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[Darning new shoes.] Pair number 29..

"Niiiice." Said Ezera walking into the studio. "I have a friend that keeps every pair." She's looking around as if she's not sure whether she's in the right place.

Grace looked up when she heard the door open, though she couldn't say she recognised the woman. But she still offered her a friendly smile from where she was sat on the floor.

"Oh yeah, I'm always tempted to. I keep a pair from every show, and obviously my very first pair as well, but I think I'd run out of room to store them all pretty quickly."

Putting one more stitch in, she then put the shoe down for a moment, looking over again. "Are you looking for someone?"

"That's exactly what we told her. But she was adamant about it." Ezera emphasized, her eyes growing wide. "I mean, I think she was even a bit superstitious about getting rid of them. Anyway, we ended up fanning them out on her wall and putting them in these old antique frames we got at a flea market. It turned out really well." Ezera grinned and shook her head at the whole situation though. It had been a production.

But where was..."Um, yeeeeah. I'm supposed to meet with someone that's willing to help me work out some kinks with my fouette turns. Thing is, it was arranged through a friend, of a friend , of a friend twice removed, so I have no idea what her name is, what she looks like or if I happen to be talking to her right now." Ezera said with a laugh.

Grace frowned lightly for a moment, trying to remember if anyone had asked her to do anything like that. Pushing herself to her feet, Grace stepped over her bag and approached the woman.

"Well, I don't know if it is me you're after, but I'm happy to help if you don't manage to find who you're looking for. I'm actually playing Odile at the moment, I know how much of a bitch fouettes can be."

Edited (sent it too early, haha - sorry!) 2016-11-23 15:14 (UTC)

"You're playing Odile? Swan Lake Odile?" Ezera sputtered in awe. "Then you have a lot more important things to do right now than worry about my fouettes." Odile was by far her favorite part--to watch. "My name is Ezera, by the way. It's literally made my day to meet you."

(Zero worries! :))

Well that wasn't something she got told very often - not that she was complaining. Odile was one of her favourite roles to dance as it happened; she could talk about 'Swan Lake' all day given the chance, so getting the principal part had been practically a dream come true.

"Really, it's totally fine. I'm done with rehearsals early today anyway, so I'm literally just sat here waiting for it to miraculously become warm again outside. I don't do so well in the cold when I forget to bring a scarf." Bringing her hand out if her cardigan pocket, she held it out and smiled again. "I'm Grace. You've got a beautiful name, by the way."

Edited (typo!) 2016-11-23 15:54 (UTC)

Watching Swan Lake was as close as she would ever get to dancing it because, while she was a dancer, she most certainly was not a classically trained ballet dancer. That took years of tireless dedication to that single purpose and her own craft was just different. So while she had training in ballet, she did not see herself as a ballet dancer. That would be wrong. But who didn't dream of dancing the part of Odile even if it was vicariously through watching someone else?

“You’re such a rockstar, thank you! And yes,” She said as she went to set her bag down in a corner, pulled out her flat shoes and called back, “it’s getting chilly out there. I put hand warmers into my boots today because I couldn’t deal with it.” And then she returned and shook Grace’s offered hand. “Ha! Thanks. It’s apparently a Hawaiian boys name. And a Hebrew boys name. And an Ethiopian boys name. Either way, it’s a boys name and I’m fairly sure my parents were really drunk when they picked it out. Bless their wee sense of humor.”

“But darling, I think I’ve managed to make it my own!” Ezera said with a laugh before she sat down and began to stretch. “So, when is the big night?”

As she started stretching, Grace went and got the half-darned pointe shoe, bringing it over to where Ezera was and sitting down opposite her. "Hey, a name's a name, right? At least yours is lovely and unusual; the comment I get most about mine is that it 'goes well with my job'."

The mention of opening right got an anxious smirk out of her, though in all honesty she was more excited than nervous. The stage was what she lived for.

"Two weeks from now - I'm still kind of freaking out about it." She nodded to Ezera then, quirking a curious brow. "So, you don't dance here I'm guessing? I haven't seen you around before."

Edited (typo again, sorry! ;;) 2016-11-23 21:01 (UTC)

"It...goes well with your job? Someone said that it 'goes well with your job'? Goodness, now that clearly shows a distinct lack of imagination. Why does that sound like something someone would say while speed dating? Right after, "Grace, huh? Like in that song, 'Amazing Grace?'" Ezera quipped in a deeply exaggerated man's voice while stretching out her cold weather tightened hamstrings.

"I'd be freaking out too. But in a good way. Um, no actually, when I freak out I start rewriting choreography at the last minute." Annnnd switch legs. "Is this the first time that you're dancing the part of Odile?" She asked.

"Nope, I have my own small company that's attached to a permanent home at the Katakomb Kabaret. And, as I am sure that you guessed, it's not a ballet company. We're a glorious mess of different dance styles and we have baroque, burlesque, belly dance, cabaret and even circus sensibilities." Ezera sighed dramatically. "We're the unwanted bast--er, sideshow circus children of the dance world." She said with a rebellious smirk.

"I have our last reel on my phone. I can show you if you'd like and if your Ballet Master does not rip me a new one cause been there, done that, got the restraining order." She joked.

Edited 2016-11-24 01:55 (UTC)

"It's always awkward when people say that. My parents aren't religious at all, so it feels weird just replying like '..um, no?'." She had to laugh at Ezera's general 'man' impression. "But you'd be amazed at how many people tell me that or something close to it, especially guys."

Whether or not that was a factor in why she's been single for so long, she had no idea. But hey, since when was that a bad thing?

"It is, yeah - I've done 'Swan Lake' before, but mostly when I was in the corps. This is the first time I'm taking the actual swans on. It's brilliant...exhausting, but brilliant."

Similarly to how Ezera reacted to her, Grace looked absolutely amazed at the idea of the Katakomb Kabaret. At the opposite end of the spectrum, she'd only ever really been exposed to ballet, so the idea of being in a place with so many different styles sounded incredible. Unsurprisingly, the offer to see the reel was met rather enthusiastically.

"Um, yes - that's such an awesome idea for a place, I'd love to come by sometime."

Ezera laughed. “I bet!” But I also bet it’s because men have no clue how to talk to you. Ballerinas evoke a very specific image. Not to mention that once you say ‘ballet’, they’re struggling to figure out what to talk to you about. That’s when the amazingly awkward fumble happens. With me, I tell them what I do and they think I’m a stripper.” Ezera shakes her head and shrugs.

“The first time! That has to be properly celebrated." Already Ezera considered what that could entail. She's known Grace for all of maybe fifteen minutes but that really did not matter. This was a milestone. It needed to be recognised. Not now, no. Grace needed to focus and stay on target. But once the season was over....hm.

You could almost see the wheels in Ezera's head turning.

"Really?" She didn't mean to sound surprised, honestly she's met more ballet dancers that were open to her melange of styles than those with a very narrow definition of dance, but she also had some really unfortunate experiences, once with a Ballet Master she was consulting with, who basically told her that she'd be better off working in McDonald's because her dance wasn't dance. Again, few and far between, but she would lie if she said that it hadn't affected her more formative days. Now? Ha! Well, with age comes ‘no fucks given’.

She happily went over to her bag and dug around for her phone, fishing it out from a deep pocket before popping back down next to Grace. Ezera smiled warmly. She could talk about the cabaret and her family’s long history in that art forever, but she would spare Grace, for now. “The reel is actually kinda old already even though it’s our newest one. It doesn’t show as much of the aerial dance that I’d like but we’re working on a newer reel real soon.” Very funny, Ezera.

“Each one of us is versed in different dance styles, but I also ensure that every dancer has a specialisation. I used to do fusion belly dance. Here, this was my last solo performance.” She really wasn’t trying to show off. Her voice got more excited as she spoke and scrolled through the videos to put two in a playlist for Grace. She loved sharing her style and watching others dance too. It was all dance. It was all good. And it was the very heart of her.

"You are welcome to come anytime that you want. Actually, I think you should also come at the end of your season. When is that, by the way?" See, wheels turning.

Handing Grace her phone, she let her watch for as long as she wanted and continued to stretch in the meanwhile.

(ooc: Ugh, sorry, so long!)

Edited 2016-11-25 14:52 (UTC)

(ooc: no worries! I'm the last person to apologise to for that, I'm terrible!)

"I never get that - I guess to me it's because it's my job, but it's like someone saying that they're a lawyer. I don't know the first thing about the ins and out of the law, but I wouldn't let it make things awkward. But hey, at least they try, right?"

Yeah, her shoe's never getting finished. It was eagerly put aside once again as soon as Ezera came back over and sat next to her, forgotten about in the face of getting to see just what Ezera's job entailed.

"Definitely - who wouldn't want to?" It was slightly rhetorical; she knew exactly the types of people who turn their nose up at anything that wasn't classical ballet, and frankly it was ridiculous. Ballet was a beautiful discipline, yes, but it wasn't the only kind of dance on the planet. By the sounds of it, the Kabaret was exactly what those people needed to see. Maybe it'd remind them of what times were like before they forgot what fun was.

"I'm seriously so jealous already - that sounds so damn cool." Once the phone was handed to her, she hit play and full screened the first video in the playlist. As she watched, her amazement was plainly written all over her face, with the occasional 'oh my god' thrown in under her breath. And when that finished, she was just as quick to go to the second video as she answered Ezera's question.

"The winter season usually ends around February, but I'm coming by before then for sure. This looks incredible, honestly - just from that it's obvious how talented you all are." Her wheels weren't far behind to be honest - Grace liked meeting new people and experiencing new things, so this was right up her alley.

"At least they try? Nope. They should try harder." She stressed, pressing her lips together. Still, she shrugs, as if she's not really concerned about it either way because, who has time, right? Especially when it came to trying not to break the fragile egos of men trying to score because, let's face it, that's why so many of them attempt the conversation. Of course it wasn't always like that and perhaps she was just more susceptible to it precisely because of some the burlesque elements in her shows.

"I'm so glad that you think so, Grace. And I appreciate you saying that. We do have a lot of fun." She admitted with a smile. The rehearsals were grueling and each show made life--or whatever life passed for like life when they weren't dancing, which wasn't often--come to a stop. But it was worth it. She didn't have to tell Grace that, she knew.

"Oh, definitely. But I also insist that you come by after the season ends. To celebrate at the cabaret. You know, nothing big, just a small celebration." And by small, she meant she was calling everyone. Ezera loved celebrating people's firsts. Maybe it was a mothering instinct (which she'll insist that she doesn't have) or just a complete love of seeing people celebrate their successes (more likely).

"Ok, shall I show you the horror show known as 'Ezera's fouette turns'? Brace yourself, it's pretty terrifying."

Edited 2016-11-27 04:53 (UTC)

She shrugged as well, but more in agreement than anything else. Okay, so maybe she had a point - maybe Grace was too willing to give people the benefit of the doubt, but she knew that would be a habit that'd be hard to break.

"Well when you put it like that, I suppose it'd be rude to say no wouldn't it?" She replied with a smirk. Generally her season finale plans involved a hot bath and a lot of foot related TLC, but she was pretty sure that she could switch things up a little if it meant seeing the dancers and performers from the videos up close. And while the flowers and applause where generally enough of a celebration for her at the end of a successful opening night, she was hardly going to turn this down either.

"Don't worry, I live for the terrifying." Getting to her feet, Grace wrapped the ribbons around the half finished shoe and offered her a hand up. "But, I'm sure I'll have seen far worse. Let's see what you've got."

"That's the spirit!" She straightened up and pulled out her best elitist snob voice, "one does not want to be rude, indeed." Pause. "I tried out to play Queen Elizabeth II in The Crown. It didn't work out. Don't know why. I was devastated." She joked. Ezera took the offered hand then in jest, again, crossed herself. Because this was going to look painful.

"Oh, I doubt that. I look like a wacky waving inflatable tube man."

She got into a starting position and then tried it. See, she could do a few in a row rather neatly, but then, maybe it was the distribution of balance or lifting her hip up too high, or maybe all of the above and more, but it fell apart and she found it hard to maintain the momentum to keep the turn tight and help it make its full evolution.

"Ack, see it? There...something happens. Something baaaaad."

(right, I'm back on planet Earth now - sorry for the wait!)

"Oh God, I tried watching that, but I couldn't take it seriously. And Northerner's say I sound posh."

It was hard not to laugh as Ezera joked around, especially at her comment about the inflatable tube man. On bad days or during poor rehearsals, that was a pretty fair comparison. Still, Grace doubted someone with as much dance experience as Ezera could do anything too badly.

As she executed the move, Grace leaned against the barre and watched carefully. She held herself well, chest up and arms coordinating nicely with her legs...her technique wasn't bad at all - unsurprisingly, of course - but she could start to see where the problem might have been.

"Well nothing's on fire and there aren't frogs raining down, so it could definitely be worse." Giving her a cheeky smile, she leaned up from the barre. "It looks like you're thinking more about your momentum leg than your supporting one, and that's making you tilt your hips and throwing you off. I used to do the same thing - give it another go, but focus more on keeping your weight in your supporting leg. The other one knows what to do already."

(Welcome back! Don't worry, it's all good!)

"I kinda liked it." She confessed. "And it has nothing to do with Matt Smith being in the show, I swear." Because it was a bit funny to see him there. Like watching the Doctor displaced in time. "But I like anything English related, especially your telly."

Ezera watched her hip in the mirror as she executed the turn again, more slowly, watching for the moment that she felt the weight start to lift off the supporting leg. "You do sound posh! It's awesome. It's like you can say absolutely anything and still sound intelligent and refined. Me, I could be talking about astrophysics and I still sound A-meer-ican. Blah!" Even though she was actually German by birth, Izzy had grown up in New York before taking off to travel.

"Ok, I feel it now. What you're saying." She clarified. She tried again. It was better but she was still repeating the habit. "Rats." Again. She did it until it improved but it would take more work to remember not to continue to make the mistake without thinking about it. "Nothing's on fire...yet. It's still early." She warned. "How long have you been dancing ballet?"

Edited 2016-12-02 02:29 (UTC)

"It's funny you should say that, I actually prefer American shows. And don't get me wrong - I love the idea of it, following the Queen when she was younger and all, but I guess I'm more partial to the old Kings and Queens, the Tudors and that lot. Bit of a weakness for the dresses."

As they talked, Grace watched her try again, and then again. Like she'd said before, the move could be a bitch to get right; she just hoped Ezera would keep at it. She knew from experience there was nothing better than knowing you finally got something like that just right.

The question of how long she'd been dancing was one she got asked a lot, but she never minded telling people. Remembering herself in the little tutus her parents would get for her and her first few exams always made her smile.

"Oh God..ever since I can remember. I think I was four? Five maybe? My mum made me go to class because it was what she did when she was little, but then I sort of...didn't stop, I just got addicted." With a laugh, she shrugged. "I just fell completely in love with it."

Unfolding her arms from where they'd been loosely crossed in front of her, she leaned down and pulled off her boots - if you could call them that; they resembled thick slippers than actual foot wear - before she joined Ezera in the centre of the room.

"Is that feeling better, or do you still feel like you're losing it after a couple of turns?"

Edited 2016-12-02 19:36 (UTC)

"Oh, the dresses. Yes! Oh my goodness, yes. I love historical costumes. I mean love." She gushed, taking a moment to stop what she was doing to emphasise the point. "I think that if I wasn't in my business then I would have been a fashion designer and I'd base everything I made off of historical clothing pieces from different eras and cultures. Don't get me wrong, I try to do that now at the Cabaret, but there's aways a budget to consider, so we end up trying to reuse and up-cycle different pieces."

She took a moment to let her grounding foot rest a tick.

"It's really great that it was your choice. With ballet it has to be, right? You sacrifice too much for it to be a lukewarm passion." She said. "But I do know some dancers--different types of dance even--mostly ballroom, who do it because one of their parents did and there was pressure to continue on that path. Oh, they are so miserable. I feel horrible for them. I mean, I come from a long line of cabaret performers, but I never felt pressured to be part of it. I just loved it, that's all."

If you fail once, twice, three times, you try, try, again. And so she did until she did it until she could do more than she did. "It feels better, yes, but I'm going to have to work at it. I'll be honest, I think part of it is that I'm also out of practice. That's what's bad when you play with different styles--jack of all trades, master of none." Ok, well, belly dance, but that was another thing--ballet was timeless, at the cabaret you had to continuously develop something new or be out of business. Which meant, you couldn't always stick with your passions. Blah?

Edited 2016-12-03 00:14 (UTC)

"Definitely; I can't imagine doing it if you didn't. I doubt you'd get too far in the industry if you didn't love it anyway, companies can always tell. It's cool that your family were in the business before you; the family photo albums must be pretty colourful."

She doubted her parents would have let her move to London if they thought it'd drop off her radar; her schooling hadn't been cheap, and for the first few years she'd had to show she was mature enough to work hard and prove it was what she wanted. Once she'd reached fourteen or so it had been beyond a doubt, and now at twenty one she was awaiting another promotion with healthy impatience.

"Honestly, that sounds like that's all it is. I'm not a teacher or anything, but your technique looks just fine. All you need is a bit of time to let your muscles remember what they're doing. I am jealous though - it must be brilliant knowing so many styles."

Ezera burst out laughing. "Yeah, that they were." She said with a touch of nostalgia. It all ended too soon for her parents, but the memories still glittered like firecrackers in the sky - bright and larger-then-life. "We owned one of the first cabaret's in Berlin. It was my grandfather's and, boy, could he ever tell you some crazy cabaret stories from his time. My dad kept it going until we had to leave after the wall came down but, I swear, I have pictures of me dancing before I could properly walk, on stage, in Berlin. It's pretty hilarious with just a dash of embarrassing."

"Cool. Great!" She said. "Thanks so much for taking a look. Again, I know your time is precious." Ezera crooked an eyebrow and looked at Grace for a few moments with a small smile.

"You know what they say about the grass being greener, right? Yes, I love knowing different styles. But people who dedicate themselves to that one thing and master it? Every detail? Nothing too small? That's rare. And awesome! And why it's great to have both kinds of people spinning on this earth." She cantered her head. "That doesn't mean, however, that you can't take other classes for your enjoyment, right? Or are you worried that might detract from your focus on ballet? Or that you might like it too much?"

"Oh God, don't get me started on the baby pictures..." Grace had to laugh too, thinking of some of her less than graceful childhood dance endeavours. "They're always cute one way or another though, right? Maybe more so to other people than us, but it counts."

When Ezera thanked her, Grace shook her head and held up her hands for a moment - the universal gesture of 'don't mention it'. "It's my pleasure, I just hope I was helpful."

As for taking other classes, well...she'd be lying if she said she hadn't been curious about it in the past. Something like ballroom dancing she'd always wanted to try, but had never quite gotten around to looking into. She knew a lot of her colleagues had gotten into adult dancing in their spare time - that was another style she was very curious to try. "It's mostly just finding the time, honestly. And having the energy! But maybe that's what 2017 will be for, right?"

And then there came a momentary pause of her own.

"Tell me if this is weird, because it probably is since we just met, but would you want to get coffee some time? I'd love to hear more about Berlin and the cabaret and everything, it all sounds so interesting."

"Yes, that's right." Ezera agreed. As she grew older, she could also appreciate those pictures more than when, say, her mother sat her prospective boyfriends--or those that she hoped would become prospective boyfriends, rather-- down on the couch and pulled out the album for 'old times sake'.

Helpful? "It was very helpful." She countered. Otherwise, flailing arms and limbs, remember?

"Listen, I am a firm believer in learning and doing something new in the New Year. I think you should totally got for it. Even if it's something you try for fun." Gotta have a little of that balance in life, she thought.

But it was Grace's next words made her grin widely. "Well, how else would we get to know one another?" She asked curiously. Usually, she was doing the asking. Well, not even asking but the pulling a new person along to whatever crazy thing had inspired her that day. It was nice to be the one asked.

"But I gotta warn you." She said with large eyes and in a hushed whisper. "People say I'm wee bit eccentric. I mean, that's what they say. So, um, if coffee turns into street paintball or crashing Broadway tryouts just to intentionally sing "Memory" from Cats really badly, well, you've been warned. By the way, the former wasn't my fault." She says while pressing her lips together in a semi-serious line while slowing shaking her head.

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Vids possibly NSFW

thanks for the heads up!

:)

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