Chapter 11 - Center Stage

• I couldn’t let the laughter deter me. I tried to picture the audience wearing their underwear to make a mockery of them the same way they were doing to me. I had to view this as merely another rehearsal in order to maintain my composure. It wasn’t like the queen was watching or anything…
• I heard one of my dancers cough next to me to try and bring me back to the moment at hand, and I nodded to the orchestra who began the introduction of our piece.
• The choreography I had put together was influenced by my dancers and their strengths. Instead of a pure ballet, it was a fusion of all the styles my dancers knew best with ballet as the base that brought it all together. I extended my arms and leaped into the first formation, twirling in a circle with the other two dancers on stage as the rest of my troupe came marching on stage.