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- Herausgeber: George Saoulidis
- Kategorie: Für Kinder und Jugendliche
- Sprache: Englisch
- Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2019
When a limb-different girl discovers that her dream in life is to become a ballerina, she asks for dance lessons. But will she manage to perform like the other girls, when her augmentations do not allow her to do the ballet positions, when the other girls avoid her and when the teachings do not fit her particular differences?
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Contents
Title Page-1
Copyright
On Pointe All Day Long
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Copyright © 2019 George Saoulidis
All rights reserved.
Cover image credit David Hofmann.
On Pointe All Day Long
Many people think they can remember things from when they're four years old. Truth is, that unless they've had a traumatic experience, those memories are fabricated, imaginations with the framework built from someone's retelling of the incident or even a photograph, with the older mind filling in the gaps.
However, Natalia's memory of the first day she saw ballet was accurate. It was something wonderful, something that had such an impact in the little girl's psyche that traumatised her and inspired her at the same time.
She remembers watching the Nutcracker unfold. It was the battle with the mice, the dancers were going back and forth, the music was loud, exciting, making her tiny little heart pound. And then the ballerina walks into the stage again, for the Nutcracker to protect her with his sword. She tiptoes into the scene, with her milky-white leotard and her fluffy tutu skirt. And she's on her tippy toes, gorgeous, ethereal, majestic.
Natalia knew at that moment what she wanted to do in life. She wanted to dance, she wanted to dance just like her, and she wanted to dance just like her in front of an audience that gasped and clapped and enjoyed the experience.
And then the four-year-old Natalia looked down at her own feet. Or rather, where they should have been. She was born sick, she didn't understand much, but the point was that she had no feet to tippy toe on, and the other girls did.
It hurt. It hurt her so much that the memory remains etched in her brain.
Natalia was seven years old. She got blades for Christmas, and she could actually walk on them. They were awkward, but she kept trying until she managed to figure it out. She fell so many times. Her father wanted to reach out and help her, her mother grabbed his hand and held him back. "Nyet. Let her do it on her own," mommy said.
Natalia squealed in delight when she managed a couple of steps. "Daddy, look!" she said and lost her balance, falling on the edge of the table.
Her mommy rushed towards her to pick her up. Natalia felt something wet on her eyebrow. She touched it, her hand came back red. The blood poured out of her cut and they had to rush her to the hospital. Seven stitches. She didn't care. She was on the blades and trying again on the very next day.
Natalia was eight years old. She asked for ballet classes, her parents turned and looked at each other, communicating with just their eyes. Daddy said, "Yes, honey," and mommy crossed her arms. "But remember what the doctors said about your bones? Well, you see, all little girls need to grow strong before they can do ballet."
"I know, daddy, I googled it. It said I can start when I'm eight. I'm eight right now, aren't I?" Natalia frowned.
