Dancing Boy

2019 - august

THE rush of adrenaline, he was going to do this. Peter felt his skin wrapped tightly around his frame. He ran out onto the stage. The floor was hard and smooth and the air was cold and he could feel every part of him trembling. The lights filled his eyes and he could hear the audience’s applause. So this was it, this was what living felt like. Like any moment he would float to the ceiling, like the work he'd been doing for the past ten years was finally paying off. Man, it felt good.

2009 - August

‘Cmon mom, I will be late for rehearsal!’ Peter was thundering down the stairs, a dance bag on his shoulder. It was a miracle that his parents let him do this. They wanted him to play hockey, like his brothers and father. When he got into the kitchen his mother was sitting at the table, coffee in hand.

‘Mom, I’m going to be late!’ 

‘Pete, your father has a surprise.’ She was smiling tightly.

‘What is it?, ’Peter ran up to his room, angry and disappointed, he'd been waiting for three months to go to dance, now he would never get to.

2014 - August

Peter grabbed his dance bag and stepped into the cold air. His parents didn’t know that he was going, but they didn’t have to. He had been going for about a month now, and he was loving it. He was the only boy, but he didn’t care. His best friend Livia was outside, ready to take him. His parents thought that they were just going to her house for supper. He grabbed his bike and raced with Livia down the Road to dance. He didn't do this every Tuesday for a month, but still got a rush of adrenaline from rebelling, even if it was a weak rebellion, he was doing what he wanted since he was 11 and his parents wouldn’t let him. He was very behind, but he knew that he was improving fast. He pulled his bike up and hastily tied it to the bike rack. He ran inside and tied his shoes up, happy as could be.

2009 - May

He watched the screen, breathless as Fred Astaire gracefully spun Ginger Rogers around his television. He knew that he wanted to do that. Dance. He ran into his parent’s room.

‘Dad, mom, can I take dance lessons with Lilly?’

 Lilly was his little sister.

‘No.’ 

His father always answered things bluntly, but this surprised Peter nonetheless.

‘Why not?’ 

His eyes were welling up a little. His mother saw it and tapped his father's shoulder disapprovingly.

‘We will see. Go finish your movie.’ 

She smiled and he skipped back into his room, his three brothers and sisters were asleep, but he stayed up until the end of the movie, wishing that he could dance on that screen.

2018 - December

He held the tickets in his hand, his mother was standing in the doorway of the same house that he grew up in.

‘Is dad home?’ 

He knew the answer. The old car wasn't in the driveway. If it weren't for this, Peter would not have had the courage to knock.

‘No hon, do you want to come back when he is?’ 

‘No, but can you give him one of these?’ 

Peter handed his mother the tickets. She looked surprised.

'There's one for each of you.’ 

He smiled a little and hugged her goodbye.

Now that that was over, he had to fly to Europe.

2014 - October

He had just got home from school and was happily tramping upstairs, but when he opened his bedroom door he stopped short. His mother had obviously been vacuuming under his bed. Now she was holding his precious dance bag. He came in, scared, knowing that dance was over for him. His face was cold and he could feel his breath coming quick.

‘What is this?’ 

His mother asked, turning to him, she hadn’t opened the bag yet.

‘Er….’

Why couldn’t he think of an excuse when he actually needed one? She looked suspiciously and unzipped the bag. Peter closed his eyes and waited for the explosion. It never came. He opened his eyes and his mother was looking thoughtfully at the shoes.  Finally, she spoke.

‘Don’t tell your father. He won’t let you dance.’ 

And then she left. 

They never talked about it again, but Peter knew what he owed his mother for that.

2016 -September

Peter couldn’t believe it. He had only been doing the recreation class because he couldn’t afford the competitive classes. Now this old woman with giant knuckles and a boa was offering him a chance to perform a solo for the team! 

‘So? Will you dance the solo, or not?’ 

He understood that much through her thick Russian accent. 

‘Yes, yes thank you so much! I won’t let you down you won’t-’ 

She cut him off.

‘Shut up. I don’t have to hear it.’ 

And she left. Peter had never seen her before, and he never saw her after. He later found out that she was the manager of the dance company. 

2018 - November 

The sweat was sickening, it was dark and hot and crowded. Peter was in between two talking dance girls, who seemed not to even notice that he was there. Then every one tensed up. A middle-aged woman wearing an expensive dress and drug store jewellery came into the room, scanning the dancer with a critical eye. She stopped briefly in front of a girl a little farther down the line.

‘You. What is your name?’ 

The girl looked terrified. She was blonde, with long legs and a slender build.

‘M-m-my name is Lucy.’ 

Her face was bright red. Peter was getting more and more nervous, he shouldn't even be here, he thought. He was a boy, boys don't dance.

‘You danced well. Here.’ 

The woman gave Lucy a paper portfolio and continued down the line. She did the same to two other girls before she came to peter. She stopped and looked him in the eye.

‘What is your name?’ 

Her eyes pierced him and he felt terrified.

‘P-peter. My name is Peter.’ 

The woman smiled, a thing Peter didn’t think was possible.

‘You dance well. Here.’ 

She handed him a portfolio and continued down the line. He couldn't believe it, he was going to Europe to dance! now he would have to tell his father. 

2019 - August

He stood on the stage, feeling all his dreams coming true, scanning the audience for the mother, three brothers and sisters. Livia was sitting with them. He looked for his father, but he was nowhere to be seen. Peter had known that this would happen. He stood in his place in the middle of the stage, so rounded in the rest of his team. First, the girls on his right started dancing, then the left began to move. For an instant, he thought that his joints would freeze and he would just stand there. But his cue came and he began to dance. He danced all his anger at his father out until he came to a breathless halt. He knew he had done an amazing job. He walked calmly off stage and sat down shaking with joy.

He had done it. And although his father would never be happy for him, he could live with that. He took a towel and rubbed over his face. Then smiled. He was a pretty fabulous boy.