Isabelle Dances Into the Spotlight Page #3

Congratulations, lzzie.

But wait, I don't get it.

My audition was terrible.

And Jackie saw me

totally screw up

at the Halloween Benefit.

Obviously Jackie and the director thought

you were good enough to be in the show.

Yeah.

I don't know.

Maybe being in the show

isn't such a good idea.

Maybe I should go talk

to Ms. Hawken.

Are you seriously saying that

you might not do the show?

Congratulations to all of you who

were cast in The Nutcracker.

Now to add to the excitement,

those of you who are cast

are eligible for admittance

to the New York City Ballet's School of

American Ballet Summer Intensive Program.

Four students will be

chosen by the director

and by none other than

Jackie Sanchez herself.

(ALL EXCLAIM EXCITEDLY)

One student each will come

from the fourth, fifth, sixth

and seventh grades,

and it will be quite

an honor to be chosen.

The New York City Ballet,

of course,

is one of the finest ballet

companies in the world.

And the School of American Ballet's

Summer Program is just as excellent

and very, very difficult

to get into.

So good luck.

Now you can't drop

out of The Nutcracker.

Oh, no, Isabelle! You're

thinking of dropping out?

I guess that's probably

for the best.

It'll give you more

time to practice.

Right?

Looks like that

fourth grade spot is mine.

I wouldn't be so sure

about that, Renata.

What did you say?

I'm going to win

that fourth grade spot.

Oh, yeah?

We'll see about that.

That was awesome.

I can't believe

I just said that.

She won't last a week.

(BOTH CHUCKLE)

RENATA:
And by the way,

Isabelle, nice jacket.

LUISA:

That's telling her, lzzie.

JADE:
It's fine.

We're gonna have so much fun

in this show together.

Just think of us dancing

with Jackie Sanchez.

There we go.

I think it's ready to go on display

at the American History Museum.

Hey.

Why did I have to make

such a big deal about

how I was going to beat Renata

for the summer program?

Oh, sweetie, you should not be

worrying about the summer program.

You should just be focusing on

doing well in The Nutcracker.

All I've ever wanted to do is

get to study at the School of

American Ballet in New York City.

And now Renata can ruin that.

She's so gonna have it in for

me when rehearsals start.

Well, honey, your sister

Jade's gonna be there,

and the two of you

can support each other.

Jade doesn't need my help.

She's the one everyone's

always comparing me to.

It's like I'm stuck

in her shadow or something.

Sweetie, you're not in anyone's

shadow unless you put yourself there.

You just need to focus on being the

best Isabelle that you can be.

That's easier said than done.

I know, I know.

Just keep working

hard like always.

And do your best

every single day.

Your best.

Don't think about

how well Jade is doing.

And definitely do not let this

girl Renata get under your skin.

Okay?

Deal?

Deal.

Good.

Now, I have got

a surprise for you.

I have been hired by

the ballet company

to design all the costumes

for The Nutcracker.

What? That's awesome!

I know, it is. But it's

also a lot of work.

Because besides designing

all the costumes,

I've also agreed to make

Jade's Clara outfit.

So I think I'm gonna

need some help.

That would be incredible.

I've got so many design ideas.

Good. Well, I look forward

to your expert opinions.

(CHUCKLES)

MR. KOSLOFF:
Congratulations, you made it.

And therefore, welcome.

As you can see, I've invited

Jackie to join us today,

and I know that you are much more

excited about working with her

than you are with me.

(ALL LAUGH)

Right. Ballet.

An art form that first appeared in the

royal courts of the Italian Renaissance.

It's brought us such artists

as George Balanchine,

Mikhail Baryshnikov

and Anna Pavlova.

And now, all of you are joining

us in this grand tradition.

It should be considered not only

an honor, but a responsibility.

And as such, I'm going to be asking a

lot of you over the next six weeks.

It will be intense, so I need you

to eat, sleep and breathe ballet.

Ballet requires practice,

and a lot of it.

It requires dedication,

and above all, sacrifice.

I don't care if you are the most

naturally talented dancer in this room.

None of that will matter

unless you work at it.

Understand?

ALL:
Yes.

Now that we've scared you,

(ALL LAUGH)

Mr. Kosloff and I wanna remind you that

this is also supposed to be a lot of fun.

The reason we do this is because

dancing brings us great joy

and allows us to bring

joy to the audience.

Am I right?

ALL:
Yes.

Good. We are starting with

the party scene, right?

Yes, the party scene.

Let me set the stage for you.

It is Christmas Eve.

And the party guests

are all having fun.

Smiling. There we go.

You look like a good

little party guest.

Come with me.

Come hither, young lady.

There we go. All right?

And we're smiling.

Having fun, yes?

Party, party, party.

And then, the magical and mysterious

godfather Drosselmeyer appears.

!

(ALL LAUGH)

Here he is.

And he brings a beautiful

present for Clara.

It's a beautiful nutcracker.

Lovely.

Now, Clara's younger,

mischievous brother

takes a fancy to

said nutcracker,

and they start

fighting for it.

Back and forth, and back and

forth, and back and forth.

And all of a sudden, Fritz drops

the nutcracker and breaks it!

(GASPS)

And Clara is

absolutely dismayed.

Right? Are you ready to learn

the sequence? ALL: Yes.

All right. Now, Jade, I expect you

to nail the steps very quickly.

We're on a tight

timeframe here.

Okay?

Yeah.

All right. Let me have a quick

chat with Drosselmeyer.

Get warmed up and

then we'll start.

Ms. Sanchez, hi, I'm Renata.

Pleasure to meet you, Renata.

I just wanted to say what a huge

honor it is dancing with you.

Well, that's nice to hear.

Thank you.

All of us at Anna Hart

feel that way.

And it's so great to join

a new family of dancers,

since we already feel like

one big family ourselves.

That's sweet.

(MOCK GAGGING)

(LAUGHS)

(POP MUSIC PLAYING)

Nice, Isabelle. Really looks

like you are having fun.

No, Isabelle, you can do

better than that. Try again.

Can you believe her?

No. Isabelle, please.

Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

Marvelous.

Yes, Jade.

That's exactly why I cast you.

No.

Go again.

No.

Isabelle, you should know this by now.

Could you show her, please?

Let's try it again.

Show me on your own.

Yes. I knew you could get it.

Well done, Isabelle.

All right. Moving on.

Next is the battle sequence.

Can I have my tin and mice

soldiers front and center, please?

In this scene, the Mouse

King and the mouse soldiers

are trying to defeat the Nutcracker

Prince and his tin soldiers.

Sol really need to see passion

as you battle it out.

And the other thing

I absolutely require

is that each and every one of

you dance in perfect unison

with the dancers I've paired you up with.

Understood?

All right.

Let's try it again, please.

(PLAYING CLASSICAL MUSIC)

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