(ENG) BTS-Short Stories

1 - École Nuit d'été de ballet

Living in a boarding school is not always as fun as you might imagine. Especially not when that boarding school is also one of the most prestigious ballet schools in the country. That's the kind of school I go to: the "Nuit d'été de ballet". The lessons are exhausting, hard and merciless. But in return, the most talented of us make it to the great stage shows - on the most famous stages in the world. The school is very challenging and demands a lot, but it's worth it to me. Because I feel I was born to dance. However, there is one thing that caught me off balance. This is the story I would like to tell now.

It was September. Outside, the birds were chirping in the gentle late summer wind. The air was perhaps a bit muggy, but it had been for days. The warm afternoon sun shone relentlessly hot through the floor-to-ceiling windows of our ballet studio. Madame Colin paced the dance hall. From a ghetto blaster at the front of the room, a piano chime sounded. "Synthia, more tension! Annalies, the hand! Sabrin..." I held onto the bar in front of me, trying to ignore the fact that my teacher stopped right behind me, following every little movement with her meticulous stare. "...That's good, keep practicing.", she made her judgment and step to the next student.

We had already been practicing for two hours and soon it was the end of class. Everyone was sweating and panting with exertion. However, this left Madame Colin completely cold. Secretly we called her >>the ice queen<< even behind her back. "Philipe, what's that? Stretch your back!" I turned my head to the right and sought Annalies' gaze. She raised her eyebrows in exhaustion and stuck her tongue out for a moment. Then everyone turned back to their own exercises and routines.

When Madame Colin finally proclaimed the class over, everyone hurried to their bags on the wall and then out the door. Only Annalies and I were in no hurry and were always some of the last to leave the gym. I put my towel on the back of my neck and reached for my water bottle. Annalies - I often just called her Anna - put a hand on my shoulder. "I'll see you later?" I nodded and she ran off to her next class.

Anna and I were roommates. At first we were relatively neutral towards each other, but when I lied for her after she stole out one night, she began to trust me and we slowly started to build a friendship.

I had been living and training here for 10 years now. My parents lived in another state and earned their livelihood as doctors. This was the only way they could finance my education accordingly. Because this school was so exclusive that not everyone was accepted here and the accommodation was also extremely expensive. For this reason, I also took the privilege of being here very seriously. I never made trouble, behaved disciplined and always gave 200%. My motivation was, for me, as well as for many others here, to one day dance in the really big shows - in the best case, to get a leading role. "Sabrin...", Madame Colin's voice echoed through the hall and I turned to face her. After coming a little closer, she cleared her throat briefly. "That was good work today. But don't rest on your laurels. If you keep practicing hard, I might suggest you as the lead in our next project. So keep at it." I nodded and she gave me her rare smile.

After the last lesson, Annalies and I found ourselves in our room to take a shower and get ready for lunch in the cafeteria. I had just finished when the gong sounded outside in the hallway. The gong was the sign that an announcement would be made. Everyone, without exception, had to be in the hallway to listen to this announcement. Usually this didn't happen very often, so Anna and I only gave each other a questioning look before we stepped in front of the room door.

In the hallway our supervisor Ms. Lanning was already waiting. She was something like a keeper who made sure that everything was civilized and disciplined. Each class area had its own corridor - this one was under her care. She was also the one you could come to if you had a problem or something was bothering you. Ms. Lanning checked to make sure we were all present and then sent a "Go" through her iPad to the speaker station. Shortly thereafter, the voice of Ms. Bernhard, the secretary, rang out through the speakers on the wall.

"Good evening dear students. Madame Colin has an important announcement to make for the Juliets class. Class Juliets, please find yourselves in Studio A7 immediately."

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that the school named its classes after role names from famous ballet plays. Anna and I found ourselves in the Juliets' class. The speakers went silent and I turned to Anna excitedly, "What do you think she wants?" She shrugged her shoulders, perplexed. "I haven't a clue." In the hallway, the grouping began. A few girls from our class joined us at our room door and together we made our way to Studio A7.

MadameColin was already waiting for us. She was leaning against the bar and seemedsomehow ... more restless than usual. She ran her hands several times over herskirts and the bar. Then she detached herself and took a few steps toward us."Juliets, nice to see you all assembled. May I have your attention,please?" Instantly, any excited chatter fell silent and the class followedour teacher, entranced. Madame Colin looked briefly at the floor before fixingeach of us in turn with a steady gaze.

"The director called me earlier to see her. She was contacted by Big Hit Music." Excited looks among the students followed. Madame Colin continued undeterred. " Rector Dumont asked me to teach a class about this, and I had your class in mind." She paused for more suspense before continuing. "Here's the scoop: Big Hit is planning a music project with one of their bands that they want to cast a ballet dancer from our school for." Her eyes locked on me and held me. I got the feeling that she was now just talking mostly to me. "Big Hit is sending a jury to our school in a week to select a student. Anyone who wants to take the chance can sign up for the auditions on the list on the bulletin board. Auditions will be held in this room from 9 am - 1pm. Practice an individual choreography. Let your personality come through in the choreo." I gasped. Could it really be? It would be the first chance to participate anywhere. My heart sped up with glee. "Big Hits project consists of shooting a duet for a music video. In return, we get to perform that duet on stage." Quiet whispers around me slowly swelled. Madame Colin clapped her hands once and nodded at us. "I wish all those taking part in the auditions..." she looked me piercingly in the eyes once more " great success. And now alors, vite vite! The food is getting cold."