Page 15 of You're the Reason

“Floor is too dirty for your pointe shoes anyway. Just do a favorite sequence not on pointe.”

Grace slipped off her coat and studied her muted reflection as she struck a pose. Giselle’s opening sequence was familiar enough. She was only on her third eight-count when Ms. Margret stood.

“What was that?” She took a step closer.

“I told you my knee?—”

“That wasn’t just a knee problem. That was a heart problem. Where is the joy? The passion? What are you afraid of?”

What was she afraid of? Maybe that her career was at its end. Maybe that her best years were behind her. Maybe that if she didn’t dance, she didn’t even know who she was anymore. “I don’t know. I?—”

A little tap on the door echoed though the room.

They’d been caught. Maybe someone would call the police on them.

Margret opened the door, and a young girl about seven stood with a grin from ear to ear. She wore a red jacket that looked at least two sizes too big and tennis shoes with a hole in the toe. Her crooked pigtails that were so blonde they were almost white swung back and forth as she hopped from one foot to the other then back.

“I saw you go in. And I thought you might be dancing.” Her blue eyes jumped between Ms. Margret and Grace. “Who are you? Are you a dancer? Can I dance with you?”

“Susie, this is Grace.” Ms. Margret hugged the little girl to her side. “Grace was one of my students when I taught ballet. Susie is my new neighbor. She just moved next door to me with her brother Zane and her father.”

“Ms. Margret teaches me ballet in her kitchen.” The little girl lifted her arms and did a fairly impressive pirouette. “But I thought the studio sounded better than the kitchen. Sometimes I kick things there.”

The little girl rushed in and took a ready position next to Grace.

Grace sent a questioning look to Ms. Margret, but the older woman just smiled and returned to her seat.

“Do you know grand plié?” Grace demonstrated with a deep bend in her knees then up.

“That’s easy.” The little girl squatted then stood. “I want to try something hard.”

“Ballet is different than many things in that from a beginner to a master you do many of the very same moves. What makes a person great is how graceful and effortless they make it look.” Grace stepped over next to Susie and placed her finger under her chin. “Chin up, back straight, tuck your bottom under...and again.”

This time the little girl wobbled as she bent down. “That’s harder.”

“But prettier and more graceful.”

Susie nodded and stood. “Now what?”

Grace’s gaze darted to Ms. Margret, but the woman just nodded.

Grace stepped back to provide more space, lifted her right leg to ninety degrees in front of her, then lowered it to the ground. “How about a battement.”

“That’s called a Batman?” Susie kicked into the air with abandon and zero control.

Grace bit back a chuckle. “Not Batman. Baht-mah. And just like before, it isn’t how high. It’s about control and grace. Back straight, shoulders down, and lift your leg, don’t bend to it.”

Susie did it again this time with more control.

“Very good.”

The little girl spun around on one foot. “I could do this all day.”

There was another knock at the door, and Susie made a face. “That’s probably my brother. He went to the library and said he’d pick me up when he was done.”

She ran over and wrapped Grace around her middle. “Thanks, Miss Grace. See you later Ms. Margret.”

With that, Susie hurried out the door. Ms. Margret peeked through a tear in the paper covering the windows but seemed satisfied that Susie was taken care of and turned back to Grace. “You’re a natural.”

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