The end of Melissa...
March 1st, -0- total days till graduation, -0- days left of school
School is miserable. I can’t freaking wait for this year to be over. In August I’m moving to New York and I’ll be attending Juliard, on scholarship no less. I’m pretty proud of that. I had to work my ass off to get there. Part of being a black ballerina is that you always get stuck in the back. No dance instructor wants a black Clara in the nutcracker or a black lead in Swan Lake. Half the time I’m lucky if I get a part at all even though I’m twice as good as the lead.
To guarantee that I have any chance I have to make sure that I’m always thinner than the other girls in my company too. If I’m lighter then it’s easier for the few guys in the company to lift me. It also makes costumes easier for the studio because they don’t generally have costumes larger than a size four. If you are bigger than that then they have to have expensive alterations done and no one in the company appreciates that.
Luckily my dance studio always allows toe shoe dancers to audition for their own solo dance at all recitals that aren’t just straight ballets. I was able to send my solo in as my audition tape. They were so impressed that they sent a “scout” out to see me back in September. They’re sending a second one to see me in just over a week. I’ve never been more excited and nervous all at once in my entire life.
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