The Replacement Liberty Bell

by Tai Vogel

The finale music blasted through the room as the dancers ran past each other to form straight lines for the final pirouette section of Stars and Stripes. Annabelle took her position front and center and executed the turns perfectly, as usual. The music ended and the dancers stopped in their positions, breathing hard.

“Good, good. Everyone relax,” Scott, the director, said from his chair in the front of the large studio. Everyone limply fell out of their place as they went to search their bags for water bottles. Scott stood up from his chair. “I have a few notes for everyone, and I’d like to go over a couple spacing issues.” As the dancers all stood up and turned to pay attention, Annabelle hung in the back, stretching out her legs on the barre, and not paying attention to the corrections. She knew Scott would give her and Mark their corrections separately since they were the lead couple.

“Annabelle! Will you please pay attention!” hissed Mark. “Scott called your name five times!” Annabelle clicked back into reality. All eyes were on her.

“Sorry. Spaced out for a minute there,” she said as she walked to the front of the room with confidence.

“As I was saying, can I see that ménage of turns from the corner? I think you can put a little more force into it. The part of Liberty Bell needs a lot of power, especially here, and I’m not seeing it.”

“Of course,” replied Annabelle, putting on her sweetest smile. She walked over to the corner and prepared her entrance. The pianist started playing a few bars before her entrance. Pique turn, pique turn, fouette, pique turn, pique turn, fouette, fouette, fouette, pique turn, piq…SLAM!

The whole room let out a loud gasp. Scott leapt out of his chair, his mouth open in surprise. Annabelle tried to stand up. She knew she was fine. It wasn’t as if she’d never fallen before.

“Annabelle! Are you okay?” Mark came running to her side.

“Yeah, I think so,” she said, trying to hoist herself up. “Ow! Maybe not,” she said in pain, collapsing onto the floor again.

“Someone get the nurse!” yelled Scott. “Chris and Robbie,” he said pointing to two dancers. “Pick her up and put her in the chair.” They gingerly moved Annabelle as Scott ran to bring the chair closer. The nurse came through the double doors as Annabelle got into the chair.

“Where does it hurt?” she said as she went to Annabelle’s side.

“My ankle. I think I may have sprained it,” Annabelle replied, trying to cover up her immense pain. The nurse examined the ankle, poking it in different places to the discomfort of the injured dancer.

“I think it’s broken, dear. We should get you to the hospital for some X-Rays.” Annabelle was picked up and carried out of the room. The room burst into whispers as soon as the doors closed behind her.

“Settle down, settle down,” said Scott, trying to appear calm. “Now, the show is in a week. Who can dance the part?” Several girls looked around, wanting to raise their hands. A couple brave girls did raise their hands. “Okay, Mia,” he called to one of the girls, “Do you know the part?” Mia’s hand went down as she looked to the floor. “Do any of the girls who raised their hands know the part?” The girls all looked at each other and put down their hands in embarrassment. “Okay then. Let me try again. Who knows the part?” Everyone looked around. No one had bothered to learn it, thinking that Annabelle would be fine. She had never been seriously injured.

Scott looked around the room. Determined to find someone. Anyone. He saw a small girl with her hand raised in the back of the room.

~ ~

“No. Absolutely, not. It’s my part. I’ll be fine in a couple of weeks, just in time for opening night.

“Annabelle, be reasonable. Beth knows the part, and she’s capable of dancing it. The doctor said you won’t be strong enough to perform, even if you do recover in time.” Annabelle shot Scott a death glare at the mention of not performing. “I mean, you might not be strong enough in time,” he quickly added to avoid another outburst from Annabelle. “We need an understudy, and you’re the best person to coach her. You know the part the best.”

“Okay, fine,” said Annabelle to the wall, avoiding eye contact.

“Good. You’ll start tomorrow. Studio B,” said Scott as he walked out of the dressing room, leaving Annabelle to think of how much pain she could cause this, Beth girl.

~ ~

“That was awful,” yelled Annabelle. “Do it again.”

Beth tried the à la seconde turn into Mark’s arms again. Annabelle had watched her execution of the turn get worse and worse. Her leg to the side was nowhere near ninety degrees as it should have been, and she came off her pointe shoe before finishing the turn. She had to get it right, no matter how many times she had already done it. She pursed her lips as Beth looked at her, waiting for her to say something.

“Your leg was no where near high enough, and you fell out of it. Did you think I would be happy with that? Do you think Balanchine would be happy with that? He choreographed this part for someone who could do it well. Again.” Beth sighed and set up to do the turn again. She slipped and fell into a heap on the floor. She looked as if she was on the verge of tears.

“Annabelle, this is too much. We’ve been at this for three hours, it’s almost nine o’clock,” said Mark, while Beth tried to hide her tears

“Too much? This is what professional dancers do. It doesn’t matter if it’s ‘too much’. I want the turn to be perfect before we leave.”

Mark sighed and Beth got up, her eyes red. She took a deep breath and did the turn again.

“Much better. Now that wasn’t too hard was it?” Beth shook her head. “You can go. We’ll do more tomorrow.” Beth left the room after curtsying to Annabelle.

“Annabelle, you know she’s trying her best,” said Mark.

“Right, okay. So why doesn’t it look good enough to perform yet?” replied Annabelle angrily.

“It’s her first year in the company. She’s young.”

“Well I don’t care how young she is. It has to look perfect,” said Annabelle.

“Just stop being so hard on her, it doesn’t do anyone any good,” said Mark as he picked up his bag and left the studio.

Maybe she was being too hard on her. Annabelle had been coaching Beth for nearly two weeks now, and Beth had barely said a word. She only nodded her head in response to anything. She was improving though. The first few days had been a mess. Beth could do the steps, but she looked hesitant about it. But it’s best to be tough. If Beth was dancing her part, she had to look good doing it.

~ ~

“Annabelle you can’t dance yet. You aren’t strong enough,” said Scott, while Annabelle tied the ribbons on her pointe shoes.

“I’ll be fine. Don’t worry.” Annabelle stood up and pointed her foot, testing her ankle. “See, it’s fine.”

“Okay, let’s try a run of it then. Everyone, places,” yelled Scott, getting the attention of the dancers in the studio. The familiar patriotic music started and Annabelle and Mark made their first entrance. Annabelle was confident that she would be okay, and did every movement to the fullest. After the first promenade, the pain started to come back. She tried to keep her smile to disguise the pain. She had to keep going. She had to dance this part.

Annabelle’s ankle shook every time she stepped onto her pointe shoe. Scott noticed and motioned to the pianist to stop playing.

“Annabelle, sit down,” he said seriously.

“But I’m fine. My ankle just needs to work a little bit,” said Annabelle.

“Sit down. I don’t want you to get even more injured. Beth, take her part. Let’s take it from where we left off.” Beth, looking surprised, ran over to Mark. “Annabelle,” said Mark, “here’s some paper. Take notes.” Annabelle reluctantly took the paper and dug in her bag for a pen. She watched, still upset, but taking notes.

The rehearsal ended and Scott called Beth over, “That was really great Beth. Annabelle has done a good job coaching you,” he said, hinting to Annabelle to say something.

“Yeah, that was the best I’ve seen it yet,” said Annabelle, mostly trying to please Scott, but knowing that it was truly the best she had seen it done

“Really?” said Beth. “That means so much Annabelle, thanks.” Annabelle didn’t know what to say. Beth had barely spoken a word to her, now she was thanking her?

“Just make sure to work on those a la seconde turns, and keep pulling up from your legs all the time,” said Annabelle quickly.

“Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow,” said Beth as she turned to leave the studio. “Oh wait, do you want some help getting up?” Annabelle realized that it would be hard for her to get up, since she was sitting on the floor.

“Um, sure.” Why was Beth being so nice all of a sudden? Annabelle had been so mean to her, and nearly made her cry.

Beth helped Annabelle up and left the studio with a final wave goodbye.

“Well, Annabelle,” Scott said as Annabelle watched Beth leave. “You did a good job. Mark told me you were being really tough on her, but I guess it worked. Stay off that ankle though, I’ll have the nurse bring you some crutches.” Scott left the studio and Annabelle stood there, thinking. Beth was not supposed to get so good. She was supposed to collapse under all the pressure Annabelle was giving her. And why was she so happy today? Was it just because Annabelle had given her a compliment?

The nurse came in with the crutches, interrupting her thought. Annabelle walked out of the studio, unable to decide whether she was happy for Beth, or mad at her for taking her part.

~ ~

The rehearsals became less about yelling as the next week past. Annabelle had eased up on Beth, and started to give her notes in a nice way, rather than relying to yelling to get her point across.

However, Beth became more stressed out during each rehearsal, realizing that the show was sooner that she thought.

“I just can’t do it, Annabelle. I’m not ready to do this part,” Beth said the night before the final dress rehearsal.

“You’re just having an off day. Try it again, and remember to pull up from your hip, it’ll help you stay balanced,” Annabelle replied to the upset girl.

Beth had tried again and again, getting better and better each time. Finally, she was able to do it perfectly, as she had before.

“See. It just takes some patience. All dancers have off days. Tomorrow will be better. You know they say a bad dress rehearsal means a good show. Today was your dress rehearsal, tomorrow is your show.”

“Thanks Annabelle, I appreciate it,” said Beth as she left the room.

~ ~

Annabelle walked into the large studio for the final studio rehearsal. Dancers were in groups throughout the room, chatting about the latest company gossip, or complaining of the pain in their bodies. She went over to one of the chairs placed in the front of the room, walking as gracefully as she possibly with crutches. She sat down, took out her notebook, and looked around the large, well lit, studio. Beth stood in a corner talking to Mark. She looked concentrated and didn’t notice Annabelle’s staring at her.

The room hushed as Scott walked into the room. “Okay everyone. I hope you’re ready. We’re in the theatre tomorrow. Make this be the best run I’ve seen yet.” The dancers all hurried to their spots, doing a few quick jumps to shake off any nerves. “Music ready. And go” said Mark.

Annabelle watched the dancers in a flurry of movement as they ran across the stage to start off the ballet. Beth burst out onto the floor exuding confidence. She executed every step nearly perfectly. She had improved so quickly. Annabelle became lost in the movement and forgot all about the notes she had been taking. Beth had a certain familiar something to her dancing, something that Annabelle couldn’t put her finger on.

The rehearsal ended all of a sudden. Annabelle had only been half paying attention to everything Scott had said. “That looked great guys. Beth, really excellent job. You really stood up to the challenge,” Scott said. “Now, be ready for the next few days. See you in the theatre tomorrow.” The dancers gathered their bags and left the studio in groups, talking excitedly about going to the theater. Annabelle quickly came to her senses and left the studio before anyone could approach her.

~ ~

The curtain opened to an empty stage. The music started and the dancers ran across the stage in their red and blue costumes. Annabelle sat on the edge of her seat, both excited and nervous for the performance. When Beth and Mark came on stage, Annabelle held her breath. Beth looked so tall from the audience, despite her small figure. She looked as though she was born to be dancing on that stage.

As the finale music started the dancers whizzed by each other to form straight lines. Beth stood front and center to prepare for the final pirouette turns. Annabelle closed her eyes for a second and took a breath in anticipation. She opened her eyes and looked on stage. She saw herself, executing the pirouettes perfectly. Except, it wasn’t her, it was Beth.

The dancers took their final pose and the music faded. The audience burst into tremendous applause as Annabelle finally realized why Beth was so special. Beth was just like her when she had first joined the company. She had perfect technique, and was so confident on stage. Annabelle snapped back into reality and stood up to join in the clapping. She watched Beth bow to the audience and look Annabelle straight in the eye, flashing her a smile of thanks. Annabelle felt a tear fall down her cheek as she watched her replacement receive applause just as loud as hers had ever been, but she wasn’t mad at Beth for taking her spotlight. Only proud of what she had accomplished.