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Juicy Lucy's Grand Jeté
By Estaban Bacca
1.
It was only a short walk from the Covent Garden tube. When the young girl with the backpack turned onto Bow Street, the gleaming Greek portico of the Royal Opera House seemed to beckon her. Arriving across the street from its six tall, white columns, she halted, gazing up in awe. By chance, she stood beside Enzo Plazzotta's sculpture 'Young Dancer'. Had anyone noticed her there and compared its bronze features to hers, they might have concluded that she had been its model.
Lucinda Palm-Erslit took a deep breath and crossed the street. She ascended the steps to what she hoped would be her new home. This was the residence of the prestigious Royal Court Ballet. Sir Fredrick Towne, the company's choreographer had sent for her. An invitation to audition was a great honor in itself but Lucinda had stars in her eyes.
Since her childish hands first grasped the barre some ten years back, she'd felt that she was destined for greatness. Any other 18-year-old dancer would sell her soul just to be in the corps de ballet of this distinguished troupe. Lucinda, however, saw herself following in the footsteps of the immortal Margot Fonteyn, footsteps that would lead her to center stage and the spotlight that followed a Prima Ballerina.
Inside the great doors of the lobby an attendant stopped her. Lucinda identified herself and asked for Sir Frederick. The reply, while polite, let her know that the exalted choreographer had no time for aspiring little chits from some backwater of the arts. She was instructed to wait until one of Sir Frederick's assistants arrived to take her in hand.
Lucinda forced back her eager impatience and composed herself on the edge of a settee.
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