Delphie stood up and put the tutu and the shoes carefully on her bedside table. When would she next go to Enchantia and what would she have to do? She remembered what the Sugar Plum Fairy had said: You have the magic ballet shoes. Whenever we need you they will sparkle and if you put them on they will bring you to Enchantia.
Delphie hugged her arms around herself. She might not know when it was going to happen or for what she might be needed but if the shoes glowed again, she would be there to help in whatever way she could!
Prepare
Put your heels together with toes pointing outwards. Make an oval shape with your arms.
First position
Now move your arms upwards so that your hands are in line with your belly button.
Second Position
Move your feet to hips-width apart, and open your arms.
Third position
Move your right foot so that the heel touches the middle of your left foot; Sweep your left arm in front of you.
Fourth position
Slide your right foot forwards and lift your left arm so it is almost over your head.
Fifth position
Now bring both your arms over your head.
In the soft, pale light, the girl stood with her head bent and her hands held lightly in front of her. There was a moment’s silence and then the first notes of the music began. For as long as the girl could remember music had seemed to tell her of another world – a magical, exciting world – that lay far, far away. She always felt if she could just close her eyes and lose herself, then she would get there. Maybe this time. As the music swirled inside her, she swept her arms above her head, rose on to her toes and began to dance …
The ballet studio was quiet and still. It could only be a couple of hours since it had been full of girls dancing for their ballet teacher, Madame Za-Za. Now there was just one girl left.
Delphie Durand pressed the button on the CD player and then ran lightly to the centre of the room. She waited for the music to start, one foot slightly in front of the other, her head bent, her eyes looking down at her red ballet shoes. All the other girls in her class had pink ones but it wasn’t just the colour that made Delphie’s shoes different from theirs. Delphie’s ballet shoes were also magic!
Madame Za-Za, the owner of the ballet school, had given them to Delphie three weeks ago. She’d told her they were very special but Delphie hadn’t known just how special until two nights later when the shoes had started glowing and sparkling. When Delphie had put them on, they had whisked her away to Enchantia – a magical land where all the characters from the different ballets lived. A land full of incredible adventures!
Delphie smiled as she remembered the adventure she’d had there. It had been scary but amazing! Just then, the first few notes of the music swelled out from the CD player. Delphie quickly pushed thoughts of Enchantia to the back of her mind. She had to get this dance right.
She heard the music she had been waiting for and glided forward into a run, taking tiny steps as she skimmed across the floor. As the music changed, she stopped on her tiptoes, looking from side to side like a bird, her arms held slightly behind her like wings. Wait, Delphie told herself, listening to the music carefully. One, two…
She danced forward and turned a pirouette, before travelling forward again and stopping with one leg held behind her, one arm in front, trying to look as if she was a bird flying. All of Madame Za-Za’s instructions from the class earlier ran through her head – lift the chin… shoulders down… keep your back strong… turn out that leg…
Delphie was so busy thinking about the placing of her leg that she lost her balance and stumbled. Bother! It was so hard trying to concentrate on everything at the same time. Before she had started ballet classes, she had simply danced just how she had felt. Now she was learning that you had to make sure every bit of your body was doing the right thing at the right time. But Delphie found that when she concentrated on her legs, she forgot about her arms and then she remembered them and realised her head was wrong and her shoulders were up and by the time she had got those right, her legs were wrong again.
But I’ve got to get it right, she thought as she walked back over to the CD player to restart the music. There’s only one day to go!
The very next morning there were going to be auditions for the school’s end of term show. It was a woodland ballet and the main part was the Bluebird. All of Delphie’s class wanted to be the Bluebird. Delphie had been practising and practising.
The door to the studio opened and Delphie saw Madame Za-Za look in. A slim, elegant woman with her greying hair pulled back into a low bun, she was wearing a long floaty skirt over footless tights and a wrapover top.
“Well, Delphie?” she said. “How is it going?”
As Delphie met her teacher’s gaze, she couldn’t stop the truth from bursting out. “Actually, I’m not doing very well, Madame Za-Za. I just can’t seem to get the dance right no matter how hard I try!”
“Maybe you are trying too hard, child,” Madame Za-Za said.
Delphie frowned. “What do you mean?”
“It will make sense one day, Delphie,” Madame Za-Za said with a smile. “Maybe