The Ballerina

It was opening night for The Swan Lake. She was staring for the first time as the key dancer for the American Ballet Theatre. She was Odette and she was about to dance the dance of her lifetime.  All her life this moment had been what she had dreamed off, what she had worked so hard to achieve.

Thinking back, she realized her dreams would have not been possible had it not been for Mrs Shaw. Mrs Shaw was her neighbor, and more importantly her dance teacher.

She had lived next to Mrs Shaw for as long as she can remember. Her earliest memory was being in Mrs Shaw’s dance studio, watching her teach her students the art of ballet. She was there because Mrs Shaw was babysitting her. Her parents were always occupied with work and they paid Mrs Shaw to look after her.

Truth is, she was glad her parents were absent so much from her life and left her more often than not in Mrs Shaw's care. She would not be where she was now, had it not been for the time she spent with Mrs Shaw.

Mrs Shaw not only taught her what it meant to be a ballerina, she instilled in her the love and unquenchable desire to be the best there was at what had become her passion in life. It was from Mrs Shaw that she learned all that she needed to in order to get to where she was now.

The journey to become the prima ballerina of the best dance company there was had not been an easy road to travel. Many times she had almost given up when the training gets too demanding and she felt like she couldn't possibly improve anymore in the art of ballet. However Mrs Shaw, herself a dancer with the same dance company when she was in her youth, would never let her give up on her dreams so easily. Mrs Shaw would cajole, advice, inspire, reprimand, and whatever else it took for her to keep her chin up and her toes pointed towards her ballerina dream.

And now, the moment she had worked her entire life to achieve was upon her and she knew that from that moment on there was nothing that could hold her back from grabbing her dreams in both hands. The best thing was, at this moment of her triumph and success, the woman who made it all possible was watching from the front row seat; Mrs Shaw was her special guest for the evening, as was justified for she was the one who made this dream all possible.