"Dance is about never-ending aspiration."
*
Justin decided that he would never forget this moment in his entire life. It all seemed so surreal that he was standing in front of the famed building, the famed fountain, even the famed walkway. He pinched himself to make sure he was awake and really there and rubbed his arm when he felt the pain shock through him.
He began his walk towards the steps that would lead him through the doors where he was hoping to spend the rest of his life. And it was exactly where he wanted to be – in the middle of New York City standing on the steps of the School of American Ballet. He hitched his bag higher up on his shoulder and began his ascent. The cool air hit him from the reception area when he pulled the doors open and he breathed in deeply when he saw them, the dancers who he had grown up idolizing, walking freely about the area, stopping to talk to one another. It was surreal.
"Can I help you?" the receptionist was friendly enough when Justin walked up to her and when he told her he was there for the Studio Company interview, she smiled and nodded, asking for his name and typing it in. "Mr. Timberlake, welcome. The auditions are being held in Studio Five on the third floor. Do you have a copy of your resume or would you like me to print out a copy for you?"
"I have one, thank you." He sent her a smile and walked towards where she said the elevators would be and waited. He turned just as the doors opened to see who he believed was the best dancer of the company, Joshua Chasez with his dance partner, Kelliana Marten. He stepped onto the elevator, breathing in and calming himself down when they both stepped into the space as well. He reminded himself that they were normal people just like he was, except that they were amazing dancers. Justin sighed and stared at the numbers on the elevator, seeing Joshua hit the number '3' and the closing doors.
"You're new around here." Justin turned at the soft voice and nodded at Kelliana, commanding his throat to start working. "I'm Kelliana," she said, holding out her hand.
"Justin," he cleared his throat. "Justin Timberlake." He paused and couldn't help himself, "You're a beautiful dancer." She laughed quietly and a sparkle appeared in his eye,
"Well thank you, Mr. Timberlake. You're a dancer then?"
He nodded. "I'm actually here for an audition." He noticed Joshua raising an eyebrow at him and almost missed Kelliana asking him which audition he was heading to. "For the Studio Company."
"Coincidence," Joshua said, his lips curling up slightly. When Justin turned a questioning and adoring look to him, he raised an eyebrow, "I'm helping run the auditions this year." The elevator rang as they reached the third floor and Joshua nodded his head at the young dancer, "See you inside then." Kelliana waved to him as he stepped out of the elevator and he watched as they disappeared behind a door marked 'Studio Four' and made his own way to the one marked for Studio Five.
There were more people there than he was expecting, but he shrugged it off and focused on the task at hand, forcing himself to ignore the other dancers as he prepared himself. He warmed himself up at the bar, blocking out all the other dancers in the room. He stared at himself in the mirror, always aware of his posture, the placement of his arms and fingers, the tuck of his hips and the turn of his feet. He rolled his shoulders beneath the black sleeveless shirt he wore and brought his knee up to the side of his torso, lifting even more until he could feel the slight pull of his muscles and kicked his foot out, toes pointed until his leg was almost completely flushed against his body and he grit his teeth when he realized he wasn't as high as he could be. Slowly, he brought his leg in a downwards arc until he could pull himself into an arabesque and he breathed out slowly as he lowered his foot to touch the floor again, pulling himself into first position.
He was pulled out of his focus when he heard the loud clapping that could only be a teacher or choreographer. At the front of the room, three men – Joshua and a man he recognized as the head of American Ballet Theatre, Louis Senaforte, and a third he didn't recognize at all – and two women, one of whom was Kelliana. All the dancers in the room shot to attention and began walking towards the group at the front of the room. Joshua and Kelliana had changed into dance attire and Justin could see what years and years of hard work had done for them.
"—Chasez, but I'm sure he'll ask you to call him JC and Kelliana Marten, both principal dancers for ABT. This is Elena Marcus, one of New York City Ballet's head teachers, and Kevin McKenzie, the artistic director of ABT. The five of us will be deciding your fate based on what you show us today. So make sure to show us everything you can."
There was a moment of silence as Louis' words sunk into the dancers' minds and Elena stepped forward and clapped her hands sharply. "Form lines, all of you. I want basic warm-ups to see your positioning. If you do not understand what I mean by basic warm-ups, leave now." She nodded to a man who was sitting in the corner at the grand piano and notes pounded out one by one for each new position. All five dancers walked through those auditioning and Justin lifted his chin when Kelliana walked by him, sighing internally when she nodded and smiled.
Over and over the positions flowed through Justin's body as a second nature. He felt a hand on his stomach and gasped sharply when it pressed inwards. "Tuck in more." Justin merely nodded at JC who watched him with a critical eye for a second more before moving on to the next person.
"Good. I can already see that some of you were the best in your classes," Elena said. "Joshua, forward please." The principal dancer stepped forward and did the moves Elena rapped out at him. Justin's eyes followed his movements, saying them silently in his head: Battement glissé into a plié in first position up into a pas de chat to a pirouette en dehors to a grande jeté. A pause before retire into soubresant and ending with a triple pirouette. Justin watched even more closely the second time around and nodded; it was easy enough steps, but he knew they wanted to see how perfect the positions and movements were, not how difficult the steps were for them. "Boys, line up," Elena commanded, clapping her hands once more, the bracelets on her arm jingling as she pointed to a back corner.
Justin watched each of the guys do the moves, noting the strengths and weaknesses of each dancer. Shaking his head quickly as he saw there was only two more in front of him, Justin looked into the mirror, making sure his posture was starting out perfect and at the exact beat, his mind closed off everything in the room except for the music and let his body flow freely across the floor and through the air, only coming back to reality when he finished in a final pose, one arm reaching for the ceiling, the other reaching towards the five people in charge of his future, his right knee bent at an exact angle behind his left leg. He walked off the floor, breathing slightly heavily and wishing he could have seen the reactions to his steps. He watched the rest of the guys and then the girls as they did their own routine and prayed for the best.
When the audition process was over, they were told to wait for the lists to go up. Justin was surprised, but then listened as they explained that they were taking only taking four dancers from each audition date but would be choosing alternates who would find out at a later date if anyone decided not to take it. Justin wondered how anyone could ever say no to ABT. His eyes followed the five dancers as they walked out of the room.
Inside Studio 4, the conference table was set up and was covered with applications and headshots as hands grabbed them, separating them into appropriate piles. "Justin Timberlake," Louis read his biography quickly. "He's from Tennessee, he's studied at Cincinnati School of the Arts and then Orlando Ballet Academy." He looked up.
"He's not even in question. He's good. He needs work, but they all do," Kelliana nodded. "He deserved to be in the company."
"He's already 19," JC pointed out. "He'll only have a year to get into the company."
"You think he can do it?" Louis raised an eyebrow at the star dancer, waiting.
JC's hands reached out for the application and he stared down at the picture, pursing his lips and tilting his head in thought before bringing the piece of paper down. "He has a year."
*