The same as back home

[Marguerite Girardeau]

The moment Meg found out there was a dance studio on campus, she was there. She couldn't wait to dance again, and her excitement only increased when she walked into the room to find it looked the same as it did back home, in Paris. She smiled at her reflection in the mirror, playing with her rehearsal tutu for a moment, before walking back to the side to pull on her pointe shoes. 

She couldn't really describe the way she felt when she danced, just warming up on the barre made her feel free and happy. Stretching her legs and body carefully, she made sure to completely warm herself up before picking up her ipod, walking over to the stereo, and plugging it in. She scrolled through song after song, finally settling on one of her favorite routines. It was from La Source, a ballet they did sometimes at the Paris Opera House, her mother had taken her to see it once and it was her favorite. After the show she'd begged her mother to teach her this routine, and worked especially hard on it. It was very difficult, but she loved every minute of it. She'd even won a few competitions using it. 

Starting in the center of the room, she began the routine, letting the music move her. Everything came to her naturally, and with each turn she almost forgot she was in Kentucky. When she danced she was in France, aspiring to very different things than she did now. It was, a strange feeling, but an exciting one too. Still, she wished she could just make a few friends here, that would make things better for her. It was a little lonely here. Maybe she'd meet another ballerina just like her! As she danced, she certainly hoped so. 

Meg's Routine

[Cara-Jean Kitchi]

Cara brushed her hair out of the French braid, pulled it up into a high ponytail and then wound it into a ballet bun, which she secured with a net and then hair pins. She was dressed in her black leotard and pink tights. The only things running her image were the running shoes she was currently wearing.

Grabbing the bag that held her pointe shoes, and her dance bag, she left the House and raced over to the gymnasium. She was hoping that the dance studio would be unoccupied, but even if it was in use, she only wanted to do barre work, so she hoped that she would still be able to slip in.

Stopping in the hallway, she toed off her shoes and pulled her pointes on, quickly tying the ribbons, shoving the other shoes into her dance bag, and continued down to the studio.

Her heart sank a little when she saw that there was another girl working in there, as she slipped in soundlessly though the door and watched the girl preform, wondering how much technical instruction she had had in the past. Although she wanted to get on with her own conditioning and training, she had the respect for the other dancer to wait until she had vanished, and hopefully notice her, rather than having to announce herself.

However, when the girl finished, Cara couldn't help but applaud the very fine work, another form of respect from one dancer to another, even if Cara wasn't training as a principal dancer anymore.

[Marguerite Girardeau]

When Meg heard applause after her routine was finished, she jumped slightly in surprise, turning to look in the direction of the door where another girl now stood. She smiled brightly and waved at her, "Bonjour!" she said cheerfully. Only after she'd greeted the newcomer did she realize that the other girl was probably waiting to dance. 

"Oh! You must want to dance. I am sorry! I was taking up all the space for myself" she said, as apologetically as she could. She was still struggling slightly with her English and she hoped the girl wouldn't mind. Smiling again, she eagerly crossed the floor to the girl, holding out her hand to shake, "My name is Marguerite, but everyone calls me Meg. What is your name?" she asked.

Once she'd introduced herself formally, she trotted back over to her ipod, pausing the song that had started after hers had finished. She scrolled through the music before looking up at the other girl, "Is there any song you would like me to play? I have a lot. If you do not want music that is good too, I can turn it off." She hoped that the other girl would suggest something, or even just tell her that any song was fine. While Meg didn't have a problem dancing in silence, she had a harder time with her counting without the music to help her along. 

[Cara-Jean Kitchi]

Cara bit down on her lip, guilty that she had made the other girl jump. Her eyes widened slightly at the greeting, and it took ever inch of her willpower to not reply in the same language, but Mr Andrews had rules about that. "Hello." She finally whispered.

At the girl's next words, she opened her mouth and closed it again as she thought over what to say. "If I may, I only wish to work on the barre." She chewed on the inside of her lip as left her bag against the wall, before she floated forward and shook the other girl's hand. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Marguerite. I am called Cara." She didn't do the shortening of names, though she only gave the shortened version of her own, pleased that surnames weren't offered.

Cara glided over to the long wall with the barre and placed her right hand on the wooden rail. She looked over as the question was asked. "I do not mind what you wish to play." That seemed the safest answer, rather than asking about her playlist. Really anything with an eight count would be fine, and she could keep her own count if the music was faster than she wanted, after all she had come here to work in silence, so a little music filling the studio would make a nice change to that.

[Marguerite Girardeau]

Meg wondered if the girl was really shy, or if she was just naturally soft spoken. It only bothered Meg slightly, as she'd known plenty of ballerinas with similar dispositions. Since Cara only wanted to work at the barre, Meg decided to dance another routine, she had plenty of time so why not. The girl didn't care what she played either, which meant she could pick whatever she wanted. 

As the girl prepared to begin her work at the barre, Meg scrolled through her music library quietly until she found the song she wanted. It was from a ballet that had originated in this country, which Meg thought was rather rare and interesting. Smiling kindly at the other girl for reassurance that she didn't bite or anything, she started the music and began the routine. It was not as difficult as the one from La Source, but it helped her work on control, something she struggled with sometimes. She tended towards faster paced music for that reason, slower songs that required long held out movements and carefully placed footwork that posed far greater a challenge. 

Emeralds was a piece she'd danced to at least twice for recitals with her ballet company and competitions by herself. She missed the costume for it in particular, it was a very pretty color. She wondered if Cara knew the piece, but decided not to ask so that she didn't disrupt her barre work. She wouldn't know what to say anyway. Maybe the girl would speak up once she got a little more comfortable, Meg hoped she would. 

Meg's 2nd Routine

[Cara-Jean Kitchi]

Standing at the barre, she rose en pointe and then lowered her heels, moving her feet into first position. Listening to the music that started playing, she began to warm up using the most basic of ballet moves, the Plié. After working through her demi and grand pliés in all five feet positions, she took a moment to relax and stretch, with her feet in sixth position (parallel).

Closing her eyes for a moment to get a feel for the music, and make sure that she was moving in time with it, she began to really get into her barre work. Turning her hips out, she moved back into first position as she turned to face the barre and began her Battement tendu, and then pliés and then back to the Battement tendu with stretches.

Finishing the tendu by moving her foot into fifth position, she stated her tendus again, this time with piqué and balance. Losing herself in the music, she move the tendus into degage with balance, making sure to work the foot and stretch her body

She then went into a rond de jambe, first working her foot on the ground and then in the air stretching out in between each move. And then went through her battement tendu degage with sous-sus, then battement fondu and finished her barre with a grand battement.

She turned to face the barre again as she placed both hands on it and closed her eyes as she batted against the feeling of vertigo that was threatening to wash her away. She swallowed as she opened her eyes. She wanted to do some work away from the barre, but she would wait to see what Marguerite would do next, as the dancer had been in here first.

OOC: Sorry, no video to go with my post.

[Marguerite Girardeau]

As Meg danced she'd tried very hard to focus entirely on her routine, but she couldn't help but glance over at the other girl every so often to see what she was doing. Meg personally didn't like doing work at the barre much. She knew it was necessary but doing tendu after tendu was so tedious and dull sometimes. She loved the feeling of freedom she felt on the floor, even when doing the most difficult of movements. 

When she finished, she went over and stopped her music, looking through her library for a third time. She was starting to get a little fatigued and sweaty, which meant that she was definitely going to need a shower after this. Not that she minded too much, but it did mean she was working hard and was going to need a little extra time to cool down after she was done. Perhaps one or two more routines would be enough for today.

Seeing that Cara had finished, and looked intent on going out onto the floor, Meg decided to try and get her to talk a little more. "You can pick the next song if you would like. What did you want to do on the floor? I can move to the barre if you would like, I do not wish to be in your way." she said, trying to be as friendly and open as possible. 

[Cara-Jean Kitchi]

Cara jumped when the other girl spoke to her, and she quickly pressed her lips together, trying to cover her start. "I only want to do a little centre work, I will not need as much floor as you so you do not need to leave the centre." She said softly, and it was the truth, as she mostly wanted to work on leg-strengthening and balance work. "Though if you have another piece to dance, I can continue here." She could still to balance work right beside the barre.

She thought about the music part of the question, which she hadn't answered first as it had seemed the less important of the questions. "Do you have Tchaikovsky's Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy?" It was a good marching beat and Cara had enjoyed dancing the piece during the time she had studied ballet, but as she didn't have any inspiration on becoming a principal dancer - though people had told her that she had the feet and talent - she had never pursued the study, only keeping up with it to help choreograph her floor routines, she'd even shaped a floor routine around Tchaikovsky's work, though it hadn't scored that well due to the limited power moves, as the ones that would have given her higher marks just didn't fit the piece.

[Marguerite Girardeau]

Meg was almost a little too excited to get the girl to speak a little, and wanted nothing more than to make her happy. Meg was certainly no pushover, but this girl seemed so uncomfortable she was willing to do just about anything to make her uncomfortable. Except leave, because she had been here first after all. She also wanted to maybe try to make a new friend. 

"No it is ok. I will move to the barre for a little while and you can dance on the floor." she insisted, perhaps she could work on her technique a little bit. She didn't want to disappoint her mother by only doing routines for fun when she knew there were things she needed to fix and work on. She was a strong dancer, but there was always room for improvement. 

When the girl asked if she had the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy she nodded, "Yes of course! I have all the songs from the Nutcracker!" She quickly flipped through her music library for the desired song, pressing play for the girl. Once Cara seemed good Meg moved over to the barre and began some exercises. At first she focused entirely on what she was doing, but she couldn't help watching the other girl out of the corner of her eye. She seemed to be a good dancer, but Meg could practically hear her mother's comments and critiques about Cara. She shook her head and tried once again to focus on the barre, but once again her eyes wandered across the room to where the other girl was dancing.

[Cara-Jean Kitchi]

Cara gave a graceful reverence (a curtsy) as her thanks to Marguerite's words, and moving her feet into fifth position, she relevé en pointe and glided toward the middle of the room. She knew it was silly, but now she was out here, she felt small and unworthy. The other girl was a serious ballerina and Cara suddenly felt like the spotlight was on her, and she hated being in the spotlight. However, she would only make herself look like a fool if she lowered her heels and walked back to the barre.

Holding her head high, arms in second position as she waited for the music to start. As much as she claimed she wasn't a ballerina, she had to fight the urge to preform the dance that went with the music. Closing her eyes and silently counting the music, she began her work: Temps plié to pointe, then fondu to pointe, développé to pointe - making sure not to over swing her leg and make it look like a yoga move. Piqué pose, to a fondu relevé which glided diagonally across the floor for four beats, than a relevé and piqué développé and she travelled back the way she had just come.

She pressed her lips together as the room seemed to move in and out of focus, with a small shake of the head she put her game face back on and went into her large piqué fouetté turning (arabesque) with changements. She had planned to do eight fouettés, but on the fourth one, as she rose en pointe she cringed and stepped out of the move. She was sure that that shank in the shoe of her supporting leg had just snapped.

Sitting down, she untied the ribbon of her right shoe and removed it. Hoping against hope that she had been the one at fault, but in bending the shoe, she could tell that the shank had indeed snapped. With a small shrug, she removed the other shoe as well and rose to her feet. "The floor is all yours, Ma'am." She said softly as she headed back to the barre. Even without the shoes, she was now warmed up enough to do some serious stretching.

[Marguerite Girardeau]

Meg felt truly saddened to see the other girl have to quit her floor work because of a broken shoe. She could tell the girl didn't feel quite so confident in her dancing, but Meg didn't understand why. She wasn't bad at all, at least, from what she could tell. She wished there was something she could say to make up for the broken shank in her shoe, but unfortunately she couldn't find the words. She wondered how the girl must feel as she returned to the barre for more stretches. If it were Meg, she'd want to die. "Thank you," she replied meekly, as the floor was offered to her once again.

Going through the music library for what felt like the millionth time, Meg knew exactly what to do. She was going to do the one routine that she needed to work the most on. It was one of the most difficult she'd ever been put to, and had never performed it in front of anyone besides her mother and other ballet instructors before. They'd told her that as she grew, she'd be able to eventually master it, but at the moment it was just too challenging. Still, she liked dancing it anyway even if she made mistakes, because each time she felt as though she got a little better. 

The solo from Giselle, it required so much balancing en pointe that it truly was beyond Meg's capabilities at the moment. As the music began to play, Meg took a deep breath before starting the routine. The beginning wasn't the worst part, The pirouettes were a bit slow for her liking, but she was able to maintain control of her body well enough to complete them almost gracefully. Almost like a prima ballerina. No, the most challenging part of the dance came in the middle, when she had to rise en pointe and balance as she hopped across the floor on one foot. She was supposed to do about 30 right in a row, but often lost her balance at least once or twice, sometimes even three times, and had to somehow recover from it. 

She didn't feel ashamed as she lost her balance around the 13th hop, she simply rose back up and continued on, almost falling back a second time but managing to remain en pointe until clumsily finishing them and finishing the remainder of the routine, which gave her little trouble and was her favorite part. Once she finished, she stopped the music and walked over to the barre, where the other girl was stretching. "I must sound like a parrot, asking the same question over and over. Is there any song you would like to stretch at the barre to? Or maybe a bit of floor work you'd like to do that isn't en pointe?" she prompted, wishing she could somehow boost the confidence in the other dancer and make her come out of her shell a little bit.  

Meg's 3rd Routine

[Cara-Jean Kitchi]

Cara's foot hurt as she made her way to the barre, though she tried to walk as normally as she could as giving away a sign of pain would also be a sign of weakness and she tried to give the world a display of a tough shell, an exterior that nothing could break through. She wavered slightly though as she reached the barre as that feeling a vertigo washed over her again. Though with a small shake of her head, it was gone as quickly as it had come.

Standing with her finger resting lightly on the barre, she began to work on her tendu, grazing her foot across the floor as she move forward sideways and back, and then moved onto degagé, and then to développé, keeping working in the three directions, lifting her working leg so that her hips opened completely and her leg lifted straight up in a split, working a couple of double in there too. She worked one leg until her working thigh screamed it's protest when she took a balance, did a half pirouette and worked the other leg.

She looked over as the other girl spoke again, standing in fifth position. "Thank you, but no." She replied softly. "I am happy working here. I do not mind what you wish to work to." She had been keeping her own count anyway and had tuned the music playing in the room.