Rosa and the Special Prize

To Phoebe and Zoe, as they are the inspiration behind Magic Ballerina.

Table of Contents

Cover Page

Title Page

Dedication

Author’s note

Map

Prologue

1. A Dream Come True

2. Sparkling Shoes!

3. A Song In the Cave

4. Ballet Magic!

5. Hide and Seek

6. The Great Green Cave

7. Neptune’s Revenge

8. Coming Home

Darcey’s Magical Masterclass

Acknowledgements

Copyright

About the Publisher

Magic Ballerina

Rosa and the Special Prize

Welcome to the world of Enchantia!

I have always loved to dance. The captivating music and wonderful stories of ballet are so inspiring. So come with me and let’s follow Rosa on her magical adventures in Enchantia, where the stories of dance will take you on a very special journey.

p.s. Turn to the back to learn a special dance step from me…

Map

Prologue

In the soft, pale light, the girl stood with her head bent and her hands held lightly in front of her. There was a moment’s silence and then the first notes of the music began. For as long as the girl could remember music had seemed to tell her of another world – a magical, exciting world – that lay far, far away. She always felt if she could just close her eyes and lose herself, then she would get there. Maybe this time. As the music swirled inside her, she swept her arms above her head, rose on to her toes and began to dance…

Rosa danced across the stage, turning with every step. Her pale blue ballet dress swirled around her as she stopped and spun on the spot. She was lost in the beautiful music, feeling like she really was a dancing water nymph. Ending her spin in a demi-plié, she held her arms up gracefully. The lights on stage were very bright and she couldn’t see the faces in the audience, but she could hear the applause as it burst out!

She grinned and held out her hands to the sides. The other girls on the stage ran forward and made a line with her. They were all dressed in different shades of green and blue. They curtseyed together, smiling happily, and then the curtains closed.

Rosa’s best friend, Olivia, hugged her. “Wasn’t that brilliant?”

Rosa’s eyes shone. “It was!” Her class had been performing a ballet at the local theatre about an underwater kingdom and she had been the main character, a water nymph called Ondine.

“Come on, girls!” Madame Za-Za, their teacher, called from the side of the stage. “Off you come!”

As they left through the wings, Madame Za-Za smiled warmly at them. “That was excellent, all of you!” She turned to smile at Rosa in particular. “Well done. I don’t think you have ever danced so well, Rosa.”

Rosa glowed with pride as she went downstairs to the dressing rooms with Olivia. There was a TV monitor on the wall which showed what was happening on stage.

The next class were performing the Sugar Plum Fairy’s dance from The Nutcracker. Rosa glanced at her red ballet shoes and smiled to herself. It was amazing to think that she had actually met the real Sugar Plum Fairy…

Rosa had a secret. Her red ballet shoes were magic! Sometimes they started to sparkle and then they took her to Enchantia, a land where all the different characters from the ballets lived. Rosa had been on some brilliant adventures there. She wondered when she’d go again.

“Hey, Rosa! Have some of these!” Looking round, Rosa saw that her friends were sharing out a big bag of sweets. Pushing the thoughts of Enchantia away, she ran over to join them.

After the show, the girls piled out of the dressing rooms and into the theatre foyer to meet their parents. They were all chattering excitedly. Madame Za-Za had given them each a glittering hairslide as an after-show present. Rosa’s was made of sparkling red jewels and she had clipped it into her blonde hair.

“There’s my mum and dad,” said Olivia. “See you tomorrow, Rosa.”

She ran off. Rosa caught sight of her own mum. She was talking to a slim auburn-haired lady who had a notepad in her hands.

“Mum!” Rosa called.

Rosa’s mother looked around and her face lit up with a proud smile. “You were wonderful, sweetheart,” she said as Rosa hurried over.

Rosa grinned happily. Her mum had been a fantastic ballet dancer before a car accident had left her in a wheelchair. Rosa’s dream was to be a ballerina just like her one day.

“Rosa, this is Imogen Green,” her mum went on. “We used to dance together when we were younger, but now she works for the Royal Ballet School.”

Rosa’s eyes widened as she looked at the red-haired lady. The Royal Ballet School! That was where her mum had trained. Everyone knew it was the best ballet school in the country.

“Hello, Rosa.” Imogen smiled at her. “My job is to help organise the auditions for the Royal Ballet School. I am a friend of Madame Za-Za’s and she told me she had some very talented young dancers in her classes. Would you be interested in auditioning?”

“Oh, yes!” Rosa exclaimed in delight.

“I have a list of other girls here too,” said Imogen, looking down at her notepad. “There was a girl called Olivia in your class and a few girls from the class above.”

Oh, wow! Rosa’s head spun. She couldn’t wait to tell everyone!

“Obviously this is just an audition and there’s no guarantee that you would get a place at the school,” Imogen went on.

“And if you did it’s a big decision because it would mean coming to live in London and attending boarding school.”

Boarding school! Rosa felt as if a bucket of water had just been dumped over her.

She couldn’t do that. It was just her and her mum because her dad wasn’t around any more. She couldn’t leave her mum on her own to go to boarding school. She stared at Imogen in dismay.

“Rosa?” her mum said, catching her expression. “Is something wrong?”

“I…I hadn’t realised it would be boarding!” stammered Rosa.

“Don’t you want to board?” her mum asked in surprise.

Rosa hesitated. If I say I don’t want to go because it will leave Mum on her own, she’ll feel really guilty. “I…um…no, not really,” she lied.

Imogen nodded understandingly. “Some girls do find the idea of boarding very difficult. And maybe you’ll find that the Royal Ballet School isn’t right for you, Rosa. But why don’t you have a think about it?

I’ve given the forms to your mum. If you do decide to audition you need to send them off in the next few days.” She smiled. “Now, I’d better go and speak to the others. Maybe I’ll see you again soon.” She hurried off.

Rosa swallowed. The thought of being able to dance every day, living with other girls who were mad about ballet too, taking lots and lots of different dancing classes…It sounded like heaven! But what about her mum? She couldn’t leave her, could she?

Rosa’s mother squeezed her hand. “Don’t look so anxious, sweetheart. I thought you’d leap at the chance of auditioning, but of course you don’t have to try for a place if you don’t really want to.”

But I do want to!

Rosa bit the words back.

“We’ll talk about it when we get home,” her mum said.

Rosa nodded sadly, but inside she knew there was nothing to talk about. How could she go? She just couldn’t!

“What do you mean, you’re not going to audition?” Olivia sounded shocked. Rosa had only been home about ten minutes when the phone had rung. It had been her best friend, bubbling with excitement at the news. “You have to go! Oh, just imagine if we both got in, Rosa. It would be so cool! And I heard Delphie, Lola and Sukie have all been asked to audition too!”

Rosa didn’t say anything. The thought of the others from Madame Za-Za’s school going to the auditions, maybe getting in, and going to the Royal Ballet School without her, made her want to cry. And if Olivia went she wouldn’t even have a best friend at Madame Za-Za’s any more.

“You just have to audition,” Olivia told her. “I can’t!” Rosa burst out. “Because…” Just then her mum came into the lounge where Rosa was talking. “Because I don’t want to,” Rosa said quickly.

“But why?” Olivia sounded completely confused.

“I just don’t.” Rosa felt tears starting to prickle in her eyes. “Look, I’ve got to go,” she said, knowing that if she didn’t get off the phone straight away she might really start to cry. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

She pressed the off button on the phone.

“Rosa, can we talk about the auditions?” her mum said gently. “There’s something the matter, I know there is. I can’t believe you don’t want to go.”

Rosa looked at her. “You don’t want me to go to the Royal Ballet School, do you, Mum? You don’t want me to board and be away from you?”

“Well, I don’t want you to but…”

“Well, then that’s OK,” Rosa interrupted. She could hear that her voice sounded higher than normal. “Because I don’t want to go either.” She forced herself to smile. “I’m fine about it, Mum, really. I’m not going to audition. I’m just going to my bedroom for a bit.”

She ran out of the lounge and along the corridor to her room. Her mum had left the leaflet about the auditions on her bed, together with her dancing clothes and red ballet shoes. Rosa slowly went over.

Longing shot through her as she looked at the application form.

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