Off Pointe

The Auditions

On Point

Good Luck!

By Rena Rouge

A massive good luck to the dancers taking part in the Agreste auditions today. Remember belief will be your first step to success.

*****

Lyall Watson once wrote 'Dancing is surely the most basic and relevant of all forms of expression. Nothing else can so effectively give outward form to an inner experience', well if that was the truth, Marinette was quite sure that her dance would look nothing more than a cheap imitation of the tangled spaghetti currently occupying her stomach.

It was no surprise to her that every single girl within the studio was pure perfection; each dancer was the perfect height, or had the perfect hair. Majority had a crisp and clean leotard, framing their perfectly straight back and well worn pointe shoes. Yes, she knew there was no such thing as perfection, yet every single dancer in the holding area was attempting to prove that theory wrong.

She felt unbelievably out of place as she stood at her less than desirable height with her 'lucky' leotard on — and she was quite sure her wrap skirt had a hole in the back. It hadn't been her idea to audition. Not that it wouldn't be a dream to attend such a prestigious school, it's just her school director, Madam Bustier, seemed to think a lot more highly of Marinette's talents than she did herself. She wasn't like the others here, and she was sure she never would be.

She watched the girl to her left with great awe as she extended her développé in second to a height where it had bypassed her shoulder. She must train — a lot!

"Pin this to your front, then head to Studio 6."

Marinette's head turned away from the girl with the amazing legs to the woman in front of her — straight face to match her straight stance. Nathalie Sancoeur looked every inch the one time star of the New York City Ballet.

"Your number," the curt voice said again.

Marinette curtsied, putting herself into motion and grabbing hold of the number, pinning it to the front of her leotard. She scurried away, heading past studio 5 (where an audition was in full swing) to studio 6 where the last group of auditionees were just finishing up. Marinette watched the perfectly poised ballerinas ending with their formal 'thank you' before exiting the studio and picking up their bags.

She noticed her group swapping places and positioning their own belongings into the cube shelves outside, moving into the studio and preparing themselves with pre-warm up: warm ups. In true competition style, Marinette caught how their focus' wavered from practising demi -pliés to performing demi-glares.

The last couple of girls came out of the audition studio, both looking forlorn and crying, and Marinette couldn't help but empathise with them — she felt like crying too.

She was ushered forward, her arms reluctantly throwing her belongings onto a shelf on the way into the studio.

The two principal ballerinas who'd been demonstrating for the dance master walked past her, exiting the studio with an air of grace and poise she could only ever dream of possessing. Her eyes followed them all the way past the studio and down the corridor, her back unconsciously straightened as they walked away.

"Come in and gather around."

The stern voice of the ballet master beckoned them all in further, Marinette being pushed to the back as each girl battled to be noticed by placing themselves centre front. Maybe she should just turn around now and head home? Save herself from the embarrassment which was teetering on the horizon. It's a good job she was used to laughing off her unfortunate circumstances — nothing could be worse than... actually, right now was certainly not time to be thinking about that event.