Chapter Text
"and plié two...three...four and élevé two...three...four and passé par terre and again two...three...four".
You sense your teachers presence behind you, his gaze burning into you. You continue, awaiting the incoming correction until you feel the accusatory prod of an index finger into your lower back. In response, you tighten your core, dropping your shoulders slightly and continue. A hand places itself on top of yours pulling your arm back very slightly before letting go. Your teacher watches you for another moment and then walks away, seemingly satisfied.
You turn to face the bar, feeling the cool metal beneath your fingertips. Stretching back into a cambré derrière you take a slow breath, centring yourself.
"And hold..." your teacher sings out, time seeming to slow. You can feel your muscles fighting to hold you still, but the sound of your teachers voice chiming once again causes them to relax.
You are bringing yourself back upright slowly, when your attention is caught by the sound of raucous laughter. You tune in to the noise, as it develops into loud chatter, seemingly between several men.
You turn your head behind you and are met with several faces that are as puzzled as yours. Even your teacher has stopped, although he looks irritated as opposed to confused. He takes a deep breath, furrowing his brow and then begins to call out his instructions once again. He is barely three words in before he is cut off by louder laughter, followed by more chatting and the sound of several pairs of feet shuffling down the corridor, seemingly toward your class.
Whilst it was not uncommon to have people moving around the building during sessions, it was rare anyone made quite so much noise in doing so. The footsteps are heavy and uneven, suggesting to you that whoever was out there wasn't a dancer, or at the least not a very good one.
As the noise grows, your teacher is becoming increasingly perturbed. He attempts to continue the session about three times, but is cut off before he can make any real progress. Eventually, he abandons his attempts entirely, storming over to the door and swinging it open. At the same time, the source of the noise reached the doorway too, resulting in them and your teacher almost clashing heads. Your teacher, though stern was usually softly spoken and so on being faced with the cause of his irritation, remained silent.
Standing in the doorway are several men, who look to be in their twenties. The one at the front shuffles awkwardly, as your teachers gaze pierces through him. Silence cloaks the room, with all eyes now fixed on the situation in the doorway. Every time it appears someone might speak, your teachers stare shifts to them, cowering them back within themselves.
Eventually, a voice from the back breaks the silence.
"I'm sorry if we disturbed you, we were told to come down here for a challenge, I'm Sean, the girl said you were Anthony, right?"
Your teacher moves from quiet intimidation to snark in an instant.
"Walking down the corridor was challenging for you?" he inquired.
His eyes narrow slightly, as if straining to see a far away object. You knew that look all too well. An unpleasant judgement of your appearance, ability, actions and common sense all rolled into one glance. It was usually reserved for the most careless mistakes, doled out to those who were sloppy or lazy. You had yet to be on the receiving end of it directly, but had been witness to those who had, and the energy in the room deflated all the same, regardless of the target.
Your teacher wasn't an unkind man, he actually had great care and patience for those who respected the art form he held so dear. But in this instance, his patience was fraying before the first man even finished the end of his sentence.
The men in the doorway glance at each other nervously, unsure whether to laugh, defend themselves or just awkwardly back away. Then, as if summoned by a distress flare, Avery appears.
Avery joined the company about seven months ago, invited by the artistic director herself Giulia Esposito. She is fun and free spirited, lighting up every room she enters. Whilst it was true that her laid back attitude can rub a few people the wrong way, she is generally well liked, especially by Anthony.
"The boys are here for the thing that Christian set up. You know, the video thing" Avery chirps, seemingly not picking up on the energy in the room.
Anthony pinches the bridge of his nose and you watch as he silently counts to five, before drawing in a deep breath.
"That's wonderful Avery, truly, but it does not explain why they are stood in my doorway, nor why they moved down the corridor like a heard of elephants".
Anthony's voice grew in volume as he reached the end of his sentence, perhaps suggesting that he should've counted to a higher number. You pause, being thankful that thought remained inside your head.
Avery chuckles knowingly, placing her hand on Anthony's upper arm.
"The latter explains the former, who better to turn these elephants into gazelles than you Anthony" she replies calmingly.
Seeing Anthony's less than joyful reaction she continues "well maybe not gazelles, we only have an afternoon...perhaps zebras?".
She smiles, her playful tone seeming to crack his hardened demeanour.
Anthony turns to glance up at the clock on the wall behind you, causing him to look perplexed.
"May it have been an idea for Christian to inform me what time the elephants were showing up, or perhaps even that they were coming at all?" he questions, although it's clear he isn't expecting a response.
There is an awkward pause. You shuffle your feet, unsure of what to do. Some of your colleagues have moved away from their bars and are stretching or having a water break near their bags but some remain at their bars like you, frozen in place, awaiting some form of instruction.
A silent stalemate between Anthony and the non present Christian appears to be occurring, although it's difficult to ascertain whether Christian or the men he has sent to your studio are aware of this. After several moments, Anthony sighs deeply and turns to face your class.
"Right...well...I think class for today is over...evidently". He spits out the last word, its presence hanging over the men in the door.
"We will reconvine tomorrow, same time everyone please".
Anthony barely reaches the end of his sentence before Avery turns to him, whispering something.
"Never mind everyone, apparently I was mistaken" states Anthony. You're surprised by his calmness, but then your reaction is immediately reaffirmed as he continues:
"I was of the belief that I was a teacher and mentor in the art of ballet, responsible for educating you all in this complex and well respected discipline but it appears Christian has decided I would make a much better zoo keeper".
Once again Anthony almost makes it to the end of his sentence somewhat calmly, but he ends up screaming the words zoo keeper, somewhat undercutting his attempt at appearing composed.
You and the other students who had not already abandoned their bars do so now, escaping to the edges of the room and out the studio, far away from the consequences of a response to Anthony's last comment.
The men who were blocking the doorway now slink into the studio, being quiet whilst moving past Anthony. However, the second they have passed him they fill the space immediately with noise.
You can see Anthony and Avery discussing something in the corner. You strain to try and focus in on their words, but they are whispering too quietly for you to make out.
As if he reads your thoughts, Anthony blurts out:
"Oh for fucks sake, right well you can bloody well stay for a start."
You and your two remaining classmates all lock eyes with each other. There is a mutual understanding that goes unspoken, it is every man for themselves.
You all begin shoving your belongings into your bags as fast as possible, scrabbling to get up and out the back door. Lily makes it there first, her blonde hair bouncing out of her bun as she hops, trying to pull her shoe on whilst moving.
Unfortunately for you and your other classmate, the sound of Lily pushing the fire door bar causes Anthony's head to snap round. By the look on his face it appears he had entirely forgotten you were all here.
"Ah Will, Y/N"
He smiles, but it's one of those disturbing smiles where people only use their teeth.
"Christian is of the belief that I am incapable of teaching a class to the elephants alone."
Avery shuffles awkwardly next to him.
"You can stay please and help?"
He phrases it like a question, but it is very clear your attendance is not optional. You and Will look at each other, and plod back over to where you were, dejectedly. Avery bounces over to you both smiling, although you sense a tinge of guilt behind her cheerful facade.
"Cheer up you two, I know it's not what you planned for today but it will be a lot of fun I'm sure! I mean, some of them can barely even stretch far enough to touch their knees" Avery giggles.
You consider her comment, looking over at the group of men. She does have a point. The one benefit of teaching these classes is that you get to have a good laugh at the visitors expense. The last time something like this happened, one of the guests got themselves stuck between one of the bars and a mirror. Embarrassing for them, but very funny for you.
You pop your shoes back on, and take the opportunity to roller your calves.
You look back over at the men, analysing them. Avery seems to pick up on your uncertainty, shuffling over to you and crouching next to your ear.
"They're YouTubers or something I think, doing some challenge video" she whispers.
You glance over at the men again, attempting to recognise any of their faces. Nothing.
"Sorry I got you dragged into this by the way, I broke it to Anthony that they'll likely be coming back tomorrow and he had a bit of a...emotional moment, so I said it may be easier if he had some help. In all honestly I was mostly just worried his eyes were going to come out of his skull"
You stand up with Avery and walk towards the men. Your colleague Will was already there.
"Ballet is absolutely a sport, it requires strength and flexibility and-"
"Tights" says a man with dark hair, cutting Will off.
The group erupts into laughter.
Will stands there staring at them. The look on his face is a mixture of sadness, confusion and embarrassment. You go to put an arm around Will and say something to the men when the one with blonde curly hair cuts in
"Really though man it is crazy what you can do, the jumping about and stuff, it's like you have pogo sticks for legs!"
This comment seems to cheer Will up, although he still looks a bit on edge.
The man continues, "This one here is laughing now" he says pointing to his friend who made the original comment "but in half an hour I garuantee he'll be crying for his mom"
The man smiles a genuine smile, before turning around to his friends. They start having a discussion about camera angles and lighting, and your attention drifts away. You don't really how long you've been stood day dreaming until Avery taps you on the arm.
"Shall we move these bars Y/N? I think these lot would be better using the ones by the mirror"
She continues in a hushed voice "I'm a bit worried they'll be too heavy and knock the entire bar over"
You move the bars with Avery, and a couple of the men come over to help you. You're just about to tell them to be careful when you hear the sound of metal clanging.
"Ah fuck that hurt!" exclaims one of the men.
You turn around to see a man with floppy hair and glasses holding his finger, with his face scrunched up.
"Are you okay?" you enquire.
The man looks up at you blinking rapidly.
"Those things really come down with a crash huh?" he says sheepishly.
"Yeah they'll catch your fingers if you're not careful, tends be something we all learn the hard way" you smile sympathetically.
You lift the bar he dropped and move it over to the side. By the time you walk back over he seems to have regained his composure, and is making his way over to his friends talking loudly. You look around the room and spot Anthony seemingly having a pep talk to himself in the corner. He must have felt your gaze fall on him, as he turns around almost immediately and claps his hands together.
"Right elephants, come and stand in the middle of the room please"
Anthony continues "We're going to start with teaching you some positions"
This comment elicits some giggles from the men, but they regain their composure pretty quickly. Anthony slowly takes them through the basics, having you, Avery and Will go around correcting posture and turn out. It's evident that some of the men are not taking it particularly seriously, but there are others who seem to be genuinely trying, and that are actually doing quite well. You stand behind the man with the floppy hair and place your hand on his shoulder.
"Try and drop these shoulders for me, we're trying to keep our posture nice and straight but our shoulders are low, use your back muscles"
The man adjusts his shoulders in about fifteen different ways, but doesn't seem to be understanding what he's actually aiming for.
"You want to use these muscles here to hold your arms up" you say, lightly pressing your fingers into the muscle behind his shoulder blades. He has more muscle in his back than you were expecting, given his slightly nerdish appearance. He drops his shoulders into the right position and you nod, coming around in front of him to check his positioning. He smiles at you nervously, looking for approval. You smile back and nod again, then continue making your way around the room.
You walk up to the man with the dark hair who had upset Will. You grab his hips and fix his alignment, doing it with considerable force. He wobbles and nearly falls, flinching at the stretch in his hip flexors. You walk away without another glance, smirking to yourself. Even if Will didn't see, it's nice to get your revenge anyway.
You walk over to Sean, and he smiles at you warmly. You go to adjust him but realise there's not actually much to correct. His feet are turned out, his core engaged and even his thumbs are tucked in. You're about to turn around and gesture to Avery to come and see, when you hear an almighty thud!
You turn around to see the dark haired man in a crumpled heap on the floor. Avery is stood above him covering her mouth in feigned shock, but her shoulders are shaking as though she's giggling behind her hand. She helps him up then turns around to you and winks. Clearly she had the same idea as you.
"Right then elephants, let's get your legs warmed up properly shall we?" calls Anthony.
He spreads the men out across the room and demonstrates a flawless échappé sauté. It's times like this when you remember why Anthony is such a highly regarded teacher. Even the dark haired boy seems impressed, watching him carefully as he demonstrates the move again.
The men give it a try themselves, without music at first. There are so many issues you don't even know where to begin. It appears Avery and Will are equally as overwhelmed, you all looking at each other with concerned faces. Anthony notices this too and speaks up, saving you.
"Okay okay stop please...please stop"
Anthony pauses for several moments, looking pained, then continues
"Maybe let's go over some ground rules hm? In ballet we point our toes, we keep our backs straight, and we roll through our feet as we land, lest we cause an earthquake"
"Oh and, you kind of need to put your feet back together when you land, or it kind of defeats the point" adds Avery
"Also you need to look straight ahead not at the floor, and your feet should be turned out each time you land" Will explains
"And your arms should be moving from bras bas to second as you jump out...and back into bras bas when you jump back in" states Avery
"So to clarify -" says Anthony "- you should keep your feet pointed, and roll through them as you land. Your back should be straight, your feet turned out and you should be looking straight ahead. Also you need to bring your feet back together so they're touching when you jump in and move your arms from bras bas to second to match your legs"
The men just stare at Anthony silently, like a deer in the headlights of a truck.
"Right off we go" shouts Anthony
The men don't move, seemingly frozen.
"Now!" Shouts Anthony.
This seems to snap them out of it, and they begin jumping again. Although it's evident they are attempting to implement your advice, they don't seem able to do all of it at once. Even Sean, who had been doing fantastically at the beginning now kept getting his arms wrong, and is staring at his feet so he doesn't step on them.
Unfortunately it seems one of the boys had been listening to that part. You hear a yelp and turn around to see the floppy haired man rubbing the inside of his foot.
"Are you okay?" You enquire concernedly
"Yeah I'm fine, I just...jumped on my own feet....I don't totally know how honestly" he replies, looking a little embarrassed.
You smile sympathetically, then walk away to give him chance to collect himself in peace.
Anthony keeps them jumping for a while, much longer than he usually would. He tells them to stop, and they look relieved, but then he puts on music that is faster than he'd use even for your classes, and begins clapping the beat. At this point the men are dripping with sweat, and the one with the blonde curls is visibly shaking. Anthony doesn't seem to notice this, or more likely he doesn't care. So the men start to jump again, understandably struggling to keep up to the speed of the music.
Anthony lets them continue for a minute or so and then pauses the music. You hear him flicking through songs, but before he has chance to choose one, you grant the men some mercy.
"Maybe we should move onto some travelling jumps Anthony?" You ask
He turns around, clearly surprised by your remark. You nudge your head in the direction of the men and Anthony looks at them all. Upon seeing the sorry state they're in, he puts his phone down without putting on any more music.
He sends the men to get a drink, realising that maybe he might have pushed them a little bit too hard. They guzzle the water like horses, looking absolutely exhausted. Although they aren't the most talented of dancers, you do have to admire their determination. Not one of them stopped jumping until Anthony said so, although you're not sure if that's from grit or fear.
Anthony rounds them up and takes them to the corner of the room. Him and Will demonstrate several different leaps, naming them as they go. You look at the men and it is very obvious they are not remotely picking any of this information up. You glance across to Avery, who then calls out
"Maybe we could get them started with grand jeté Anthony? That's probably the most attainable"
Anthony agrees, and has Will demonstrate several sequential grand jetés. He then splits the men into pairs, and has them attempt to replicate Wills performance.
It is a pitiful attempt from almost all of them. Most of them can't get up in the air high enough to be able to even begin splitting their legs apart, and the ones that can are so inflexible they end up bending their legs and looking like they're running. Anthony spends some more time sending them across the room in pairs, and you take that opportunity to get a drink.
You are sipping your water and stretching your hamstrings at the bar when you feel a presence behind you. You turn around to find the floppy haired man limping toward you, holding the back of his leg.
"Anthony said to come and see you" he says wincing
"What did you do?" you ask, your eyebrows scrunching together with concern.
The man doesn't appear to have a real answer for you, and just stands there rubbing his leg and squeezing his eyes shut. You put your arm around his shoulder and steer him to the door, heading towards the first aid room.
Once in there, you have him sit on the bed whilst you pull out some heat gel. You also grab an ice pack and some ibuprofen.
"Lie back for me a second so I can look at your leg" you say quietly.
He leans back, which makes his glasses slide out of place slightly. You look at him for a moment then place your hand on his leg to check the muscle which makes him bolt back upright again.
"Oh! I'm sorry are my hands cold?" You ask earnestly
"Ahem...no you're err...you're fine you just surprised me...sorry" he stammers, going pink.
He lies back down again and you check his leg. You hand him an ice pack and get him to hold it in place, whilst you do him a cup of water. He accepts it gratefully along with the ibuprofen. He swallows them and then leans back against the wall with his eyes closed. You watch him carefully, attempting to figure him out. He seems confident and extroverted with his peers, but alone he is quieter, almost a little guarded.
You let him rest for another minute or two, then touch his shoulder.
"How are you feeling?" you ask gently.
His eyes remain closed as he mumbles "I've been better, do we need to go back?"
You look at him sympathetically.
"Ideally yes, they kind of need me in there. Plus these lights will give us both a headache if we're in here much longer" you reply, glancing up at the glaring bulbs.
"Mmm okay, just give me one more minute" he says, eyes still closed.
You leave him to rest a little longer and clean up the room. You put the gel you didn't use back in the cupboard, as well as the box of ibuprofen. You take the ice pack out of his hand and he barely reacts. You pop it back in the freezer and wash your hands before returning to him. He still has his eyes closed but his hand isn't holding his thigh anymore. It dawns on you that he's fell asleep.
You deliberate internally for a moment on what to do. On the one hand, he's in pain and looks absolutely exhausted. But on the other, Anthony and the others are waiting for you. You realise you're going to have to wake him up and take him back in.
You place your hand on his shoulder very gently, rubbing it slightly. He stirs a little but doesn't wake up. You do it again, a little firmer this time and his eyes ping open.
"I'm so sorry" he says sleepily.
There's a hoarseness to his voice that wasn't there before, likely because he'd fell asleep with his mouth open. Seemingly reading your mind, he scans the room for a drink. You pass him his cup of water and smile at him
"Ready to head back?"
He looks at you for a moment, then nods slowly. You help him off the bed, your shoulder under his arm taking some of his weight. He stretches his leg out and grins
"Wow this actually feels a lot better already, you should be a nurse...or a wizard"
You laugh at him "That would be the medication, we have the strong stuff here, let's us keep dancing when we're injured"
"Is that not bad for your body?" he asks, a look of concern on his face.
"Yes, horribly" you reply deadpan
You don't say anything for a second, then look at him and grin. He laughs, his eyes crinkling.
"Wow I did not know ballerinas were so metal...maybe I should be more scared of your teacher" he says jokingly, although there's a look of sincerity behind his eyes.
You let out a gently breathy giggle
"Anthony is a teddy bear! A stressed teddy bear with anger issues yes...but a teddy bear nonetheless"
You smile at each other, reaching the door to the studio.
"My name is Charlie by the way" he says with a gentle smile.
"Hi Charlie" you smile softly back, then open the door for him to enter the studio.