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