Ballet Slippers: A Short Story

The applauding audience, the lights, sequins and feathers, the colorful, elaborate tutus, and satin pointe shoes capture the hearts of young girls. Where else can a young girl dream of becoming a princess, a swan, a dancing snowflake or flower, or a sugarplum fairy? Where else can she be a fairy tale character like Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty? Where else can she be rescued by her handsome prince and collapse into his arms? Ballet is the magical world where these dreams can come true. Young girls and women can be all of these things, symbolizing femininity in a culture that teaches young girls to be and want everything pink and pretty.

The first experience of watching a ballet, for me or any little girl, can be fascinating and exhilarating. Wondering how a dancer can be so steady on her toes as she spins in circles and leaps through the air. Watching a ballet, there is a feeling of wanting to be graceful, as well as the warm sensation felt by a little girl as she slips into dream land. My mom had taken me to my first ballet when I was 11 years old. When we returned home home, she signed me up for classes at the local dance center. The expectations to become a prima ballerina would involve much hard work and concentration. I knew when I started it would take years of steady practice and commitment. Learning the history of ballet and the famous

“Pointe shoes, pointe shoes, pointe shoes, pointe shoes…” I kept singing, skipping up to the door. I could tell I was thoroughly annoying mom, hence her exasperated expression. She had not heard the end of my ‘finally getting pointe shoes!’ excitement.

It’s a year later and Leah loves ballet. She’s even trying to get some dance classes at her school. All of her football friends took some classes of ballet and loved it as much as Leah so now they’re in ballet too! Leah overall learned how the knowledge that her mom had versus her ignorance that knowledge is always going to win over

Debbie Allen was born to Vivian Ayers and Arthur Allen on January 16, 1950. At age three she started dancing and at age four she knew she wanted to be a professional dancer. Her parents divorced in 1957, and her mother was Debbie and her siblings were encouraged to be creative and independent. In 1960, Vivian Ayers took her children to Mexico. When they came back to Texas, Debbie auditioned for the Houston Ballet School but was denied because the color of her skin. A Russian teacher at the school saw Debbie perform and secretly enrolled her. When she was sixteen, she auditioned for the North Carolina School of the Arts but was rejected because her body was “unsuited” for ballet. While she was in high school she put her studies first and went

Later on, at the age of 5, Shavon had several extracurricular activities. One of the activities was ballet. She attended ballet classes at the Academy De Ballet. A few months later, she participated in her first ballet recital. Her first ballet costume was a dress that had light blue, and dark blue on it. At the bottom

Ballet is one of the most beautiful, graceful dances known to the dancing world. From the tutu to the pointe shoes the need to see the expression of the steps given. Being able to see how the illusion of a flying princess is one of the most mysteries that come with a ballet show. The history of Ballet has evolved into one of the most well-known type of dances in the world this is from only the men having roles in the ballet to women being able to express emotion.

to let her cast her ballet, so she brought a suit against them. She claimed

Jaspreana Tobias, a young girl born in the vibrant city of New Orleans, Louisiana, was a child who had grew up around music and rhythm and soul. Born to a family where the last person who was not from New Orleans was born two generations ahead of her, one could assume the rhythm was in her blood. Since she was little and could feel the music, the young Louisianan danced and did so with passion. Though her family loves music and all its counterparts, Jaspreana is the only dancer in the Tobias family tree. In high school, Jaspreana, a determined dancer, tried out for her school’s dance team. Unfortunately she did not make the cut. As any young woman would be, she was disappointed in herself; heart-broken actually. In her mind, she had a great chance at making the team, due to her skillful footwork and elegant grace as a dancer. In her own words, the result of her not making the team was “devastating” as it shook her confidence to the core. On that day, Jaspreana swore she would never try out for another dance team ever again. After months and months of sulking and great disappointment, her love and passion for the art of dancing returned. Not only had it returned, it returned with a new fire which burned deep in her soul. Dancing was her passion and being a professional dancer had been her dream since she could ever even two step to the sound of a simple beat. Jaspreana practiced and practiced. She would dance and think about dancing from the break of dawn until dusk. Finally

Casey Brown has always wanted to be a dancer. When she was little, she took dance classes once a week every Tuesday. Casey loved it and rocked the stage every year at the dance recitals at the Williamstown High School. As she got older, she took a break from dance but came back after a few short years. She took a modern class and her teacher would always tell her to take a ballet class. So the next year, Casey signed up for ballet. Right away her teacher noticed that something about her.

She is an African American. “My physique, like the color of my skin, is helping people reconsider what a ballerina looks like” (Copeland- “Ballerina”, 9). Her black body made everyone else dismiss the idea of her being a ballerina. Previously, ballerinas were white, had long feet, a narrow rib cage, and a small head. However, her unique look and incredible talent brought full houses to her performances. Many previous ballerinas and dancers were incredulous about having a black ballerina. They had preconceived notions that no one would want to see an African American on stage. Turns out, many people liked seeing a change on stage. “To see all the little brown girls out there in the audience supporting me… is the start of change and the direction where ballet should be going” (McCann, 187). In 2015, Misty Copeland made history at the American Ballet Theatre when she became the first African American soloist in twenty years and the third overall at the company (Caldwell, 15). Misty accomplished overcoming the color barrier for professional ballerinas, and she hasn’t stopped there. She danced and sang on Broadway in the musical On the Town. Now Copeland is working with The American Ballet Theatre for Project Plié, whose goal is to recruit ballerinas from all over the world which in turn attracts a diverse audience. She wants the ballet world to be more open to people who veer from the ‘regular’ look of

Further into the story, fear is evoked by foreign action as the character Hazel states, ”I’d hate it,” (Vonnegut 3), to the character george’s statement “then other people’d get away with it-and pretty soon we’d be right back to the dark ages again, with everybody competing against everybody else…” (Vonnegut 3). This Suggest that they are so used to what is viewed as societal norms, forcing them demonize and reject others who act outside of the standard. In this dystopia, Vonnegut incorporates real life aspects of fame and popularity as he writes ”He tried to think a little about the ballerinas. They weren’t really very good-no better than anybody else would have been, anyway. They were burdened with sashweights and bags of birdshot, and their faces were masked, so that no one, seeing a free and graceful gesture or pretty face…” (Vonnegut 1). Exemplified in the Vonnegut portrayal of the ballerinas shown on television he showcases the ballerinas as an image for the rest of the world to follow and

To prove everyone wrong, an interest was sparked in supporting ballet to show the world that American artists are just as competence as its foreign competitors. Unlike the Russians who have already established their mark in the ballet world, Americans were not commonly associated as talented ballet dancers. Thus, in 1954, President Dwight Eisenhower set aside $2,250,00 to fund dance, theatre, music, and sports tours to showcase American talents around the world. One of the funded dance tours was a ballet tour by New York City Ballet’s in Western Europe and the Soviet Union in 1962 (Croft, p. 425). New York City Ballet was a company founded by Balanchine and Kristen so their ballet performances reflected the innovation style of American ballet while maintaining its classical grace. Before their tour in the Soviet Union, the dancers were prepared for criticism and even booing during the performance due to the tensions between the two countries. However, all political differences were pushed aside, as “three thousand Soviet ballet fans rose to their feet to celebrate

I have danced every year of my life since. I am humbled to say, that through long days and nights in the studio, sacrificing time with my friends and family, all of the blood, sweat, and tears, I have accomplished what I have been working for since I was a little girl waddling around swallowed in a big pink tutu. I was chosen for the lead role of Cinderella in the Danscompany of Gainesville’s “Cinderella Ballet.” This accomplishment is a reflection of my consistent and sustained work ethic. This tenacity is reflected in other areas of my life and will be a defining characteristic that I carry to

While in the orphanage, she found a magazine, and on the cover was a ballerina on pointe. She was absolutely memorized by this, and she decided that she would one day become that ballerina. She knew she would never become a ballerina living in an