Ballerina story for kids
Maria’s first ballet performance
Maria stared at herself in the mirror for a moment and took a deep breath as she made sure she looked perfect. Her bun was tight, pulling all of her features upwards. Her makeup was rather subtle but still noticeable. She went through the routine in her head over and over, imagining herself taking those nearly impossible leaps and doing the difficult turns she was convinced she would fail at…
Maria had been practicing ballet for months now, and her teacher said she was more than ready. She didn’t know why she doubted herself so much but with every moment that went by, anxiety built in her chest and squeezed at her heart, almost like it was toying with her.
She could barely breathe, and as her mother opened the door, she felt a lone tear fall down her cheek.
„Honey, what’s wrong?“ Her mother asked. Her voice was soothing-like smooth honey. Maria didn’t answer for a moment, scared that if she spoke, it would open the floodgates…
„I’m terrified.“ She said, another tear following the same wet trail the previous one had left stained on her skin. Her mother gripped both Maria’s hands in her own and smiled at her warmly.
„You’ve been practicing this routine for ages sweetheart. Why are you so nervous?“ Maria was slowly starting to calm down. Her mother’s voice was all she needed to feel okay.
„If I mess the routine up, I will go down in the placing list.“ She answered.
„Who cares?“ Was all her mother said, „you are going to do brilliantly, and I will be proud of you regardless, you are going to go out there and absolutely blow the judges away okay?“ Maria looked up at her mother with bright, innocent eyes and snivelled slightly at her mother’s words.
„I don’t want to disappoint you.“ She said, more tears falling.
„Where did you get the idea that any of this matters to me darling? I signed you up for this because you love dancing, not because I want you to win hundreds of trophies.“ Maria nodded, „the only person you are doing this for is yourself, this is just a bit of fun! Whether you win or not is irrelevant. If you do well that is just a bonus okay? Stop putting so much pressure on yourself when you know you can do this.“ Maria felt a smile tug at her lips and gave in to it.
„Thank you.“ She said, grabbing her mother and pulling her into a tight embrace.
„That’s quite alright, now go out there and have fun sweetheart. I will be right here the whole time.“
A few minutes later, Maria’s number was called, and she waltzed out onto the stage with flawless confidence and a bright smile full of life. She leapt around the stage, doing perfect pirouettes and beautiful turns that she had never been able to master before today. Cheers and gasps came from the crowd as she completed her routine and looked over at the judges. Each of them held up a perfect ten, and as she looked over at her mother – she noticed a tear in the woman’s eye as she clapped and smiled at her daughter.
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