Other girls started to pile in. They were just as friendly and at half past four they all went into the dance studio where Madame Za-Za was waiting for them.
They began with pliés at the barre. Delphie concentrated hard, trying to remember everything she had read in her books.
As she followed Madame Za-Za’s instructions, she felt herself relax and soon it was just as if she was practising in her bedroom at home but a hundred times better because she was in a real ballet class.
Madame Za-Za kept telling them all to keep their heads up and to smile but Delphie didn’t find that difficult at all.
The girls moved from the barre to working in the centre of the room. They went through the same exercises again and then practised arm movements, different poses and turns called pirouettes.
As they neared the end of the class, Madame Za-Za explained to Delphie that the class had been learning a dance from a ballet called The Nutcracker.
Delphie had read about The Nutcracker—a girl called Clara was given a nutcracker who looked like a soldier as a Christmas present by her uncle. Clara loved her new toy so much that she crept downstairs when everyone was in bed and danced with him before falling asleep.
“I think you had better just watch this bit of the class, Delphie,” Madame Za-Za said to her. “The others have been learning the dance for a while now.”
Delphie sat, feeling nervous, as the other eight girls took it in turns to hold a wooden doll which looked like a toy soldier and dance Clara’s dance. The dark-haired girl, who Delphie had found out was called Sukie, was the last to go. She moved very gracefully and didn’t wobble on any of the positions she held. Her turns were easy and smooth and her arms and head always seemed to be held perfectly in position. But even so there was something that wasn’t quite right. What is it? Delphie wondered.
Madame Za-Za was watching from near the piano. As Sukie finished and smiled, Madame Za-Za walked forward, shaking her head. “No, Sukie, Your hands, your arms, your placing were all good, but you are supposed to love the doll you are holding. I did not believe that when I watched you.”
Delphie realised she knew exactly what Madame Za-Za meant. Although Sukie’s dancing had looked wonderful, she hadn’t made Delphie feel like she was really watching Clara.
Madame Za-Za turned to all the girls. “Ballet is about much more than just dancing – the real magic comes from telling a story and making the audience believe in that story.” Her eyes looked straight into Delphie’s. “Never forget that – always believe in it.”
Delphie felt a longing to do the dance herself. She wanted to be up there, wanted Madame Za-Za to be watching her, but it was too late – it was the end of the class.
As soon as she had got changed, Delphie ran all the way home. She couldn’t wait to tell her parents about it. This had been the best day of her life!
That night, when Delphie went to bed, she relived every moment of the class. I’ll have to learn the dance the others were doing, she thought, picking up a book that was lying on her bedside table which told all the stories from the ballet.
Delphie turned to the chapter on The Nutcracker. She wanted to know what happened after Clara’s dance. She read how, in the story, Clara dreams that the Nutcracker has come to life! Then the evil King Rat, with his army of mice, tries to fight the Nutcracker. Clara helps to defeat King Rat by throwing her slipper at his head, which knocks him out. Then the Nutcracker changes into a handsome prince and takes Clara on a magical journey to the Land of Snow and the Land of Sweets. She meets the Sugar Plum Fairy and lots of other amazing characters like the snowflakes and Jack Frost, the Rose Fairy and the Arabian dancers.
Delphie sighed happily as she read the end of the story. Turning off the light she snuggled down in bed, imagining herself dancing Clara’s dance, when suddenly she heard a faint tinkling sound and some faraway music. What was that?
She listened hard. There it was again. She sat up in bed.
The red ballet shoes were glittering and sparkling in the dark!
Delphie stared at the twinkling shoes and then leapt out of bed. She was about to run out of the room to get her mum when Madame Za-Za’ s voice came back to her: They are special shoes, Delphie. I hope that one day you will find out just how special they are.
Something seemed to be telling Delphie to stay – not to go. She reached out and touched the shoes. Her fingers seemed to spark with a tiny electric shock and suddenly she felt as if she just had to put them on.
She picked up the left shoe. As she slipped it on, her foot felt light and sparkly. She put the other shoe on and as she tied the ribbons, the tingling spread through her whole body. Delphie stood up and then gasped as suddenly the shoes began to make her pirouette round and round…
Delphie whirled, her bedroom blurring into a sparkling haze of colours. She cried out. What was happening?
Then the colours faded and she found herself on a seat. She looked around in astonishment. She was in a large empty theatre. In front of her there was an enormous stage with red curtains, shut tight. The lights began to go down and before Delphie’s eyes, the curtains rose.
A scene of a village street appeared with a large mountain behind it. On the slope of the mountain, a dark castle was painted. Feeling sure that she must be dreaming, Delphie looked at the stage. A fairy in a pale lilac tutu was sitting on a tree stump, her hands covering her face.
Behind her there were dancers dressed as multi-coloured flowers, two people in Russian costumes, a girl in a long red Spanish dress and a clown. Delphie wondered if this was the beginning of some sort of show, but as she looked more closely, she realised that the fairy was crying.
Delphie got to her feet and went down the aisle that led up to the stage. “Hello!” she called. Her voice sounded loud in the silence of the theatre.
The fairy jumped in surprise. “Who are you?”
“My name’s Delphie,” Delphie replied. “Who are you?”
“I’m the Sugar Plum Fairy,” she said.
“You mean you’re dancing the part of the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker,” Delphie said, feeling confused.
“No, I really am the Sugar Plum Fairy.” The ballerina stood up, her sparkling tutu catching the lights on the stage. “People call me Sugar for short. This is the entrance to the Land of Enchantia – the land where the characters from all the different ballets live.” She looked curiously at Delphie. “Where have you come from?”
“From…from my bedroom,” Delphie stammered. “My ballet shoes started to sparkle and so I put them on and I ended up here.”