CREATURE

・chapter 3・

Asya meandered into company class the next morning still sipping sleepily on her banana breakfast smoothie. She bid a lazy good morning to a few of the other dancers who had already arrived and made her way to the opposite end of the studio, setting her duffel bag and rehearsal tutu down on the floor.

Some late-autumn sunshine warmed her spot through the skylight in the studio's roof, and she blinked lazily into the light as she stripped off her street clothes, hoping it would help wake her up. Dressed only in a leotard and tights she began warming up her body for the day, starting with her neck and back and gradually moving to the rest of her body.

With a heavy-eyed yawn she slid into a straddle split, pushing her hipbones into the floor and reaching her arms forward to intensify the stretch. The last three weeks had been a gruelling blur of rehearsals and stage calls for Sleeping Beauty, and a part of her was definitely relieved that opening night was out of the way. In the coming performances she could focus on getting comfortable with her role and the stage, and hopefully get some good reviews.

Asya yawned again and folded her arms on the marley floor to rest her cheek on. She really should have made more of an effort to get in a decent night's sleep. But in her defence, the curtain calls had only finished around midnight, which was followed by another hour of taking press photographs and backstage congratulating amongst the cast. At some point Ivan had chased her down, and she'd amused him in his dressing room for a bit before heading home. Needless to say, between three brutal weeks of rehearsal stress and yet another late night, she woke up feeling like dead.

No excuses, she told herself, wringing out her stiff neck muscles. She had a full afternoon in the studio that lay ahead of her and another show that evening. The Lilac Fairy was just the start of what she hoped to be a full season, with more big roles. All she had to do was prove she deserved them.

She'd graduated top of her class at the Royal Ballet's Upper School a year ago, but at a tender nineteen, she was fighting to be taken seriously and not be dismissed as just an over-eager student with starry eyes. Her work ethic and track record at school secured her some good roles in the corps, and she even went after a few featured parts, like the Queen of the Dryads in Don Quixote and the Odalisques in Paquita, which she ended up getting.

She snuggled up to the principals, especially the men, and made sure she had the big dogs in her corner as well. Whether she liked to admit it or not, Ivan had pulled some strings for her along the way. Which she repaid him for, of-course. But besides that, her performances were extremely well-received, and soon she had the valuable attention of the powers that be. Within eight exhausting, painful months, she got promoted.

The youngest soloist in the Royal Ballet's history.

There had been flack, of-course there had been bloody flack, people saying she was too young, too inexperienced and hadn't had enough blood, sweat and tears in the corps to actually deserve it. The gossip surrounding the 'Snippy the baby soloist' had yet to die down, but she honestly couldn't give a shit. If they only knew what she'd put herself through to get that stupid title, not to mention that the real work had only just begun for her.

She kicked off the new season with the Lilac Fairy, but was still out to prove that she was more than just a technically capable dancer. No, soloists were expected to be consistent, reliable, somewhat unique and delivering on company standards every time they performed. No matter how inexperienced they may be.

Inexperience she hoped would be overlooked for her upcoming castings, given how successful the previous gambles on her had been. She had a meeting with the artistic director tomorrow, and although she'd been trying not to think about it, a part of her hoped she was in the cards for a principal role. There was no way in hell she'd be promoted within the next three years, her age would never allow it, but that didn't mean she couldn't chase after some good roles.