the ballet love story

rehearsals

"5, 6, 7, 8." The music starts and Erika and Brandon walk to each other gracefully from two different sides of the dance studio. The Nutcracker had its opening night this Friday. It was only two days away. Once, the couple reached each other on the dance floor Brandon and Erika did a little graceful lift. The dance continues on and eventually they get to the hardest sequence in the dance. Erika has to pull off 60 really fast pirouettes while being spun by Brandon. Yes, she is a very talented dancer but 55 pirouettes is usually her limit and pulling off 5 more isn't an easy task. She's been somewhat managing to pull all 60 off but usually ends up needing Brandon to help her finish. She's been spending extra time practicing and Brandon's been helping her and she seems to be managing the challenging task. Anyways. They sort of get through the pirouette sequence and Brandon now has to hold Erika in an arabesque for 5 seconds. Erika hates this part because her legs feel like over cooked pasta and her toes are in excruciating pain and Brandon hates this part because he feels bad for Erika. The couple eventually gets through the hard part of their dance and continues on. They get to the part where they ballet run around the dance floor/stage and then do some very complex lifts. Brandon has to lift Erika up against his head and sheune across the stage. While this lift is very hard for Brandon it is also quite challenging for Erika. She has to act like if she doesn't hold herself up correctly or if Brandon makes one wrong step she won't come crashing down and get seriously injured. They yet again pull the lift off and get to their ending pose which also isn't the funnest. Erika has to hold a sous - sus on pointe while relying on Brandon to keep her steady while he's also holding a sous - sus (obviously not on pointe). When they get off of the stage Brandon lifts Erika up while she's doing a split leap and they walk off the side of the stage like that. They end up running the dance two or three more times before they get a little break. Rehearsals are certainly exhausting but they aren't as bad as they seem. You get to do what you love and be with the people that you love. Plus, you get paid for it! It's honestly a win, if I do say so myself. Before too long Branon and Erika's break ends and it's time for the Waltz of the Snowflakes rehearsals. Erika and Brandon don't have very much choreography or stage time but for the little that they do have is a lot. Erika has to pull off challenging leaps and complex turns. Brandon also has to pull off challenging leaps and complex turns. They aren't too worried about it though. These rehearsals go by really fast and are over.

Over the couple of months of dating Erika and Brandon have moved into Brandon's apartment together. They both thought that it would be nice to live together especially because they end up crashing at one of the other's anyways. Erika left her apartment. They didn't stay there because it was a great deal smaller than Brandon's. And also, because Brandon's apartment was a decent size they were able to practice their dances a bit which was nice. So, per usual Brandon and Erika walked out of the San Francisco Ballet School hand in hand and drove off to their apartment for a peaceful and restful night of sleep.

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❤️🩰