audette rousseau

Despite getting lost, being hunted, and finding herself on the other end of a set of particularly vicious vampire teeth, her audition into the Sacrosanct Ballet Theatre had gone exceedingly well. Her resume alone had earned her the attention of the Artistic Director and the Ballet Master. Few within their Corps de Ballet had danced at the 'Opéra national de Paris', after all. She had known their eyes were upon her the moment she entered the studio, even if she was hardly alone within the room. There had been at least two dozen other ballerinas, some striving for a role as an apprentice dancer, some hoping to move beyond the Corps as a Principal ballerina and all of them had been Audette's direct competition. After all, she wanted more for her life than to be simply another pretty face within the Corps. She wanted to be that spotlight within the ballet, just once she yearned to have her name up in lights, regardless of how grueling it was to be a professional ballerina. All of it was worth it for her. The Ballet Master, thankfully, seemed to agree with her own Mentor back in France and with some technical critiques, she had received a call back later that week with a formal job offer, the very sort that had prompted an enthusiastic phone call back to Paris to inform her parents that she had done it. It might not be the New York Ballet, but she had still established a foothold for herself in a foreign country. Maybe here, there was a chance to climb the professional ladder. Maybe here, her the talent pool would not be nearly as saturated.

It was a nieve hope, she knew, and one she kept to herself the next day when she had arrived at her first practice with the other thirty dancers that made up the general Corps. Joining a new group of ballet dancers was always terrifying, they were a judgmental bunch, the kind that tended to dislike letting in new faces and yet, she had come to expect as much. Although her part in the new ballet production was not exactly remarkable by any means, Audette was more than happy to rise to the challenge. After all, her ability to mesh flawlessly with the other dancers in synchronized time would largely dictate any possible opportunities that might arise for her in the near future. It was, she discovered, the Napoli the ballet worked so meticulously upon. Although she had heard of the Danish ballet and seen it herself when the Royal Danish Ballet had toured, Audette had never anticipated to find herself as a sea nymph. It was the show's debut production within the country, and she was ecstatic. Bournonville's choreography was absolutely sublime! With it's graceful and thrilling footwork, Audette had thrown herself fully into her new career which, in turn, explained her very presence in the Southern side of the town on her only day off.

In a new home, it was only natural, her desire to explore the world she found herself in. Her western flat was decidedly dingy in comparison to the cheery porched houses of the Southern side. The park, however, was what had intrigued Audette the most. It was a breath of fresh air in a city of cobblestone and concrete. A part of the young woman missed the French countryside she often retreated to on those days work did not demand her presence. This was the closest she could get to her home. Although she had been excited to start her life anew, Audette had not fully been prepared for the feeling of homesickness that had struck her. She was content to simply stroll along those fields of green grass and past the children playing on playgrounds, at least, until Audette found herself distracted by a rather quaint looking gazebo. The structure provided just enough space, she was sure, for a pirouette, the wooden floor perfect for that dancing. Surely it wasn't a bad thing to stop for a little and run through those movements? Even if she didn't have her ballet shoes on her, some could be performed, to some degree, in sneakers.

Her parents would have laughed at her at the suggestion but, with no one else present who knew her, Audette saw little reason why she could not enjoy a quick outdoors practice. She dropped her purse on the wooden floors of the gazebo, her jacket following suite but moments later to provide as much movement as she could gain from her restrictive street clothing. Slowly, she moved towards the center of the wooden surface of the gazebo, her feet moved towards first position. Her arms rose above her head in a relevé as her feet moved upwards, the girl quickly shifting through her various positions in the same beginning practicing movement - second, third, and then fourth. It was only once she was in fourth position that Audette easily lifted herself from fourth position into her pirouette, her hands held out in front of her as she spun on the very tip of her sneaker, only to land several turns later with a controlled sort of ease back into her fourth position. Audette shifted, her arms held out at her sides with decided grace as she rose off of one foot, her leg lifting as she practiced her arabesque, determined to ensure her movements were both controlled and graceful. Her attention was so resolute upon that dance move that Audette hardly noticed that she was no longer alone, much less that she was being watched.