Petit Allegro | English

Dear students,

When I was much younger, my parents wanted me to have a job that would allow me to make a lot of money. But I wanted to dance. I just LOVE ballet. They thought at first that I was doing what all children do: doing battle with their parents to assert their independence. They couldn’t realize my passion had nothing to do with them or independence.

With time, they made peace with that idea of theirs, knowing that whatever happens I would always do my best to make them proud. Of course they couldn’t let me off the hook without making a speech about me making my own decisions and all. They did make an effort to understand me, and I appreciated that.

I was particularly grateful they didn’t make fun of me when I didn’t make it through my intensive training program the first time around. What happened is that I made a mistake and that did hurt my feet; I made an appointment with the school’s doctor who then did his duty and pulled me out of the program. I had nothing to do for weeks but catching up on my reading.

When I re-applied for the program, I made sure my feet and toes got proper rest in between hours of practice. My mom thought it wouldn't do me any harm to have one more session off, but I just couldn’t wait that long. And then it happened: I got in! I finally made it.

It is actually my father who did me a favor and made all the arrangements for my stay in Saint-Petersburg because he used to do business with quite a number of Russian partners. Even with all his help, I had a hard time adjusting to all the things I had to do without. I had done my homework about life in Russia. It’s just that no matter how prepared you are, you always do miss the little things back home. Sometimes I would wonder what to make for dinner when suddenly memories of long-loved dishes would make an attempt to make me utterly homesick.

Other than that, my life in Russia was a dream made real. I wake up in the morning and make my bed, I do my hair (I had them long at the time) and then… barre exercises! When I’m done with all my exercises, I do my center practice! And then it’s lunchtime. I do the dishes right after, like my mom always does. Well, now that she’s not around to make me do the chores, I have to make my own commitment to cleanliness. I even do my own laundry! But I can never do enough for ballet, so in the afternoon, I’m back in the studio. As my father puts it: “You only have one job to do: enjoy your time there!”

Making phone calls was not easy in Saint-Petersburg. I was so busy trying to make my body the temple of grace and beauty it was supposed to be. But I just had to make time for that. So every now and then, I would go out and make some calls, make it known I was doing fine (now remember mobile phones were not ubiquitous like nowadays). My friends back home would try to make me tell them my plans for after Russia, but truth is making plans is not my forte. Everybody thought I would stay in Russia, do my time in a local company, and then make a move to join a national one.

However with time, making it to the top became less and less of a priority as I started to think that making a difference in my own hometown would make more sense to me. I gradually made up my mind about going for a simpler life. I expected my Russian friends to make jokes about simple me once I had made my intentions known to them, but they were very understanding and did everything they could to help me make my own path. I realized I would miss them dearly. They had made Russia my second home. Literally.

One of my friends (Anna) had an old aunt (Vera) who lived near the school. Vera made all her cakes and cookies from scratch, yum! Anna and I would always try to make ourselves useful. We helped her do her shopping on Saturdays, which was a long affair because she loved making a comparison of prices. But I think she mostly appreciated the company of young persons to make conversation with. It made her feel less old, as she put it.

I will always fondly remember the way she used to make us tea in the afternoon. The kitchen is warm with wonderful smells of biscuits freshly made, the kettle makes a nice ringing sound when the water is done, and the tea leaves slowly do their trick releasing an amazing scent of bergamot in the air. Sladki, her big ginger cat would usually come in at that time and make a huge mess… which would make us all laugh heartily.

The point of my letter is that whatever your decision might be regarding your future, my dear student, you do not have to make that decision right away. You can decide to do this and that first, see how it goes, change your plans, make other plans, knowing that along the way friendship and happiness will always make the whole experience a lot more joyful if you let them do so. And when you’re done kicking and thrashing around, home will be there waiting for you. You just need to find out where home is. That’s life’s puzzle. Make friends, make amends, make a journey that allows you to grow. Never make any excuse for laziness. Make an effort to understand people who are different from you, make a choice, make a mistake, make a promise to yourself to be happy, live your life to the fullest!

Always do your best, you will always make me proud.

Yours truly,

A. Reed.

The Cheatsheet