A Wedding Tale

Chapter 21: Sewing on a Subway

April 28, 2020

Opening weekend was a complete success! We had four sold out shows, were on the front page of the paper, and I even have a college interested in me. Could life get any better? Tonight we receive casting for 'Sleeping Beauty.' I'm sure that Aurora and Lilac Fairy will go to Callie Ann and Luna since this is their final show. I'll probably be one of the fairies, and that's fine. At least I will have a lot of group work and a fun solo.

Nowadays, everything is becoming a space to do something for dance. Since this is our spring break, we are at the theatre all day everyday. I usually wake up and hop on the subway. I usually sew my pointe shoes while I ride because there isn't any other time to do it. Once I get to the theatre, I have class. Then we run 'A Winter's Tale' once. After that we usually have a lunch break before we split up and go to our rehearsals for the gala or 'Sleeping Beauty'. Since there's very few spaces in the theatre, we have to rehearse in the lobby. Luckily, yesterday we had 'Onegin' with Mrs. Patricia in the fourth floor studio. Tomorrow we have 'The Cellist' in the lobby. Hopefully, Janelle won't have us do anything crazy like Mrs. Patricia would have us do. Today I have to learn my Folly Variation in the lobby with Mrs. Lindsey so that should be interesting. At least we have 'The Cellist' in the studio afterwards.

Xoxo,
Marilyn Danäe Minnelli

I jumped on a the subway at nine o'clock. My area wasn't super crowded, so I pulled out a pair of pointe shoes I started sewing this morning and tried to finish them. I listened to some music while I sewed my pink, satin shoes.

Once I reached my stop, I grabbed my bag and went back up to the city. I continued to listen to music as I walked to the theatre. Everything was so peaceful and nice, I knew it would be different this afternoon.

At the theatre, I signed in and went up to my dressing room. I laid my bag and things down before opening my blinds to let the morning sun in. I looked over and noticed that some of my flowers were dying. I picked out the dead ones and threw them away before the room began to smell. Before class, I got dressed. I slipped on a high neck Yumiko leotard, pink tights, leg warmers, trash bag shorts, warm up booties, and my warm up vest. I grabbed my flat shoes and made my way to the stage.

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     "Let me have everyone in the audience, please!" my mother ordered us. We all- including the teachers- went a took a seat in the first and second rows of the theatre. "I want to start out with how our gala will run.

     'Of course, I will have an addressing speech and talk a little bit about Coppélia. First, we will have Marilyn perform the Folly solo followed by Sophie as Dawn. Then I will ask Mrs. Patricia to come onstage and give a little bit of history about Coppélia. Patricia, you will need to prepare that and I will look it over. Then we will have Mazurka and Swanhilda and Franz's variations.

    'Following, Bryan will give a small introduction and history about A Month in the Country. Mia will then perform the Vera solo, and Callie Ann and Ryan will perform the Pas de Duex. After you all perform, we will bring you back onstage to talk about the ballet coming into our repertoire and how you like to perform it.

     'Then we will have Callie Ann do her speech about her time at the studio.

     'Next, I will come on and give a small background on The Nutcracker and our pieces will follow: Clara and Nutcracker Pas de Duex, Spanish, and Sugar Plum Pas de Duex.

     'Following, Marilyn will be preparing a small speech about her journey with her roles so far and what dance has meant to her.

     'Bethany and Janelle will then come onstage and give a little background on Dances at a Gathering and The Cellist. Next, Erin and Ryan will perform the Waltz Opus 69, and Marilyn, Jonatan, Hattie, Amelia, David, James, Mia, Joel, Jace, and Everett with the Finale Pas de Duex. After the Pas de Duex we will interview Erin, Ryan, Marilyn, Jonatan, Bethany, and Janelle about the ballet's entering our repertoire.

     'Then Joel will give a speech about his time at the studio.

     'Afterwards, Miss Lindsey will give a history of Anastasia followed by the pieces from the show: the Mathilda Pas de Duex, Ballroom Pas de Duex, and sister quartet.

     'Then Miss Amelia will come on and give a speech about Cinderella. Afterwards, Erin will be performing Cinderella's Act 1 variation. We will then have Kenzie, Madison, and Emma perform Mazurka from Cinderella. To finish it off, Callie Ann will perform the Autumn Fairy variation, and Everly will perform the Spring Fairy Variation.

     'Afterwards, Luna will give her senior speech.

     'Finally, I will come on and talk about Onegin. We will round out the show with the final Pas de Duex from Onegin with Marilyn and Jonatan perform that. After all of the dancing, we will let all of you go get changed and enjoy the gala before we recognize our seniors and promotions. I will need all of the speeches a week before the show to look over.

     'Now, let's go over Sleeping Beauty casting. I'm sure you are all eager since this is our Seniors final show with us. Luna, you will be playing Aurora with Joel as the Prince. Our Lilac Fairy will be played by Callie Ann, and Miss Janelle has agreed to be our Carabosse.

     'Now, our fairies. All of you will have solos in the beginning and you will play other roles in Act 3. Everly, you will be doing Fairy of the Crystal Fountain and the Jewel Pas de Trois. Mia, you will be Fairy of the Enchanted Garden and Little Red Riding Hood. Erin, you will be Fairy of the Woodland Glades and part of the Jewels Pas de Trois. Sophie, you will be Fairy of the Songbirds and the White Cat. Marilyn, you will be Fairy of the Golden Vine and the Bluebird.

     'Now for the guys. All of you will be a part of the Rose Adagio along with the following roles. Jace, you will be the Wolf in Act 3 with Mia. Ryan, you will be Puss in Boots with Sophie. Jonatan, you will the male Bluebird with Marilyn. Everett, you will be in the Jewel Pas de Trois with Erin and Everly. Now, I will also be having Marilyn, Sophie, Erin, and Mia as Aurora's friends in Act 1 and they will partner with Jonatan, Everett, Ryan, and Jace.

     'The rest of the company will be the Lilac Fairy Attendants in Prologue, Waltz in Act 1, and Ivy in Act 2. I will also be having Bethany and David as the King and Queen. I know this will be a great show and a great send off for our seniors."

     After she finished, we began our run throughs of A Winter's Tale. Prologue through Act 1 ran smoothly. During my break, I went upstairs and continued to sew some point shoes for the week. I had already went through eight pairs of shoes last week and I was going to have more rehearsals and shows this week. I needed at least ten pairs to finish the week out.

     I went downstairs just in time for my cue. As usual, Jonatan was very tired from the whole show. I tried to bare as much of my own weight as possible, but I still had to rely on him.

     After we had finished, we all had an hour break. Some people went out, but Jonatan and I ordered in food from Marco's. As we sat on the floor and enjoyed our break, we talked about several things.

     "How's Melody and Amalia?"

     "They're fine, I guess. I think Amalia has just accepted that Melody and Andrew are not going to get married until they are sure of it."

     "When's her due date?"

     "Sometime in November."

     "What are you going to talk about at the gala?"

     "I have absolutely no idea, but I guess I need to figure it out," I leaned into him. I rested my head in the crook of his neck. I sighed as I listened to his gentle heart beat.

     It was nice to relax. Not having to think about choreography, speeches, shoes, or family. Just being able to rest on someone's shoulder. It had been a while since we did this.

     I was pulled of my trance when Miss Lindsey called me over the monitor to get ready for my Folly rehearsal.