Red Ribbon

Rehearsal

"OK. EVERYONE GET YOUR POINTE SHOES ON! AND TASHA, LEAVE YOUR WARM-UPS ON. WE DON'T WANT YOU PULLING A MUSCLE." Ms. Julie screamed over the banging of pointe shoes against the ground.

New pointe shoes. Hard, torturous boxes getting ready to shred your feet. Great. But, I shouldn't be complaining, I mean, I chose to be a dancer, and dancers have to have strong feet if they're going to make it in this business. I can still complain though. Also a part of being a dancer. Complaining 24/7. My parents must love me.

"ALRIGHT! LET'S START WITH TASHA'S SOLO."

Clenching from the pain, I run to my spot in the upstage right corner and prepare. The music starts.

Waltz and a waltz and a tondu prepare. Fouette, fouette, double piroutte land. And I'm off. Into my own world of dancing. Imagining a full house, lights, cameras, every dancer's dream. People enjoying your dancing, really connecting with the story. Being able to present a story to people is one of the joys of being a dancer. And the music ends. Damnit. I wish it never ended.

"Great job! Make sure to make eye contact with the judges. And keep a smile. Also, extend each movement, breathe, and turn out at every moment. Alright, we'll run it as much as we can and then the group parts. Get a drink and let's do this. "

I love her as my teacher. Positive but strict.

We run it infinity times more and after a billion corrections, I'm done for the long day of rehearsal and ballet class. Tomorrow is YAGP and I'm freaking out. I'm ready, but nervous. Every possible senerio is flowing through my head. Ugh, this could either be a disaster or success. I guess we'll find out tomorrow.

"TASHA!! Hey! How's your solo?" Yells Tiffany. She's also competing at YAGP.

"It's good! How's yours?"

"Horrible. Ms. Rose gave me the hardest choreography I can't even do half of it! Tomorrow is going to suck."

"Well, I'm sure you're going to do great!" and I left it at that. Tiffany isn't the best dancer, but nobody says anything even though we all know it.

Her choreography is easier than mine but insists its harder. She always has to be right.

I step into my yellow Bug and drive to my apartment. I live in Nevada and the apartments are pretty cheep so I don't have a roommate. My studio is about 10 minutes away from my apartment so I'm happy I can get home quick, shower, and get in bed.

I'm finally home and I immediately jump in the shower. As I'm showering, I can't help but realize that if I do well tomorrow, I could go to New York. Scary but exciting. So many emotions running in my mind I think I might vomit.

I'm finally done getting all 5 gallons of hairspray out of my hair and the sweat off my skin and I shut off the water. I grab my turquoise towel and dry off. Man, I love showers. Only because I get to feel clean again.

I slip into my grey sweats and a baggy t-shirt and jump into bed. Ahhhh. Time to relax until tomorrow. Tomorrow. YAGP. The day I can finally prove that I'm a good dancer. And I really want this.

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Hey everyone! I know this chapter is extremely short but I don't want to spend too much time on this part. The book isn't really about preparing for YAGP so later chapters will be longer with more detail. I hope You guys like it!

Oh! And updates will most likely be Friday but I might update during the week.

Thanks guys!

- Ry