Ballet Shoes, Angel's Hair and Revolution (A Les Misérables fanfiction)

Chapter 5

A.N.: Today's chapter brought to you by my obsession with Phantom of The Opera. So enjoy the fact that I got inspired ;) Please do comment and vote it means everything to me! lots of love xoxoxo

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I looked at my face in the mirror of the vanity table. The yellow light of candles, which were set all around the dressing room, was illuminating my reflection. In the looking glass I saw a young girl, who no longer resembled herself from the hours she spent at the Cafe Musain. Now, she was a woman that had just began her metamorphosis into a fairy-like creature...

I smirked at myself, feeling free from my past and from my present. Here, I wasn't obliged to be someone good. Here, I was allowed to do what I loved and I was never judged for it. I just was putting on my stage makeup and trying not to drown in the many layers of white tulle, which was almost impossible...

The room was filled with loud chatter and giggles of my friends. They have developed a habit of snooping on the audience from behind the curtains and trying to spot the best dressed ladies or handsome gentlemen. Right now, they were gossiping about the newest dress style that was becoming quite popular among the bourgeoisie of Paris. I have to admit, I often joined their conversations but today I was just a little bit preoccupied. I couldn't get my mind to stop wondering whether Enjolras would notice my absence in the Café tonight.  He probably would think that I was mad at him. Which wasn't untrue. But the true reason of not being at the cafe was that I simply had... other arrangements that kept me away. This show for example.

Tonight was the world premiere of "La Sylphide". It was a big night, a breakthrough in the history of ballet... The spectators would witness something that no human eyes have ever seen before. I was expecting some outraged shouts from the audience. There were going to happen some unexpected and distasteful, in the eyes of the society, things. All of this meant that I was beyond excited. I always hated the conventionalities. After all the conventionalities of the Paris society took away my happiness and my careless life.

Many of my acquaintances, outside of my artistic circle, would disapprove of my profession. Almost as much as they would disapprove if I was a prostitute. And to be a dancer was so much different than that! I think that people didn't like the fact that we showed a little bit more of our skin. Tonight, we were doing the first in history performance en pointe. No one, in the history off dance, has ever danced on the tips of their toes before. That's why we had to wear shorter dresses, to show our amazing footwork that we've been working on for months.  Some prudent ladies were bound to pass out in the audience when they see our ankles, but art needed sacrifice. I didn't know why people pay to see ballet if all they do afterwards is forget how much they loved it, and criticize the scandalous costumes of the dancers. That was one of the many things that was wrong with the French bourgeoisie.

That's why I never shared my passion with others... I enjoyed dancing, but I didn't want to be branded for it. After all, I needed to find a husband one day, and I would have been the "damaged goods" if my little passion was no longer a secret.

In tonight's ballet, I was playing nobody important... I was just another corps-de-ballet girl. I would be smiling in the background and dancing in sync with my friends. I knew the main role of La Sylphide by heart, and I dreamed of performing it since day one of the rehearsals. However, I knew I would never get it. I was only a student of the Paris Opera Ballet Academy, so they would never give me an important role. Maybe after graduation, in late June, I will be able to dance a better part. Tonight, the main role was secured by Marie Taglioni. After all, she was the étole of Paris Opéra Ballet, and it was her father who choreographed the show. So it was quite obvious she would get the role. She was only two years older than me, and she thought of herself as the most important and most talented person on the planet. Truth to be told, if it wasn't for her father she would still have been a corps-de-ballet girl.