"Don't you get dizzy?" Angelo asked. He was sitting in the corner of the little dance studio, just staring at his sister in awe. Emi was having a blast training to do pirouettes with her new turn board. It was amazing. It spun like a top, but she had to activate those core muscles and keep her back straight. To be honest, her abs were beginning to hurt, and her legs too. "Well, you don't get that dizzy when you spot," she told Angelo. She could see the confusion on his face, so she knew she had to explain better. "You look at one spot... like that poster there on the wall. And then you keep looking at that spot no matter what. So when you turn, stare at it as long as you can, and then really quickly whip your head around to look at it better." Angelo looked even more confused, making Emi giggle. "It takes lots of practice," she said. Her parents were busy outside of the room, talking to the person who owned the studio place. At least that's what Emi understood from what they'd told her. She placed her left foot onto the turnboard again and took a deep breath. "Can you start the music again, please, Angelo?" she asked with a polite smile. Angelo nodded and pressed the play icon on the iPod. The music came to life through the Bluetooth speakers and Emi began her turn routine again. Soon she would ditch the turnboard and do it fully en pointe. She couldn't wait!
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Contemporary was an entirely different genre. Something about it was quite… free. It wasn’t as stiff and structured as classical ballet or as spontaneous as jazz. Contemporary did have the same technique necessary for classical ballet and came with an emotional part. That was something that was not so easy for Emi. She was a bundle of nerves sitting in the dressing room. Her mum was busy brushing her hair back into a neat bun, but soon their eyes met in the mirror. “Relax,” her mum said. “Just… don’t think about the movements. Let it flow through you. Act out what the song means to you.” She paused. “Ok,” she said turning the swivel chair so that it faced her. “Tell me what the song is saying. To you.” “Uhm…” Emi was about to bite her lip before she remembered that she was wearing makeup. She didn’t want to mess it up. “About trying to… uh… be who you are on the inside? Kind of like Mulan.” She grinned. Her mum chuckled. “That’s a really good connection, sweetie,” she told her. “And who are you on the inside?” Emi hesitated with this one. “Maybe someone confident?” her mum asked, winking at her. “Someone who doesn’t quite see how amazing of a dancer she is.” Emi smiled, a little embarrassed. “Mummy…” she mumbled, though she couldn’t help but giggle. She sighed and looked at her reflection in the mirror. So she had to tell the audience this story, of a girl trying to show her [confidence] true self but fighting off maybe shyness or something? And all through this dance… She crossed her fingers and hope she would do well. What she didn’t know is that she would take home the first prize in the Solo Primary 9-11 Age Division. She’d reflected the piece perfectly. Dance photo shoots were always exciting. As Emi stretched, she plotted which positions she would like for her dance profile. Jumps were always cool to capture, and those pictures that showed off her flexibility. Those were pretty cool too. She beamed at the tutu she got to wear for one of the photo shoots. It was no secret how much she loved tutus. She would wear it every day if she could, but that would probably get pretty boring anyway.
The weather in Rio was really lovely; so warm and sunny, so she got a chance to take pictures outside. Back in London or New York, there was no way she wanted to take dance pictures outside right now, but luckily it was Rio time. Looking at the finished results later on, Emi was more than happy. The pictures came out great! She'd have to send them to her friends back in London and to her aunts and uncles too. London was fun. Not because of any special sights or anything like that; but because Emi could see her friends and some other family members more often. Her grandma and grandpa lived in London. And her uncle Eli and his girlfriend. Even her aunt Zelda lived there. She usually got to see them during family gatherings though, so maybe the most fun in London was being able to see Lijah, Jarrett, Tansy and Maddie.
She’d met Jarrett in the park unexpectedly. He was weird. But weren’t all boys weird? Okay, maybe not weird in a bad sense, but still… strange. There was always this look in his eyes like he knew all of the secrets that the world held. Like he could read minds or something. And his way of doing things was kind of mysterious. He was like a grown up in a little boy’s body. Sometimes Emi forgot he was still a kid. And then there was Lijah. Well, he was just super fun to be around. She liked how he was gentle. Not like other boys. He showed her some cool things, like winter flowers. Their picnic in his mum’s garden was like something out of the fairytales. Maddie and Tansy were normal. Well okay, Tansy was really shy but she was still fun to play with and Maddie was super fun to play with too. Back in Paris, there were some guys working on the new bedrooms, and Emi was excited to see them. Renovations, her parents called it. But at the same time, she didn’t really want to leave London. She thought of begging them to stay in London. She could even spend time with her new kobesister Maë and Aunty Daphne, who wasn’t actually her aunty. Emi sighed, making her mummy ask what was wrong. But she just shook her head. “Nothing, nothing,” she said, though she was in a bit of a cranky mood. At least in Paris she’d have a cool new room. |
Emilia at a glanceNames: Emilia Paris van Loon Archives
April 2017
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