Ballet Stars

• Elsa Drendel, Grade 2
• Short Story
• 2020

Once there was a 12-year-old girl called Evie. She decided to do ballet. She wanted to go to the ballet academy called Bolshoi Ballet Academy. And she did. There were 3 other girls who went to the Bolshoi Ballet Academy. Their names were Mia, Wendy and Madeline. They were all very mean to Evie. Then she and her parents realised why. It was because she was new, shy and not very good at ballet. Evie was miserable. It got way worse. Mia, Wendy and Madeline all went to the same school as Evie. They were even in the same class. The teacher’s name was Mr Brown. The whole recess and lunch Evie sat by herself. The next time Evie went to ballet class her ballet teacher announced to everyone that in four weeks there will be a teacher from The Paris Opera Ballet school who will watch you dance. They will pick the three best people and give you the choice to either stay at this ballet school or go to The Paris Opera Ballet school. All the girls squealed except Evie. She didn’t squeal because she knew that she wouldn’t make it. Evie was so worried that she started crying. Her ballet teacher rang her parents and let her go home early. She thought that Mia, Wendy and Madeline were laughing at her, but she still kept practising and going to ballet. Evie practised very hard to get her part. She practised En Pointe, Grand Jete, Pirouettes, Arabesque and splits. Soon enough the four weeks were nearly over. There were two weeks left and Evie started to get really worried and she got so worried that she started to do clumsy things at school. She got a D- for her big test for the week and then she nearly went into the boy’s toilets by mistake. Everyone laughed at her. Her new friend Lizzy even didn’t play with her for the rest of the day! Very soon it was time for the people from The Paris Opera Ballet School to come and watch them dance. Evie was nervous. They told the group that they’ll give them the results in a week. Evie quickly warmed up. The first thing Evie did was 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th position. Then it was her turn, so she went on to the stage and performed. First, she started to do an Arabesque, then she did her favourite, it was a Pirouette and finally she did a Grand Jete, a big leap to finish it off! Evie thought in her head as she walked off stage, she did a pretty good job. The next week she was walking home from school when she got a text that said “You got into the Paris Opera Ballet School!” She was so excited. From then on, she became a star at Ballet and learned to believe in herself!