Friday, December 22, 2006
8:26 AM
Aaaand... Scene 3 of "WHEN"!!! Enjoy:)
Scene 3I remembered Rosanne
The undiscovered star of the school dance club
For everyone of us hid beneath Lisa’s shadow
Lisa. The star.
The Queen.
The one who basked in opulence.
For who was it that everyone saw most prominently?
The middle of the front row?
The soloist?
The one spotlight?
The Glamorous one?
The one pink among the greys?
Lisa.
Lisa ruled the dance club.
Everything went her way.
Automatically, whatever the choreography
was a solo for her.
Until Rosanne arrived.
A transfer into the school
through the dance club.
At first she wasn’t noticed
but it wasn’t long
until the Instructor saw something different in that girl
two years my senior.
In one swift move, Rosanne became Lisa’s contender for the limelight
Lisa struggled more,
fighting to keep her grip
fighting to keep her spotlight.
To ensure she remained the one and only star.
We could only hold our breaths
For there could only be ONE star.
The deciding move came with the new choreography
for the school fundraising concert.
“The Moon Goddess”
The story of a girl
forced to leave all she loves behind
exiled to reside in the cold,
lonely end of eternity.
The fouette in the solo was a major scare.
SIX TURNS en pointe.
Six rounds.
Six times of an ordeal whipping your leg out to turn you around.
It was to be the last performance for the senior batch.
Lisa’s batch.
So she fought harder.
Lisa would never let go.
Lisa.
Spinning. Spinning.
Bend, whip one
two
three
four
five
But.
As the last one came
no one saw her toe grip that seam in the wooden floor
and catch it.
But we did see her fall
and we heard her wail
of agony
of sorrow
of anguish
at giving up the last role she would dance
to a junior.
Lisa fell from grace that day.
Broken as her ankle
as her pride.
She had to endure watching Rosanne work her magic
and take away her spotlight.
We could only watch
as Rosanne became the new star.
And Rosanne?
She didn’t have it easy.
Lisa’s batch was bound with vengeance.
For the fall of one of their year
would surely mean that another of their own would have
a chance to shine in her place?
Rosanne had taken the spotlight away from Lisa
but any chance of standing in it away from the other seniors as well.
I don’t know what the seniors did or said to Rosanne
but I found her
sitting on the railing outside the dance studio
one day after rehersal
crying.
I’d been at the barre a while ago
staying back to cool off
A back lift had gone wrong halfway
and my right tendon was burning
I lifted my leg onto the top rung of the barre
and bent over slowly.
Beads of sweat trickled down off my forehead
over the crook of my nose
along the lines of my chin
down my neck, staining my white
cotton Lycra leotard grey.
Slowly I felt tremors of warmth travel down my hamstring.
I lowered myself, until I was
lying on my back
on the faded paraquet.
I propped my hurt leg up against the bar above me
and stared at the studio upside down.
Finally I got up, holding the
slippery wooden barre for support
I jiggled my leg a little.
With extra care, I prayed that nothing would happen to it.
The performance was looming round the corner.
I undid the tight knots on my shoe ribbons and slid my toe shoes
into the cotton bag and
drew the drawstring before
pulling the school jacket over my leotard
and chucked everything of mine back
into my bag
and pulled shut the zipper before
pulling the heavy door open.
The sunset filtered over me through the slits in the
metal barriers under the roof
basking me in a myriad of clouded flames
I turned towards the stairwell
but
heard a sob behind me.
or
a sniffle.
Spinning on my heel
I saw
a figure
perched on the banister
along the railings
overlooking the level below.
Curiosity
Suspicion
I wandered closer
to see the face of one
distraught
or foolish enough
to be in such a position.
A slender hand
thin and white
grasped the metal railing
up a slender arm swaddled in the navy blue
of our school jacket.
“Hey!”
I practically froze in my tracks.
Tap tap tap.
Shuffling of worn soles sounded from the quiet courtyard below.
I recognized that voice.
My brother.
On his way to meet me after his training.
“Hey… are you all right?”
He sounded concerned; I know he was.
Rosanne didn’t answer him,
She just covered her mouth with one hand
and sobbed some more.
“Wait… don’t move.. I’ll come up..”
With that the footsteps shuffled to the stairwell behind me
and soon the tall, wiry figure
of my brother emerged
onto the terrace.
He crept stealthily closer, nearing me,
glanced at me and placed a finger over his lips.
I gritted my teeth and gulped, backing away.
My brother approached Rosanne
slowly, quietly,
then, to my shock,
hoisted himself onto the railing beside her.
Rosanne gasped in shock,
and made to shift away.
But my brother held his hand out to her.
“Is there anything…”
“No.. I’m fine..”
“Look, do you mind telling me?”
“I’d rather not.”
“OK. Then, do you mind
climbing down? ‘Cos,
you know, you’re putting yourself
in a lot of danger..”
“How would you know
what I’m going through?
We don’t even know each other..”
“I know who you are. You’re
the star dancer.”
“I..”
“It’s OK. My sis is in
the dance club too. I know.”
“Oh.. You look familiar..”
“I’m in Track.”
“Oh. You’re the one
with the photos in the canteen displays.”
“Um.. I guess you could put it that way..”
Oh boy was my brother
a smooth talker.
Even as they sat up
on the banister
and chatted the evening away
I knew that things
would never be the same again.