Grier Cooper - Authors in August

Grier began ballet lessons at age five and left home at fourteen to study at the School of American Ballet in New York. She has performed on three out of seven continents with companies such as San Francisco Ballet, Miami City Ballet, and Pacific Northwest Ballet, totaling more than thirty years of experience as a dancer, teacher and performer.

She writes and blogs about dance in the San Francisco Bay Area and has interviewed and photographed a diverse collection of dancers and performers including Clive Owen, Nicole Kidman, Glen Allen Sims and Jessica Sutta. She is the author of WISH, a ballet fiction novel for young adults.

Links:

website: http://www.griercooper.com

Amazon Author page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00LPUJWSK

Barnes and Noble: www.barnesandnoble.com/c/grier-cooper

Twitter: http://twitter.com/griercooper
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/griercooper

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/grier-cooper/1a/63/357/
Instagram: https://instagram.com/griercooper/

I wipe sweat from my face and neck while we take a quick break to switch into our pointe shoes for Variations at the end of class. I tie my ribbons slowly and carefully. My tired brain feels foggy; plus it keeps replaying little vignettes of Jesse.

“Are you still inhabiting this planet or are you visiting Swoon Lake again?” Monique whispers furtively. She widens her eyes, jerking her head toward the windows. I look over to find Miss Roberta staring at me intently.

If she notices my lack of focus I will never hear the end of it.

Miss Roberta claps sharply. “All right, girls. We will repeat the variation we learned last week, from the top.” Oh man. Not that one again. “Indigo will demonstrate.”

I take my place in the center of the room. The music starts and I’m already moving, my mind several seconds ahead of the music. I have to anticipate what comes next so I stay in time with the melody. Arabesque and hoooold. It feels like an eternity. I come out of the arabesque too early again. My tired body won’t cooperate; my limbs feel like they’re stuck in honey.

 “Pull up, Indigo! Hold the arabesque!”

I move back across the floor, hit the arabesque again.

“Pull in the midsection! Breathe in!!” Miss Roberta is rabid.

My back muscles are screaming, legs all rubbery, the obvious and fatal signs of fatigue.

The music ends abruptly.  “Indigo, this has got to stop. What is with you today? This is just sloppy and unacceptable. It won’t cut it – here or anywhere else.”

I stand crouched with hands braced on bent knees, catching my breath as her words rain down on my bowed head. I can’t meet Miss Roberta’s eyes. I know she’s right. I place my hands on my thighs and bend over to catch my breath before responding.

“Marlene. Please come forward and show it from the top.”

Marlene walks past me with her nose in the air. She takes her place in the center of the floor and the others back away to give her space. When our eyes meet in the mirror, she raises an eyebrow at me and smirks.

She performs the variation flawlessly.

Class ends and I scurry to the dressing room with my head still down. I throw my clothes on and root through my bag in search of my socks.

There’s a loud thonk to my left as someone slams their dance bag on the chair next to me. I don’t have to look at it to know it’s metallic purple with a blingy heart charm.

“How does it feel?” Marlene leans in close to speak in a low tone.

 “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I don’t look at her.

“Simple. You take something from me, I take something from you.”

“Like I said, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t think I don’t see what you’re up to. Jesse is mine,” she snarls.

I look up at her and feel my eyes go buggy. “Are you kidding? People are not property. What is wrong with you?” She snorts. “Today proves everything’s right with me. Maybe you should be asking yourself what’s wrong with you.” She leans in so our faces are inches apart. “Back off while you still can or I’ll take it all.”

-- excerpt taken from "Wish"

When I wrote WISH I wanted to give readers an insider’s perspective of ballet. Dance has been one of the few constants in my life–it's really shaped who I am in the world today. Readers have said the ballet scenes are one of the things they've most enjoyed about the book so this excerpt seemed like the obvious choice.  Most people don’t get to experience the ballet world firsthand and they're curious about what it's like. 

This piece also highlights some of the main character's struggles. Indigo finds it increasingly difficult to keep her life balanced and must ultimately make some tough choices about what's important and the actions she must take to make her dreams real. I remember going through these same struggles during my teens. There were lots of competing pressures and I didn't feel empowered or in charge of my life. The teen years are such a transitional time–a time of figuring out who you are, who you want to be, and finding your voice. I think it's common to feel isolated and alone, particularly when you're going through challenging times. It's easy to feel like you're the only one having a hard time. But that's not true. I think it's comforting know there are others going through the same stuff... and there are ways to get through it all gracefully.

Grier Cooper

August 2015