Valentino's POV (10 years ago).
Valentino drew in a large gasp of air, as he tried to calm himself down. He needed to ace this ballet performance so he could grasp that scholarship. That was the missing part of the jigsaw. He was already accepted into the National School of Ballet, he was due to enrol in September, now it was June.
"Valentino, what would you be performing today?" the teacher asked.
"Nutcracker by Pyotr Tchaikovski," Valentino said as he bowed down to the teacher.
"Okay, ready when you are," the teacher instructed.
Valentino nodded in the direction of the pianist to indicate he was ready to dance, as the music started playing. He started dancing, his legs and arms moving fluidly towards the music. His head poised back, his back straight, as he spun, spun and spun. All he could think about was the scholarship.
As the music slowly faded out, signalling the end of the song. He bowed as he came to the end of the performance, his heart had never beat so fast. He felt like he couldn't breathe.
His teacher handed him in a bottle of water, he sipped on the water. As his teacher who was also the examiner for this dance, gave him some basic feedback.
"You've got a certain flair about your dance, you really own it when you are up there. I believe you will have a successful career in ballet, if you carry on with it," his teacher said smiling.
"Thank you, I just hope its enough to secure the scholarship," Valentino said. He smiled a little, his eyes crinkling in the corners.
As he left the dance room, he sighed a relief, there was a bittersweet feeling. He had entered ballet through the encouragement of his mother and sister, he was a mixed blood kid, he had Italian heritage from his mother's side alongside his father's Taiwanese side. His mother a beautiful ballet dancer had passed away before her time, she unexpectedly died aged 41, 3 years ago. She had graced the stages of many ballet and opera houses across Europe, Asia and America.
Valentino lost his mother when he was 22, by then he had been dancing ballet for almost 10 years and he had participated in shows and competitions across Asia. After the loss of his mother, he was close to giving up, it was through the strength of his elder sister Giovanna that he had continued dancing and finishing his dance degree, something his mother would have wanted.
"Thanks," Valentino whispered into the air, he was sure that his mother could hear. He believed the years of success he had came through his mother. Valentino's father worked away from home, he was Rooms Division Manager of the Mandarin Oriental in Taiwan. He was a busy man. He didn't appear much in Giovanna and Valentino's life. Sometimes this made Valentino angry, he felt like his father had never really cared about them. Even during his mother's final days, it was Giovanna and Valentino taken care of her. When she passed away, Valentino took comfort that she was no longer suffering, but it made him guilty, his mother didn't get to see him graduate. She wouldn't see his final dance, when Valentino would perform in their last show before graduating, his mother's warm smile wouldn't be there to greet him anymore, he would never see her smile again and it completely broke Valentino.
He grabbed his bag from his locker, he just put on a black hoodie and changed into black creepers and left to go home. He needed a good night's sleep, now his fate was no longer in his hands anymore. He had delivered as much as he could possibly do.
He grabbed his bag from his locker, he just put on a black hoodie and changed into black creepers and left to go home. He needed a good night's sleep, now his fate was no longer in his hands anymore. He had delivered as much as he could possibly do.
No comments:
Post a Comment