Magic Ballerina 7-12

To Phoebe and Zoe, as they are the inspiration behind Magic Ballerina.

Author’s Note

Welcome to the world of Enchantia!

I have always loved to dance. The captivating music and wonderful stories of ballet are so inspiring. So come with me and let’s follow Rosa on her magical adventures in Enchantia, where the stories of dance will take you on a very special journey.

p.s. Look at the end of each story to learn a special dance step from me…

Map

Rosa ran up the steps to the old front door and turned the brass handle. She liked to get to Madame Za-Za’s ballet school early so she could warm up before class and today was particularly special because it was her first day back after the summer holidays. She couldn’t wait for classes to start again.

Hurrying to the changing rooms, she put on her pink leotard. Over the summer she had made a new friend, Olivia, who was going to be starting at the ballet school that very day. Rosa had arranged to meet her before class to show her around. She was really looking forward to it!

It’s going to be very different this term, she thought. Several of the older girls who had been in her class had moved up into another group. Rosa was going to miss them, particularly her friend, Delphie. At the end of last term, Delphie had given Rosa a pair of red ballet shoes that didn’t fit her any longer. They were very old and the leather was very soft. Now Rosa took them out of her bag and put them on, crossing the ribbons neatly over her ankles and tying them firmly. They fitted perfectly.

When Delphie had given her the shoes, she had said something odd – something about: “Watch out for King Rat”. Rosa didn’t have a clue what she had meant by that, and the few times she had seen Delphie in the summer, the dark-haired girl had refused to tell her. She had just kept smiling mysteriously and saying that the ballet shoes were very special.

And indeed, Rosa loved them and couldn’t wait to start dancing. Going over to the mirror, she fixed her long white-blonde hair into a bun. Then she put on her favourite hairclip before leaving the changing rooms to go to the ballet studio. She wished she could come to classes every day. When I’m older I will, she thought. She was determined she was going to be a ballerina just like her mum had once been. Her mother didn’t dance any more because she had been in a car accident, which had left her in a wheelchair, but she helped Rosa practise.

Rosa went to the long wooden barre that ran all the way around the walls and began to warm up. The red ballet shoes felt really comfortable, and it was so lovely to be back in the ballet studio again that she completely lost track of the time. A little while later she looked at the clock and gasped. It was only a few minutes until the class started. She had promised Olivia she would meet her in the changing rooms almost ten minutes ago!

As Rosa ran back to the changing rooms, she was worried that Olivia would be alone and upset. She burst through the changing room doors and stopped dead…

Olivia was standing there with two of the other girls from the class. She was laughing as one of them helped her tie her brown hair back and smiled, in what seemed to Rosa a casual way. “Oh, hi there, Rosa!”

“Hi. I’m…I’m sorry I wasn’t here to meet you,” Rosa said, feeling a bit silly to have burst in so quickly. She felt suddenly unsure of herself, seeing her friend so at ease.

Olivia smiled. “Don’t worry. Everyone’s been really friendly. Asha and Rebecca showed me round.”

Asha, who was fixing Olivia’s hair, smiled. “Madame Za-Za’s a cool teacher. I bet you’re going to love coming to classes here, Olivia.”

A mixture of emotions swirled around inside Rosa. She was pleased that Olivia wasn’t upset but she also felt a tiny twinge of jealousy that the other girls had been the ones to take her new friend around. “I was going to show you how it worked and help you get ready,” she said. She knew she sounded cross and grumpy but she couldn’t stop herself. Olivia looked surprised. “But you weren’t here, Rosa and…” She broke off. “Look, why don’t you show me round again after class?”

“Oh, what’s the point?” Rosa said angrily. “You’ve seen everything now!” And with that, she marched back to the ballet studio.

As soon as Rosa got to the studio, her anger faded. She felt awful. She shouldn’t have snapped like that. All Olivia had done was make friends with the others.

I’d better say sorry, Rosa thought guiltily. She felt annoyed with herself. Her mum was always telling her she needed to control her temper and think more before she acted but sometimes she just couldn’t help herself. It just welled up inside her and came out – like all the times in her old school when the girls had teased her about her mum. Just then, Olivia came into the studio with the other girls and gave her a hurt look. But before Rosa could run over and apologise, Madame Za-Za also came in. The ballet teacher was wearing a calf-length dress and bangles on her wrists. Her hair was tied back in a loose bun. Her face was lined but her eyes were very bright. She clapped her hands for silence.

“Welcome, girls. Let’s start at the barre. No talking please!”

Rosa knew there would be no chance to say sorry now until the end of the class. Madame Za-Za got very cross if she thought anyone was chatting and not listening. “Facing the barre, first position please.”

Rosa followed Madame Za-Za’s instructions wishing she could apologise.

After they had worked at the barre and then in the centre of the room, Madame Za-Za told them that they were going to learn a dance from Swan Lake.

“Who can tell me the story of Swan Lake?” she asked.

Rosa put up her hand. It had been the last ballet her mother had ever danced in and one of her favourites. “It’s about a magician who enchants a princess called Odette. In the day time she’s a swan – the Swan Queen – but at night time she turns back into a girl.”

“Very good,” said Madame Za-Za. “That is indeed the basis of the story. One night, a prince sees the Swan Queen, falls in love with her and invites her to a ball. But the evil magician stops Odette from going and instead uses magic to disguise his daughter, Odile, to look like her. The prince thinking Odile is Odette asks her to marry him.”

Madame Za-Za smiled. “You will all be swans dancing with the Swan Queen. Rosa, I would like you to be the main part.”

Rosa gasped. “Me!”

Madame Za-Za smiled at her. “I am sure you will dance it very well.”

Rosa was delighted. She listened intently to Madame Za-Za’s instructions as all the swans surrounded the Swan Queen.

There was one tricky bit where she had to dance to one side and then the other, before turning another pirouette while the others danced in towards her and then out, over and over again. They practised it quite a few times without the music and then Madame Za-Za put the CD on. Rosa really wanted to get it right. But she overbalanced on her pirouette and bumped into Olivia, treading heavily on her foot. Olivia gasped and stumbled into Asha, knocking her over.

Madame Za-Za snapped the music off. “Honestly, girls. Come along, you can do better than that! Up you get, Asha. Let’s try again.”

Rosa looked quickly at Olivia. She tried to mouth “sorry” but Olivia turned away. Rosa groaned inwardly. She was sure Olivia thought she had stood on her foot on purpose.

When the class finished, she hurried towards her friend.

“Rosa!” Madame Za-Za called. “May I have a word please?”

Rosa shot a look at Olivia’s disappearing back but there was nothing she could do. She walked back to the teacher. Madame Za-Za was putting away the CD. Rosa waited as she finished.

“I see you have the red ballet shoes, Rosa,“ Madame Za-Za said.

Rosa nodded. “Delphie Durand gave them to me.”

Madame Za-Za smiled. “So they found the perfect home. Did you know they used to belong to me a long time ago?”

“No,” Rosa said, in her astonishment forgetting about Olivia.

Madame Za-Za nodded. “They are very special shoes, Rosa.”

“Delphie told me that,” Rosa said.

“I hope you find out quite how special they are,” Madame Za-Za smiled warmly. “Now, go and get changed.”

Part of Rosa wanted to ask Madame Za-Za what she meant about the shoes being special but she also wanted to catch Olivia before she left. She hurried out but saw it was too late. Olivia was just going through the front door with her mother.

“Olivia!” Rosa called.

But Olivia had already walked out and the door was shutting behind her.

Rosa’s heart sank. I’ll phone her and say sorry as soon as I get home, she thought as she went to the changing room.

The other girls were just leaving. They called goodbye and soon Rosa was on her own. She sat down and bent over to untie the ribbons on her red shoes. As she did so her feet started to tingle. She gasped. The shoes were sparkling and glowing!

She jumped to her feet and then cried out in astonishment as a swirl of rainbow colours and a sweet tinkling of music surrounded her. She started to spin round!

What was going on? She shut her eyes tightly, her heart pounding. Round and round she went until her feet met solid ground. She blinked.

She wasn’t in the changing rooms any more, she was standing in a forest, and through the trees she could see a shimmering dark lake with a single swan swimming on it!

Rosa stared. Where was she? No wonder Delphie and Madame Za-Za had been telling her the ballet shoes were special! They’re magic, she thought, her heart flipping. Oh wow!

There were tall trees all around her and to the right of the lake she could see a big, dark castle. What should she do? She couldn’t just stay standing there. Which way should she go?

Not to the castle, she decided. It looked so forbidding. Instead, she made her way cautiously through the trees towards the lake.

Suddenly, she saw a flash of pink ahead of her. There was someone dancing in the trees. She hurried forward and stopped in amazement as she saw that the dancer was a fairy! The fairy had a tutu made of layers of brown and pink silk and a pale pink bodice with sequins embroidered over it. Her wavy chestnut hair was tied back in a bun. She had delicate wings and in one hand she held a wand. As she saw Rosa, she stopped with a gasp. Her gaze flew to Rosa’s feet. “You’re the girl with the red shoes! The new girl!” She ran over, her brown eyes shining with excitement. “Oh, I’m so glad to see you!”

“You are?” Rosa said in bewilderment.

“Of course!” The fairy seized her hands. “You’re here to help, aren’t you? Sugar told me you would come.”

“Help?” echoed Rosa. “Who’s Sugar? And where exactly am I?”

“You’re in Enchantia, of course!” said the fairy breathlessly. “The magical land of ballet. Oh dear, I’m sorry,” she said, looking at Rosa’s bewildered face. “Sugar said you wouldn’t have been here before and that I had to tell you everything from the beginning. It’s just I’m so excited to see you. I haven’t been doing proper magic for very long and I’ve never met a human before!”

Rosa smiled cautiously as the fairy’s words tumbled out one after another. “So who exactly is Sugar?” she asked.

The fairy took a deep breath and spoke a little more slowly. “She’s my older sister – the Sugar Plum Fairy – she knows lots about magic. I’m Nutmeg by the way. Whenever we have a big problem in Enchantia the red ballet shoes bring someone from your world who can help us, a girl who loves to dance,”

Rosa stared at her. So she was in a magic land and she was there to help! “Will…will I get to go home again?” she asked.

Nutmeg nodded. “Of course. The shoes will take you back when the problem is solved. No time passes in the human world while you’re here so no one will even know you’ve been gone.”

Rosa breathed a sigh of relief. For a moment she had thought about her mum waiting for her and getting really worried. That would have been dreadful!

“What’s your name?” the fairy asked.

“Rosa.”

“It’s so lovely to see you, Rosa. We really need your help,” Nutmeg said. “King Rat’s causing dreadful trouble again!”

“King Rat!” Rosa breathed, remembering Delphie’s words. So that must have been what Delphie was talking about. She must have come here too!

“Yes,” replied Nutmeg. “You see everyone in Enchantia loves dancing except for that horrible rodent. He keeps coming up with mean plans to stop us and now he’s taken the King and Queen’s niece, Princess Cressida.”

“Princess Cressida?” Rosa scratched her head. It was all a lot to take in.

“Yes, Cressida was on her way to visit her aunt and uncle to keep them company whilst their own daughter, Aurelia, is away. Nutmeg explained. Anyway, King Rat has captured Cressida to stop all the balls and dancing that would go on for her visit. Without her at the palace there won’t be any celebrations.”

“So where has he taken her?” breathed Rosa.

“She’s here in his castle grounds,” said Nutmeg. “He’s put a spell on her so that by day she’s a swan, but by night she’s the princess again.”

“Just like Swan Lake!” Rosa said excitedly.

“Yes, exactly,” Nutmeg nodded. “That’s where King Rat got the idea from. Look, there’s Princess Cressida on the Enchanted Lake now.” Nutmeg pointed towards the graceful white swan on the shimmering water. “Sugar has asked me to stand guard to check that King Rat doesn’t whisk her away somewhere else or put even more spells on her, but she doesn’t even realise I’m here. You see she forgets all about being a princess in the day. It just comes back to her as the sun sets and she flies back to her room in the castle’s towers and turns back into her old self.”

“Oh, the poor thing,” Rosa said, her heart going out to the princess.

Nutmeg shivered. “Everyone in Enchantia keeps trying to think up a plan to rescue her, but we haven’t come up with anything yet. If only we could get her out of King Rat’s castle grounds, the enchantment would be broken. But the lake is enchanted so we can’t swim or row across to get her and she wouldn’t recognise us anyway.”

Rosa thought for a moment. “Can’t you use magic to rescue her at night when she’s locked inside?”

Nutmeg shook her head. “King Rat’s magic is much too powerful. He’s put spells on the castle so that no one else can do strong magic either in it or its grounds. I stay in the trees because some of my magic still works in the forest. Also, I can keep watch on Cressida and magic myself away if his horrible scary guards come.” She clasped her hands together. “Oh, Rosa. Can you think of a way we could rescue the princess?”

Rosa stared at her helplessly and gulped. It all seemed pretty impossible. “I wish I could,” she said. “But I really haven’t got any other ideas.”

“Then Princess Cressida will just have to stay a secret princess forever!” exclaimed Nutmeg, her eyes filling with tears.

“Look, we can’t give up that easily!” Rosa declared. “Hmm, what could we do?” She glanced around. “You know, maybe we don’t need magic to get us into the castle. Maybe we could just sneak inside. We could hide somewhere until the princess comes back then let her out of her room and all escape together!”

“But that would be really dangerous!” said Nutmeg. “King Rat’s guards are very fierce!” She caught her breath. “Here they come now!”

A group of ten mice came swaggering around the side of the castle. Rosa stared. They were walking on their back legs and were way taller than her, with pointed teeth and long swords hanging from their belts.

They stopped. A couple of them leaned against the castle walls, the others mooched about. They looked fed up.

“I’m bored of marching round the castle,“ one of them grumbled.

“Me too,” said another. “My paws are hurting. King Rat’s out at the moment so why don’t we go and have a sit down?”

“Yeah!” said the first mouse. “If we go round to the other side of the castle we can listen out for King Rat coming back and when he gets here just start marching again.” He looked around at the others. “What do you reckon?”

They all nodded. “Good plan!”

“What about the Sergeant?” said one. “If he sees us he’ll go mad.”

The first mouse shrugged. “He’s inside somewhere. Probably in the kitchens stuffing his face. I bet he’ll never notice. Come on!”

They all ambled off around the side of the castle.