{ pas de bourrées ·· derrick

[eulaline alette poe]

eulaline poe threw a burgundy shrug over her black leotard, and a pair of black sweatpants over her typical ballerina pink tights. whenever the young girl had a chance, she enjoyed spending her spare time in the barré room. the dresden dance studio was eulaline's second home, and its sleek wooden floors surrounded by wall length mirrors were here was her foundation. the dancer stared at herself in her bedroom mirror as she placed her hair in a tight bun. finally, she threw on a pair of boots, grabbed her ipod, her worn pair of pink pointe shoes, and headed out the door of her dormitory towards the dresden dance studio. as she walked, eulaline carefully placed each ipod earphone into each ear, and flicked her ipod on. after choosing a random song to listen to, the brunette scanned her library for an artist to dance to as she practiced. eventually her mind set on a tribe called quest; though in many ways the girl was a typical ballerina, she loved straying from classical music to something more upbeat when she danced. there was something about doing pas de bourrées and fondues to electrical relaxation that made eulaline feel pumped and excited to dance.

she let electric relaxation play for the rest of her walk to dresden dance studio, dancing a little as she did. if eulaline could dance every second for the rest of her life, she would; dancing was eulaline's soul's way of speaking its mind. and right now, her soul was having a damn good time. if only bouscher academy offered a hip hop dancing class. it offered swing and ballroom and whatever the fuck, but not hip hop dance? eulaline made a mental note to let duffy and matsen know that they had to do something about this. start a petition, or maybe even learn songs off youtube and start their own god damn class. only, they would give it a more cheetahlicious name. "hip hop dance for the cheetah cub." no, too babyesque. "cheetahlicious hop." no, too "electric slide." "cheetahlicious pop" sounded decent to eulaline, but she didn't want to give her potential students a misleading impression. she would have to compose a list of potential class names at some point in the (hopefully, very near) future.

finally, eulaline entered the dance studio, immediately feeling at home. its recently waxed oak floors looked untainted, the recently washed wall length mirrors providing a reflection that seemed all too real. eulaline took off her boots, placing them in a corner, and sat down to put on her pointe shoes. as she ribboned them up, she hummed to 'find a way', which was currently playing on her ipod. finally, it was time to dance. the femme plugged in her ipod to the dance stereo, and hit play. she walked over to the barré as check the rhime played. once she approached, she placed her closest hand onto the bar, and began to dance. she would start with only a warmup, plié, plié, grand plié, plié again, and then finish would a relevé. even with this simple bar combination, any fears of josef from france not actually coming to ehu island immediately melted away. and with that, any stresses about who would receive the lead in the next school dance disappeared as well. eulaline felt at peace. being at the barré, in the dance studio, was eulaline's unique way of meditation. this was zen.

[derrick hirsch]

-- derrick fumed silently to himself as he rolled out of bed. this was the only time when he allowed himself to slouch, scowl, and be uncharacteristically ungraceful. as a dancer, that's what he prided himself on, but not when he woke up later than usual, and still needed to get in dancing time and maybe a minor workout session. he cursed to himself as he looked at his clock, which he shouldn't have. it was way later, the dance studio would probably be packed by now! that's what he got for not waking up early. he grabbed his duffel back from underneath his bed, which had his dance shoes, and a hair band, towel and whatever else he needed for his dancing. he hated not having long hair, so he had to face the jokes and put it in a hair band while he was practicing. it was such a pain in the ass when it got in his eyes as he was trying to do something.

-- something just told him today was not going to be a very good day at all, especially as his ear buds kept falling out as he was trying to walk to the dance studio, taking the long way to avoid traffic. it wasn't like he knew a lot of people, but just in case there was that one person that he did know, he didn't want to talk, all he wanted to do was dance his anger away. luckily, he had a playlist on his ipod for these occasions. of course, it wasn't a very long playlist, because he was normally in a happy, upbeat mood, but that's when his alarm actually went off when it was supposed to. (later he would learn he never turned it on in the first place).

-- he approached the studio, shoving his ipod back into his pocket, someone was in there, he could hear the music. great, just great. he ducked through the doors, trying not to interrupt the ballerina. her music was different, and strangely un-ballet like, but it was...good. he nodded his greeting at the girl and took the side of the room opposite to her and sat down, getting his shoes on, putting his masculine headband in and standing up, doing some stretching before dancing. "i like your music." derrick told the girl smiline, he knew her from class, and knew she was friends with ramilda. her name was eulaline? he remembered her name because it was different and he liked it. his shyness took over as he pondered using the barre but he decided to not bother her and do more stretching, after a couple days off, his muscles needed the extra warm-up.

[eulaline alette poe]

eulaline poe gracefully moved her arms with her feet to the upbeat, groovy hip hop playing in the background. whenever she danced to a tribe called quest, she felt as if she was , the token white girl in a movie like center stage or step up. she was the wild cheetah prowess, the center of everyone's eye, ready to captivate anyone with her perfected, passionate dance moves. eulaline went into another plié at the bar, placed her hands in front of her, arms being held up in a circular position as she prepared herself for a pirouette. eulaline focused on a spot on the wall, and pushed herself from fifth position into a double pirouette. she kicked her right leg up into the air in front of her, and finished with a tight sou-su, her hands and arms lifted up into the air, still forming a graceful circle above her head. after moments of holding her tight sou-su position, eulaline finished her first workout in fifth position with her heels on the ground, not forgetting to plié at the end as well. "mmmm, what's next?' the brunette said out loud to herself, happy to have the barré room to herself. normally it was hard to snag the dance studio all to yourself, but she guessed people wanted to take a break before the first week of school. it was probably because the bouscher academy dance instructors never took it easy on the students, even after a break; so, many dance students tried enjoying their break for as long as possible. but, eulaline found that reason to be one of the reasons why she was in the studio that day.

next, find a way started playing on the stereo in the studio. eulaline laughed, but nonetheless went back to fifth position. she didn't really have any particular technique to practice in mind, but rather this time let her hands and feet move to the music and how it made her feel.

messing me up, my whole head
teasing me, just like tisha, did martin
now look at what you're starting
schoolboy's crush and it ain't on the hush

her smile wouldn't part from her face; as her feet quickly moved with the beat of the music, she couldn't help but feel as free as a dove being freed from its cage. the dove represented peace and the holy spirit; eulaline felt like a holy spirit, or at the very least a free one. "i like your music," eulaline suddenly heard a male voice in the room. she jumped and stopped what she was doing, slightly disrupted but more so surprised. "oh my god," she let out a laugh when she saw a somewhat familiar boy, a blonde from one of her classes, sitting on the floor, stretching. "you effing scared me!" eulaline's hands made their way onto her waist as she remembered what the boy had initially said. "oh, and thank you," she laughed with some kind of awkwardness to her; it definitely wasn't the typical ballerina music, and for some reason that got eulaline feeling a little embarrassed. "i needed something this groove-worthy to dance to today. do you have anything in particular you want to play? i don't really mind what song i dance to." she started approaching the boy for a handshake, however awkward that could have made it, she knew how to be courteous. "eulaline, by the way. i know we have a have a few classes together, but i'm sorry to say i haven't caught your name.."

[derrick hirsch]

-- as derrick was stretching, he couldn't help but watch the graceful ballerina dance across the floor. she moved freely and with so much passion and energy. you could tell she loved dancing in every way. that's why derrick normally only dated dancers, because they shared his passion and commitment, and were passionate beings. and derrick was happy someone else wasn't scared to actually continue to dance and keep up through the break of classes. you could tell who was serious about it, and who just liked it by how much practicing they did. derrick continued to stretch and watch at the same time as her moves changed with the song, but still fluid and graceful. the girl didn't seem to have any particular method, just dancing because she simply loved it. derrick wished he could just jump in and start dancing with her, his legs ached to go through the positions, his hands and strong arms lifting her up gently. he was always nervous he was going to drop his partner, but he loved the pair routines.

-- as soon as derrick spoke the words, he realized how big of a mistake he had just made. her dancing stopped and he wished he hadn't said anything. "sorry." he told her sincerely, his cheeks flushing a light pink. at least she wasn't angry, and he was relieved when the girl started laughing. "your welcome." he told her smiling politely, still chiding himself for interrupting her. "oh no, i dance to anything as well." he said honestly. he liked her music, it was different, and to him, different was usually a good thing. he shook her hand lightly. "nice to meet you. i'm derrick. and it's fine, i usually stick to the back." he chuckled, but it was honest. he did his best to blend in, but stand out at the same time. as a dancer, most wanted to stand out, but you had to do things to not being attention to yourself, but just do enough to make people remember your face and your skills.

-- "i hope you don't mind me sharing the room with you. i promise to stay on my side." derrick joked. he secretly hoped she would suggest dancing together, but if not, that was okay too, he needed to work on some routines for his classes coming up. the teachers had talked briefly about what they would be doing once they got back from break, and he wanted to be more than ready. he was certainly doing more than what he was required to. derrick loved doing it though. he was definitely a nerd. dancing had always been his passion, and besides, what else did he have to do? he wanted to make sure that he would have a lot of recommendations for getting on at dance companies, or traveling dancing troupes. it excited him, to be able to actually make a living doing what he loved most.

[eulaline alette poe]

eulaline beamed, her eyes chinking up a little. she couldn't be more than pleased with the sentence the boy spoke about dancing to anything as well. the brunette clasped her hands together, nodding to show her agreement. "yes!" she exclaimed, eyes still smiling, "absolutely. dance is your pulse, your heartbeat, and no single genre of music should decide what rhythm you want your heart to beat." eulaline was full of cheesy dance quotes that probably didn't really make any sense. the brunette sat down in front of the boy, for enough leg space for both him and her. she stretched her legs out in a straddle, with both of her legs out to the side of her. she might as well be stretching and maintaining conversation, because lord knew eulaline could not talk and dance. whenever she had something to say about what she thought of certain choreography or had a question to ask about what she was doing wrong, she always had to either stop herself in her tracks or keep the thought buried in the back of her head, but still ready to be blurted out once she finished a combination, or whatever she was doing.

"why do you dance in the back, hm derrick?" eulaline smiled as she asked, raising her eyebrows for god knows why as she leaned towards her left foot, with arms stretched out too. she had an old picture of ehu island's "mini ballerina" program, with the back of the room full of those exercise bikes that didn't move even when you pedaled. sometimes, the student instructors would be forced to use those ugly things. bouscher academy's back of the room was of course different, with traditional barrés all around, but with that not-so-fond memory of exercise bikes in the back, eulaline had always been fond of the front of the room. plus, she felt more appreciated at the front when, normally in the middle of class, they moved from the barrés to the centers of the room. eulaline loved being at the front of the room, pretending all attention was on her ––– even though she sooort of secretly, in the back of her mind, knew it was not, and in fact everyone was probably concerned with themselves and how they looked as well. "you should join me at the front more. i need someone to talk to in between combinations!" she encouraged as she moved from stretching towards her left leg to her right.

"oh my god, of course i don't mind sharing the room!" eulaline threw her arms up in the air, her hands then landing behind her as she leaned back onto them. "you don't have to stay on your side either, don't be a stranger! i mean, we have the same classes. we can practice together." eulaline paused for a second, tilting her head. suddenly, her face lit up again with the cheeriest smile; it looked like she was in the seventh grade about to share the juciest gossip with her possé, about to score major points. "maybe we can be in the same dance troupe this semester, too!" eulaline for some reason didn't get along with some of the girls in her dance troupe, leading to some harsh, lifelong enemies. girls were bitches sometimes... well, including eulaline. her mouth accidentally finding ways to insult those who weren't immediately friendly with her really got her into trouble. "jeez, i wouldn't mind you dancing with me either. i mean, we could totally jam out to a tribe called quest." eulaline threw her arms into a thug like position, crossing them and lifting her elbows into the air. she gave as best of a "thug" face as she could, but looked incredibly white. ... incredibly white.

[derrick hirsch]

-- derrick could tell the girl was obviously excited about his answer. he didn't mind all that classical stuff, but it got old after a while. sometimes you just needed to let loose and just have fun. "i feel the same way." he agreed, smiling. it was very fortunate that she wasn't a stuck up prude. he hated ballerinas like that. he was positive it was the tight bun, and it made their brain shrink. eulaline sat down in front of him and began to stretch some more, which he followed and sat down too and reached out between his legs. his muscles pulled in their familiar and comforting way. he knew they would burn tomorrow, since he had given himself a couple days off. everyone needed a break now and again.

-- "eh, i don't really know. just seems the best place. i like to watch everyone else. i don't really like being the center of attention either." derrick said chuckling. which was true. the teachers knew he was there. and it was nice to be able to see what everyone else was doing, to see their mistakes and learn from them. derrick was a perfectionist, and he didn't really like his mistakes being pointed out, especially not in front of the whole class! if he had a problem, he could go after class to as the instructor. he hated the others who stopped their instructor in the middle of class to ask a silly question, which in turn held up the whole class. he shrugged at her statement. "maybe. i'm not sure i would know how to act without everyone's butts in my face. now that you mention it, the front of the room is looking better and better!" he laughed. he actually felt...comfortable with this girl. he barely knew her and he wasn't bumbling over his words or anything.

-- derrick grinned at her genuine enthusiasm. "that sounds like a great idea. it always seems i'm lacking in the pairs department. probably because i'm so nervous i'll drop the girl...which i never have of course!" he rushed his last few words. he didn't want her to freak out. it was true, derrick made sure he was never in a position where he would drop his partner, and he never has. even if it was just a little off, he always paid attention so he could adjust anyway necessary. "crap!" derrick exclaimed. "that's what i forgot to sign up for! i'll have to go change my schedule so i can be in dance troupe." he said, mentally kicking himself. how had he forgotten!? he loved danced troupe! "sounds marvelous!" his voice echoed through the room...that is until he caught sight of eulaline's face and he burst out into laughter. "wow eulaline. i don't think i have ever seen someone look so...not gangster as you." he was still laughing. "i'm sorry. it's just halarious, because i could never picture you as a gangster. it's like me trying to be australian or something." his stomach was starting to hurt and he couldn't stop smiling.

[eulaline alette poe]

eulaline found it so interesting to meet someone who did ballet and didn't like being the center of attention! "what? really!" the smile that had been on her face never left, as if it was pasted on. "you're so silly! you don't like being the center of attention? why not?" she let the boy answer, and then offered her love of being the center of attention. "i think that's one of the reasons why i chose to be a ballerina," she started, "because i genuinely loved being on stage, knowing that all eyes were on me." eulaline's eyes wandered into the distance as she daydreamt of being in a pas de deux, no one else but she and her handsome partner on the stage. "the other reason of course, being i love to dance. i love everything about it. the soul you have to put into it, the passion, the happiness you get when you're dancing…anytime, anywhere. i'm sure you know the feeling." eulaline's eyes focused on derrick as she spoke those last few words. "you know, the one thing i love about the people here are the passions i see on their faces, in their work." eulaline paused, then switched her tone of voice to a very uppity, high-pitched, obnoxious one with the most fake british accent: "artsy fartsy people are just sooo passionate, y'know wha'imean?"

eulaline laughed at derrick's butt joke. "what? come on, you have to love butts in your face! i mean, doesn't every guy?" she said this without considering whether he was gay or straight. normally eulaline did when it came to ballerinas, but hey! some people liked all sorts of butts. eulaline couldn't help but giggle when derrick had to reassure her that he hadn't dropped a girl before. "oh gosh, right? well i of course never have to worry about dropping a girl, but sometimes it's hard to put all my trust in my pas de deux partner! i get really scared. oh, i saw this video the other day of these chinese acrobats and there was a girl on her partner's head en pointe! it was insane! i could never get the confidence to do that. seriously, that ballerina is fierce in every singe way i could possibly imagine. think of how injured she could get if she fell! that would take years off of her career." eulaline always thought of her dancing career. "definitely sign up for dance troupe! isn't it the most fun class? it's so intense sometimes, but gosh i love it."

"whaat! i'm sooo 'g', derrick. you don't even know." eulaline winked at him, and pursed her lips as she did a little 'bro nod.' "i'm from tha hoooood." if ehu island was a 'hood.'

[derrick hirsch]

ooc;; soo sorry for taking so long. my posting should go back to normal. now that finals are over.

-- derrick nodded. sure, it sounded odd, but he really didn't like being the center of attention. especially in class. if he happened to be then okay, but he didn't try to get attention. most of the time it just happened. "i don't know. i guess i just know when i need to be, and when i don't. not really my thing i guess." derrick shrugged. of course dancers loved to be the center of attention. it was one of the reasons most took up dancing and performing. "i love that feeling, of everyone seeing what i can do, how me and my partner seem like one, and seeing the passion. but as far as grabbing attention, not my thing." it wasn't even close to being a reason why he had chosen to dance. "i love how it differs from person to person, the personality and emotions people put into it. no two dances are ever the same, even when danced by the same person."

-- it had always been a great outlet for derrick. of course he maintained a healthy lifestyle and took care of his body so he could dance for many more years to come. so many dancers had neglected their body and pushed themselves too hard, then becoming injured and throwing their whole career in the garbage. "well, i may like butts, but not when they're in my face!" derrick laughed. he couldn't remember the last time he had felt so..confident and at ease while talking to another person. eulaline was just so easy to talk to. he listened to her story. "i could never do something like that either, not only balance on someone's head, but have someone on my head!" it was incredible.

-- "it is. i can't believe i forgot it!" he said shaking his head. then she went back to her gangster personality. derrick couldn't help but just laugh. "then if you're gangsta, so am i." with his thick german accent, and attempted "gangsta" accent, just made it all the more funny. he just had to laugh at himself. "i'm never going to do that again." he wondered if he was getting a better workout by laughing rather than dancing. it felt good to laugh, he hadn't had this much fun in a really long time. maybe it was time for him to stop being so serious, and start really living. dance would always be there, and he didn't have to slack off completely, but just be a kid.

[eulaline alette poe]

eulaline nodded her head as derrick told her why he loved to dance. it was beautiful. seeing the passion in a dancer was definitely amazing. when a dance came from the heart rather than the head, it looked so much more graceful and fantastic to watch. she stood up and went into a lunge position, continuing to listen as he spoke. "oh my god, you're totally right," eulaline loved talking with other dancers and hearing their opinions about dance. a few of the men eulaline had met who danced were definitely less full of themselves than the women eulaline knew (and eulaline included herself in the latter group). whenever eulaline was stressed out about a dance or particular combination, it was always a male who told her that she took everything too seriously. god, eulaline knew from the way he spoke that derrick was probably an amazing dancer. it was then that she decided she would eventually work into asking him to be her pas de deux partner for the talent showcase at the end of the school year. he liked fun music, and he had the soul to be a good dancer.

"i may like butts, but not when they're in my face!" eulaline laughed with derrick when he made that comment, switching legs for her lunges. "yeahhh, do you dig big booty bitches, derrick?" eulaline burst into song. "big booty bitches, big, big! booty bitches." god, she was a total gangster. eulaline walked up to the barré to stretch her legs as they continued their conversation. "right? it would take some balls to let someone balance on your head. their well-being and dancing career could be balancing all up on you! one slip and they could be ruined for the rest of their career." eulaline was all about thinking about her career in the long run. "i wonder if anyone at our academy has the balls for that. god, maybe i'll do it when i'm in my thirties and can't dance anymore. at least i've got some time to think, right?" she probably would never do it. eulaline would leave it to the chinese to come up with wild stunts like that.

eulaline watched derrick's reflection in the mirror as she began to stretch her other leg. "yeah, 'd', you a g!" she giggled. "aw yeah, we could start the hip hop club here at bouscher academy. don't give up now! you're destined for guns and the mafia lifestyle. we could choreograph a ballet called in tha hood."

[derrick hirsch]

ooc;; oh my gosh. i'm soo sorry!

-- there had never been one single moment in his entire life that he had doubted his love or passion for dance. he had always known, even from the start, that dance was going to be his life, his everything and eventually his career. he hated to see dancers who danced just because, they had no passion for it, and it showed. their performances were good, but they weren't great. every ballet he had been to, you could tell the performers had passion, they loved to be on the stage in front of everyone, that they really connected and practiced with their partners. but there was always that one person who didn't, who just went along with the moves. of course only another dancer would recognize this.

-- derrick stood up with eulaline and began doing stretches as well. his muscles needed it, and he hated to just sit there, especially in the dance studio. he had come down here to dance after all. as soon as she began to sing, he lost it. then the conversation switched back to the chinese dancers who balanced on on another's heads. "i couldn't even imagine. how would you even begin to practice something like that?" he was totally curious now, to see the work and effort behind something like that. who would even try it in the first place?

-- he tried to pull a "gangsta" face, but it didn't work out so well, he probably looked challenged or something. "i'm sure that would go over marvelously, eulaline. we would probably be the only ones in it." he said grinning. although hip hop did sound nice. he was surprised the school didn't offer it. after all, it was just another form of dance. then again, most of the kids that went to school at bouscher were the whitest kids around.