Chapter 1

Sharvona fiddled anxiously with the strap of her ballet bag, this was her first day of the six week summer school at the prestigious Shelham Ballet Academy. Megan who had also been invited gave her arm an encouraging squeeze. She felt scared herself, who knew what the girls in the class would be like?

The two friends walked into the large hallway, everywhere they looked there were girls milling around. Everyone seemed to know where they were going. Sharvona groaned inwardly, wasn’t anyone going to show them where to go? At that moment a young woman with wavy blond hair hurried up to them. Her pearl drop earrings jangled noisily and bracelets tinkled on her wrists. She carried a clip-board and seemed to be in a hurry.

“Ah you must be Sharvona and Megan my name is Madame Lilian.  I am going to be your teacher for the six weeks summer school. We are all very pleased to have you here with us, would you please step this way?”

So saying she turned on her heel and set off at a brisk pace along the corridor. Megan and Sharvona had to almost run to keep up with her. On the way to the practise room Sharvona was able to quickly glance at the other classes. They all seemed so confident and graceful as they posed in leotards or adjusted their hair pieces in the full length mirrors. Megan saw her looking and gave a smile.

“Don’t worry about them Sharvona, you have just as much right to be here as they do. You worked really hard to win the gala you know”.

Just then Madame Lilian stopped outside one of the doors. She pushed it open and beckoned for the two girls to follow her. Megan and Sharvona stepped into the room. A dozen or so girls were dressing in pale peach leotards; the ones who were already dressed were practising at the barre or chatting in small groups. Sharvona hurried over to a spare peg, hung up her kit and began to get ready.  When they were both ready Megan and Sharvona did each other’s hair. First they tied it into a pony tail, and then they fanned the hair out and put a hair bun ring over it. Sharvona pinned back a stray curl so that it would not hang down in front of her face.

Once everyone was ready Madam Lilian clapped her hands for silence.

“Girls today we are going to be having two visitors in our class” she motioned for Sharvona and Megan to stand up. “As you all know Sharvona won the gala competition and the first prize was a six week summer school with a friend of your choice.  I hope that everyone here will do their utmost to make them both feel welcome. Anyway enough with the introductions everyone line up at the barre and let us see how much you have been practising at home”.

The pianist warmed up by playing a few octaves on the piano while the girls rushed around to find spaces at the barre. While the girls bent and stretched, Madam Lilian walked around giving orders. She came to where Megan and Sharvona were standing and smiled.

“That’s good Megan but try to produce a more graceful curve with your arm. Remember that ballet dancers don’t have elbows.”

“Sharvona lovely piles try to keep your back a bit straighter, yes that’s it I believe you have got the hang of it now”.

“All right girls that’s enough barre exercises for one morning. Come into the centre of the room and we will work on our centre exercises”.

Once all the girls were assembled in the middle of the room and had spread out in rows, Madame Lilian gave instructions for the exercise.

“We are going to look at the first position, which is the foundation learning point for all ballet dancers. You must have this mastered before anything else is attempted. That’s very good girls , remember your feet must be turned out 90 degrees and your backs should be straight. Keep your chin up and you will find that your back stays straight without you noticing it. Now I want you to perform the eight ballet positions for me and then we will work on our jumps and pirouettes”.

At the end of the 10 minutes Madame Lilian again clapped her hands for silence.

“Well done girls, that was marvellous. Let’s see if your pirouettes and jumps are just as good shall we?”

Sharvona took a deep breath and tried to relax her muscles . She knew that tensing up was not good for ballet dancers. It made you tense and awkward in your dancing. She raised her right foot and twirled in the same direction as the other dancers. When the lesson finally ended Megan and Sharvona hurried over to sit down and have a drink.

“You’re really good Sharvona”, said a voice from behind her.

Sharvona looked around and saw a medium height girl with curly brown hair and hundreds of freckles. She seemed to be very friendly and Sharvona smiled up at her.

“Thanks, I just practise that’s all I’m not sure if I’m really talented”

“Well you must be, winning first prize in the gala performance is no easy matter and everyone knows how hard it is to get accepted into the Shelham dance academy”.

“That’s right Katherine”, called her friend who had just come over.

“Hi, I’m Stella you must be Megan and Sharvona”.

“Yeah Sharvona’s the prima donna round here! I’m just the tagger-on”, laughed Megan.

Sharvona gave her a playful punch on the arm.

“Idiot, Megan’s here because she’s my best friend and the prize was for two people so she was the obvious candidate.