Donkeyskin - ON HOLD

Of Dancers

*Of Dancers*

The largest studio, on the second floor of the oldest part of the company house, was bright and airy, set up like a theatre stage, with a row of chairs at the back of the room marking where the audience would begin in a proper theatre. Along the back wall, behind what was marked out, by a rectangle of red ribbon glued to the floor, to be the stage, ran a wooden bar, at which the dancers were warming up. Manon had installed herself at the very center, and had rested her ankle on the bar, squatting into a plié to deepen the stretch. A few other dancers were moving across the floor, practicing pirouettes or jetés, their dance slippers gliding across the shining wooden floor.

Fleur and Elodie stood at one end of the bar, Fleur practicing a set of kicks. Elodie moved through the motions of a few basic stretches, watching her new company members, since the movements she was accomplishing were so familiar to her they hardly required a shred of thought. Manon was watching her, she knew, and, for all she didn't spare a single other dancer from her scrutiny, she avoided looking back at Manon.

Elodie drew her leg up along her side, pulling it close so that she could lean her ear against her thigh. Her toes pointed in her point shoe, and she rose up en pointe on her other foot. She held the stretch for a count of thirty, then dropped it and raised the other leg into the same position.

After another thirty-count, she lowered her leg and settled in a comfortable second position. Fleur, who had been watching her, said, "You have an incredible arch, Lune, you know?" Her voice was awed.

Elodie shrugged. She'd never thought of any part of her foot as remarkable. "If you say so," she said, sinking into a deep, perfect splits. Fleur sat, too, using the balls of her feet to push Elodie's legs into a wider spread. Elodie dipped forward, touching her forehead to the ground, and held it as Fleur pushed.

Fleur released the pressure, and Elodie sat up and lid her legs together. "I do say so," Fleur said as she brought her own legs into the splits. Elodie placed her own feet against Fleur's legs to help the other girl into the stretch. Fleur dipped herself down to the ground, grimacing slightly at the stretch.

Manon moved away from the bar, stepping to the center of the stage. Wiry Xavier joined her, placing his hands on her waist. Together, they moved into a beautiful pas-de-deux, as graceful and delicate as perfection. In Xavier's arms, Manon moved like a lithe fairy, like a delicate, imposing queen. Xavier spun her into a series of pirouettes. Elodie watched, slightly envious of the obvious comfort between the two dancers.

Dark-haired Noah stepped up beside her. "Lune, do you know the pas-de-deux from the Toy Prince?" he asked. When Elodie nodded, he asked, "Would you try it with me, please?"

"Of course," Elodie said, eager to dance, as always. Noah offered her his hand and spun her onto the stage. She floated across to the other side, and Noah waited, braced. Elodie flew into his arms and he spun her out in a snapping turn. She moved in a set of pas-de-chats, and he lifted her in each leap by the waist. The series ended, and he dipped her into a back-cracking dip. She rose up, and he sank to one knee as she began to pirouette around him.

He moved well, she saw and felt, and she felt completely synchronized with him as they danced. Noah stood, scooping her up. She hooked a leg over his shoulder and flipped to hang upside down. He flipped her the rest of the way, and she landed on the ball of one foot, one leg pointed out at a perfect right angle.

Faint applause came from by the door. M. Beaufort had come in, and stood with Katia and some of the ensemble boys. All the dancers were applauding, looking impressed. M. Beaufort came to the front of the studio and sat in the central chair. "You need to remember to elongate your neck more, and don't hyperextend as much," he said to Elodie. "Noah, you need to work on your footwork."