The year I was in Nutcracker Ballet
Christmas was coming. Every shop was crowded. It was a grand season.
I mostly like the Nutcracker Ballet. They were having tryouts for the local production. The tryouts were November 1st. It was October 30th. Would I make it to the ballet? I thought.
Days passed, from October 30th, to Halloween, then finally the big day! We drove to Lodi. I was nervous. What if ... I kept saying to myself. Finally we got there.
It seemed like thousands of children were there, big and small, even boys. They were all in this big auditorium. People were given a piece of paper with numbers on them to each child. I was number 205!!“We will ... I mean, when it’s your turn, you’ll go out of this room, in a group, into the training room,” a voice rang out. The room became silent. I guess he was in charge. I was right. He was a tall thin man with deep brown eyes.
“How many people are going to be in the ballet?” I asked shyly.
“Two thirds of this group will be in the ballet,” he answered in a mumbling voice, but everyone understood. “You should call me Mr. Cutterhom,” he said in a commanding voice.
“Mr Cuttingham ... I mean, Mr. Cutterhom,” someone asked, “How many girls are going to be dolls?”
“Hhmmm ... four, I think,” he said.
Four, four, four. I could be one of those four. Not one, but four, I thought.
“I will take group 200 through 210 now,” he demanded.
It was my turn. I felt like a spider that had eaten too many butterflies. My group stood up and left the room. What would become of me? Would I become famous me or plain me? I wondered. We entered the room. It was as clean as a well-brushed tooth.
“Boys, do the mouse crawl, and girls, do the doll walk,” he said.
The girls did the doll walk perfectly, but the boys on the other hand did not. Then he called the winners.
“The people that will be in the ballet are Faith, Jill, Kelsey, John, Ethan, and Chris,” he said. I was in the ballet. I was actually in the ballet. I could feel the excitement about to burst out of me.
Our first recital was on November 11th. Then it was our first show, November 23rd. Twelve days passed. I was so excited. Time flew by. Mr. Cutterhom said “Get in line, dolls and mice.” We did. My part was simple. When my part came up, I danced. The mice picked me up, put me down, and I ran off stage. I felt famous. I was famous Faith Lemire-Baeten.