Chapter 6

“Did you know that apparently football helps with ballet?”

“Really, I never knew that”

“I think it is because you are using your legs and making them stronger. So in your case you will have pretty good balance in football because you do ballet”.

“So what will we be doing?” asked Sharvona as she laced up her trainers.

“We normally start with a brief lap of the gym and then we get into groups to practise skills. You can be in my group today and I’ll show you what to do.”

Sharvona was a very quick learner and was soon almost as good as Megan.  Megan divided the groups into 10 players and an enthusiastic ten-aside match began. Sharvona felt very nervous when she saw just how quick the other players were. She tried hard to concentrate as the ball was passed to her; she dribbled it down the centre court and gave a neat pass to Megan. Megan kicked the ball to Anna who was tackled by an opposing player. Anna held her ground and the ball shot straight pass the surprised goal keeper.

“Way to go Anna that was great!” exclaimed Megan clapping her on the back. She turned to Sharvona, “you were good too, considering it’s your first time playing”.

Later Megan and Sharvona were sitting in their form class.  Sharvona pulled out her science book and set it on the table.

“Don’t tell me you never did your homework”

“What homework?” asked Sharvona looking puzzled.

Megan sighed and opened Sharvona’s  book . “These sheets remember, you had to do the quiz and answer the questions. You know what Miss is like , you’ll be in big trouble if you have only done half. I’ll tell you what , I’ll help you with the homework seeing as I’ve already done mine”.

Megan pulled out her own exercise book and proceeded to explain the work to Sharvona. After a few minutes she let Sharvona complete the work on her own.

“You’re so good at science Sharvy , I can’t understand why you don’t try to do all your homework”

“You know why , I have ballet practise almost every day after school. I try to get some done but I’m just too tired in the evenings”.

“Will there ever be a time when the school work clashes with ballet?”

“I hope not because I’ll have to choose between one and the other”

“Well in that case you’d better choose school work. At least you know that it’s definite in a way”.

The rest of the class came clattering in , Sharvona put away her science book and stared out of the window. She knew that Megan was right , ballet was causing a problem but she wanted to a Prima Ballerina and make her mum and dad proud of her. She would just need to really work hard to ensure that she could stay on top of all her school work. She sighed and tried to think of a way to overcome the mountain of troubles that seemed to have emerged from thin air.

2 hours later Sharvona was in the ballet room. Madam Tarknova was sitting by the piano playing a soft scale over and over again. She looked up when Sharvona came in.

“Ah Sharvona , you are here at last. I have decided what dance you are doing for the gala , it will be the dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy ; not to hard I believe and an excellent way to showcase your talents. You will have most probably heard this piece of music before”.

She switched on her laptop and placed a CD into the drive. Sharvona sat entranced as the first few bars of music played and the Sugar Plum Fairy danced gracefully across the stage in a tutu of candy coloured pink embellished with silver stars.

“I wish I could dance like that”, sighed Sharvona when the video was finished. Her teacher looked at her seriously.

“Sharvona people don’t become good dancers because they are brilliant at dancing, yes you need a good technique but you also need to trust yourself and have some confidence in yourself. Sometimes not having enough confidence can be just as bad as having too much”, she smiled.

Sharvona walked over to her ballet bag and pulled out her shoes. She looked at them closely, they had been earned through hard work and determination and there was no way she was going to lose the privilege of wearing them. She considered it a great honour to be chosen to dance in the gala; there were probably girls nationwide if not internationally who would love to be in her position.

She placed on arm on the barre and executed a perfect battement de tendu with her toe pointed at the correct angle. She practised her attitudes and pirouette positions before moving to the middle of the room for centre practise.

“Sharvona, I want you to try and perform as much of the dance as you can remember, the movements are not as complicated as they seem; they are all ones that you know but I will teach you the other parts later”.

Sharvona adjusted her shoes and waited for the music to begin. She tried to think of herself as a fairy, light and airy. Her light feeling spread throughout her and she felt as though she were dancing on air. She hardly noticed when the music stopped and she had to do a very hasty curtsy.

“Well done Sharvona, I can see that you really lost yourself in the music and danced to the best of your ability. I am very proud of you even though you haven’t already performed in the gala. Speaking of which, I must tell you that the gala is in 2 weeks’ time on the 18th of July. I’ll give you more information nearer the time but for now just keep practising, yes?”

“Yes Madame Tarknova”

“Good, I’ll see you on Saturday then”.