Magic

Ballerina

Delphie and the Magic Spell

Darcey Bussell

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

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Author’s Note

Map

Prologue

1. The Bluebird’s Dance

2. A Noise in the Night

3. The Glittering Palace

4. Delphie’s Plan

5. A Toad in Disguise

6. In Trouble

7. Springtime!

8. The Big Audition

Darcey’s Magical Masterclass

Acknowledgements

Copyright

About the Publisher

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 Delphie on her magical adventures in Enchantia, where the stories of dance will take you on a very special journey.

p.s Turn to the back to learn a special dance step from me…

Map

Prologue

In the soft, pale light, the girl stood with her head bent and her hands held lightly in front of her. There was a moment’s silence and then the first notes of the music began. For as long as the girl could remember music had seemed to tell her of another world – a magical, exciting world – that lay far, far away. She always felt if she could just close her eyes and lose herself, then she would get there. Maybe this time. As the music swirled inside her, she swept her arms above her head, rose on to her toes and began to dance …

1 The Bluebird’s Dance

The ballet studio was quiet and still. It could only be a couple of hours since it had been full of girls dancing for their ballet teacher, Madame Za-Za. Now there was just one girl left.

Delphie Durand pressed the button on the CD player and then ran lightly to the centre of the room. She waited for the music to start, one foot slightly in front of the other, her head bent, her eyes looking down at her red ballet shoes. All the other girls in her class had pink ones but it wasn’t just the colour that made Delphie’s shoes different from theirs. Delphie’s ballet shoes were also magic!

Madame Za-Za, the owner of the ballet school, had given them to Delphie three weeks ago. She’d told her they were very special but Delphie hadn’t known just how special until two nights later when the shoes had started glowing and sparkling. When Delphie had put them on, they had whisked her away to Enchantia – a magical land where all the characters from the different ballets lived. A land full of incredible adventures!

Delphie smiled as she remembered the adventure she’d had there. It had been scary but amazing! Just then, the first few notes of the music swelled out from the CD player. Delphie quickly pushed thoughts of Enchantia to the back of her mind. She had to get this dance right.

She heard the music she had been waiting for and glided forward into a run, taking tiny steps as she skimmed across the floor. As the music changed, she stopped on her tiptoes, looking from side to side like a bird, her arms held slightly behind her like wings. Wait, Delphie told herself, listening to the music carefully. One, two…

She danced forward and turned a pirouette, before travelling forward again and stopping with one leg held behind her, one arm in front, trying to look as if she was a bird flying. All of Madame Za-Za’s instructions from the class earlier ran through her head – lift the chin… shoulders down… keep your back strong… turn out that leg…

Delphie was so busy thinking about the placing of her leg that she lost her balance and stumbled. Bother! It was so hard trying to concentrate on everything at the same time. Before she had started ballet classes, she had simply danced just how she had felt. Now she was learning that you had to make sure every bit of your body was doing the right thing at the right time. But Delphie found that when she concentrated on her legs, she forgot about her arms and then she remembered them and realised her head was wrong and her shoulders were up and by the time she had got those right, her legs were wrong again.

But I’ve got to get it right, she thought as she walked back over to the CD player to restart the music. There’s only one day to go!

The very next morning there were going to be auditions for the school’s end of term show. It was a woodland ballet and the main part was the Bluebird. All of Delphie’s class wanted to be the Bluebird. Delphie had been practising and practising.

The door to the studio opened and Delphie saw Madame Za-Za look in. A slim, elegant woman with her greying hair pulled back into a low bun, she was wearing a long floaty skirt over footless tights and a wrapover top.

“Well, Delphie?” she said. “How is it going?”

As Delphie met her teacher’s gaze, she couldn’t stop the truth from bursting out. “Actually, I’m not doing very well, Madame Za-Za. I just can’t seem to get the dance right no matter how hard I try!”

“Maybe you are trying too hard, child,” Madame Za-Za said.

Delphie frowned. “What do you mean?”

“It will make sense one day, Delphie,” Madame Za-Za said with a smile. “Maybe sooner than you imagine.” And with that she left the room.

Delphie sighed, restarted the music and went back to the centre to try again. But even the very first run felt wrong and stiff as she tried to think about her feet, arms and head all at once. She broke off with a groan and went to stop the music before glancing at the clock on the wall. It was nearly time to go. Her mum and dad would be home from work.

With a sigh, Delphie went over to the wooden barre that ran around the edge of the room and began to do some slow stretching exercises. She was just finishing when the door opened.

Delphie looked round, expecting to see Madame Za-Za again, but in her place stood Sukie Taylor. Delphie’s heart sank. She was in Delphie’s ballet class and was very, very good at ballet, but she didn’t seem to like Delphie at all.

Sukie looked surprised to see her. “Oh. Hi. I left something.” She picked up a pink cardigan from the back of a chair and switched off the music. “What are you doing here?”

Delphie shrugged. “Just practising.”

“For the auditions?” Sukie’s eyes narrowed. “Well, you won’t have a chance. You’ve only been coming to classes for three weeks and Madame Za-Za has pretty much said that I’m going to be the Bluebird. Everyone knows I’m the best dancer in the class.”

Delphie swallowed. Just ignore her, she told herself. She didn’t want to get into an argument.

“You never know,” Sukie went on. “Maybe if you try hard enough you’ll get to be a rabbit or something.”

Delphie watched as Sukie smirked and flounced out, then Delphie pulled a face. Sukie might think she didn’t have a chance but no one would know until the actual auditions. I might be the Bluebird, Delphie thought hopefully. She crossed her fingers. Oh, she so hoped she would be. But first she just needed to get the dance right…

2 A Noise in the Night

“Mum, come and see this bit!” Delphie called after supper. She was sitting on the sofa, her feet curled under her, watching the ballet of Cinderella. She had been given the DVD for her birthday. It was her favourite scene where the fairy godmother changed the pumpkin and mice into a coach and horses and then transformed Cinderella from a servant girl in rags into a beautiful princess.

Mrs Durand came through to the lounge and sat down beside Delphie on the sofa. “Maybe one day you’ll be able to dance like that,” she said, stroking Delphie’s long brown hair. “Wouldn’t that be wonderful?”

Delphie snuggled up to her mum. “Oh yes,” she breathed. There was nothing she wanted more in the world.

At bedtime, Delphie kissed her mum and dad goodnight and went upstairs. As she got into her nightdress, she looked hopefully at her red ballet shoes sitting on her desk. Please sparkle tonight, she willed them. Please!

But they looked as still as ever, just as they had every other night that week. Every evening she had lain in bed, willing the shoes to glow, hoping to hear music in the air, just like she had the first time they had taken her to Enchantia.

It would be just so amazing to go back, Delphie thought as she got into bed, after brushing her teeth and hair. I’d love to see Sugar the Sugar Plum Fairy again, and all the other people I met, like the Nutcracker and the waltzing flowers and the dancing snowflakes. She shivered as the image of a rat’s face with red eyes, long whiskers and sharp teeth popped into her brain. The one person she wouldn’t want to see again was the evil King Rat! He hated dancing and was always trying to stop it. Delphie had been to his castle and met him and his mouse guards and it had been very scary!

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