The White Swan

1.3

Natalia

Everything was going exactly how it should be, minimal tiredness of performing every day, beautifully broken in pointe shoes, and most of all, Blake had finally decided to back off. Maybe she got through to him at last. However suspicious the circumstances, Natalia decided she shouldn't be bothering with finding out Blake's weird ways of thinking, she just let it go.

The Myrtha cheography was ingrained in her mind, she could probably dance the variation in her sleep, knowing this, she felt more secure in the other variations she was learning. The next ballet  she would be performing in would be La Bayadere, one of her personal favourites. Her coaches wanted her to try and get the role of Nikiya, now she just had to convince the creative director that she was the perfect fit for this specific role.

***

"Nat, you need to feel Nikiya's pain, feel it in every vein and use it! Do it again." Nick said through the music, he signalled the pianist to start over and Natalia quickly ran to the side of the studio, getting ready for her entrance.

She used every bit of feedback she could get and poured her entire soul into it, it was just a rehearsel, but who knows who could be watching, so she complied with every request.

"Act this out a bit more, I know you have a beautiful stage presence, use it please!" Nick shouted over the music. Natalia knew and loved the choreography of Nikiya's Death, the piece they were rehearsing, but it required acting, and she was a dancer after all. The last few seconds, just before Nikiya actually died, Nick signalled to the piano player to stop, "That's enough for today. Practice your facial expressions, I'll see you tomorrow." With that, Nick ended their session for today.

Zachary

"The upcoming piece won't be entirely yours, we owed another principal a favour and he called it in for this one. But, he already warned us he had to go home for a bit about half way through all the shows, so all of the last ones will be yours, if you'll take them." The creative director, Dave, said to Zach. Zach knew that he shouldn't expect to get all the leads when he just joined the company, and he was fine with it. Taking the backseat for a while and allowing his body to heal from the strain he put it under would only be a good thing.

So he easily complied, "Yeah of course I'll take them, is the rest of the casting ready?".

"Yes and no," Dave let out a short laugh, "our Solor will be Blake, and he requested a soloist as his Nikiya, we'll have to see if we'll actually cast her but I've heard some good stories from Nick, one of her coaches."

Zach thought about it, a requested ballerina that he would be 'taking over' when Blake left could only be trouble. Blake probably wanted her because he liked how they danced together, but a soloist is probably inexperienced and maybe Zach and her wouldn't look good together. "I don't know if I like the idea of dancing with Blake's partner, I'll have to see if we're a good fit."

But at this Dave let out a shuckle, "Zach, I promise you, she is a good fit for every dancer here. Maybe she's still in rehearsel, we can go and look if you'd like?". He seemed awfully sure of himself, and Zach's curiosity got the best of him, he had to know what Dave meant by that.

They got up and started to walk through the halls, most people looking at him strangely because they hadn't seen him there before, recognisal was sure on their faces, making Zach just a bit uncomfortable. They knew who he was, but had they heard the good stories, or the bad one's?

He was so lost in his thoughts he almost didn't notice when Dave stopped, they opened the studio door quietly so that nobody would notice they had entered. The girl was dancing the last few minutes of Nikiya's death, and Zach understood almost immediately, she was very beautiful, not very surprising for a ballerina, but still. Her body moved almost perfectly to the music, it was evident she knew the choreography very well but wasn't fully accustomed to it yet.

Dave pointed out Nick and spoke in a whisper, "That right there is Nick, and the girl is Natalia. They're rehearsing this piece for the third time, can you believe it? She's almost perfect."

The 'almost' part was barely noticeable but Nick was going very hard on her, constantly shouting corrections over the music, when the variation ended he didn't look happy and almost immediately dismissed Natalia. She had a defeated look on her face and turned away from him to get her stuff, they hadn't noticed us yet but Dave walked to Nick, but Zach wasn't paying attention, he only had eyes for Natalia, who seemed on the verge of tears at the moment.

As soon as she felt their presence she turned around and wiped her hands over her face, could have been just sweat from dancing but Zach was almost positive they were tears. When she faced them again she had a pretty smile on her face, her confidence was evident as she approached them.