Football Meets Ballet

5- Class Two

"Stretch your leg," I yelled, throwing my popcorn at the screen.  The dancer floating across the screen seemed to hear me as her leg straightened in her leap. Appeased, I sat up and grabbed my popcorn from the floor. After a moment's thought and a supercilious look around the room, I popped it into my mouth with a satisfying crunch. I settled back into the couch, pointing and flexing my toes so my ankle crackled, and glanced at my phone. 

"Christ!" I exclaimed, seeing the time. I was going to be late! I rolled my stiff ankle, still healing from the break, and jumped up to go to my room to change. 

I pulled on my warm ups, leotard, and packed my tangled hair into a neat bun. I considered what I would have to teach today. Probably just keep working on the barre. The coach I had spoken with had asked me to focus on technique and discipline, citing a lack of it as the main issue.  I didn't particularly love teaching yet, as I would much rather be dancing in the company, but my ankle break had sidelined me for an indeterminate length of time. It was healing well, but the thought of going en pointe still filled me with fear. 

Besides, I still faced other worries. Besides paying the bills and needing to get another job, I was now the ballet coach for a football team. A football team! I paused by the mirror next to my front door, grabbing the keys from the hook and giving myself a once over. I scoffed in the mirror, thinking of the players. The gall, thinking that ballet wasn't hard. I'll show them, I thought as I made my way down the stairs cautiously, the memory of struggling up still fresh in my mind. 

As I drove to the studio, I admired the views of the city. As I pulled up to a red light, I stared straight, trying to avoid the view of my company's building. But as if pulled with a magnet, I turned my head slowly, to see the flashing advertisement marketing the production of Sleeping Beauty. I swallowed hard and turned my head forward again to see the light turn green. I pressed on the gas, anxious to get away from the building. 

I loved ballet, I really did. In truth, it was all I knew. Dance was my whole life; I had begun when I was two, and had tried all sorts of other sports typical of childhood, such as soccer or gymnastics, but by the age of ten, I was steadfast in my love for dance. My mother used to joke I danced before I could walk, and I never really ran, I ballet-ran. 

So it seemed logical, as I continued with summer intensives and competitions, that I would become a professional. While I enjoyed the hard work of classes and rehearsals, there was nothing that compared with the thrill of performing. No matter what roles I played, or how many times I performed, I still got the same nervous thrill waiting in the wings. The absolute anticipation... I shook my head to clear the thoughts, banishing the longing from my heart. That isn't your life anymore, I told myself sternly. 

As I pulled into my parking space in front of the studio, I breathed deeply, pushing my class plan to the forefront of my mind. Barre, adagio, allegro, and maybe a combination, I thought, resting my head on my steering wheel. 

BEEP!! A loud car horn scattered my thoughts, and I jumped in my seat, my bun hitting the shallow ceiling of my car, as I looked around wildly for the cause. The loud laughing and thumping bass of music drew my attention to the car next to me, where I glared in to see several of my new students crammed into the seats, in various states of amusement. Of course, the perpetrator was James. Trevor sat next to him, offering me a slightly guilty smile. I couldn't help but notice how cute it made him, but he was still complicit in the action. 

I flashed a look of annoyance in their direction, but made a mental note to include more adagio. That will make them think twice next time. 

I made my way to the studio, cursing the TV in my apartment for making me late. I usually like to arrive early, in order to warm-up and stretch and do some dance work of my own before class began, but alas, not today. I waved hello to the Kim who was busily typing away, and dropped my bag off in the locker. I heard the loud ruckus that signaled their arrival echo into the room from the direction of the studio.