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    Shimmy
    Shimmy
    Shimmy
    Ebook102 pages1 hour

    Shimmy

    By Kari Jones

    3/5

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    About this ebook

    Lila has always wanted a career in belly dance, so she is thrilled when she is invited to join Dana Sajala’s competitive and prestigious studio. But dancing at the new studio isn’t quite what she expected. Dana Sajala is a tough teacher, and Lila finds the constant criticism stressful. On top of that, Lila misses the dancers from her old troupe, and a rift is developing between her and her best friend, Angela, who is not altogether sympathetic to Lila’s struggles. Lila has always loved belly dance—the music, the costumes, the choreography—but when she realizes that none of it is as much fun as it used to be, she starts to question whether she has made the right choice.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOrca Book Publishers
    Release dateSep 8, 2015
    ISBN9781459807662
    Shimmy
    Author

    Kari Jones

    Kari Jones is the author of several well-received books for kids and teens, including A Fair Deal, in the Orca Footprints series. She lives in Victoria, British Columbia, where she teaches English and creative writing at Camosun College.

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    • 3/5
      This book was definitely for young adults, maybe even middle grade. The writing was easy to read though and the main character, Lila, is easy to connect to. It's obvious she did research with belly dancing and made this believable. I would recommend this book to people that are interested in dancing. It's a short, quick read. 3.5 out of 5 stars.

    Book preview

    Shimmy - Kari Jones

    Acknowledgments

    One

    O oh la la, I say as Amala holds a silky turquoise mermaid skirt up to her waist. The girls in the dance troupe laugh.

    Exactly. We’ll wear them at the festival, with mirrored hip scarves over them and colored lace tops. You girls will look so elegant! Amala smiles broadly as she speaks, and the girls in the room shimmer with happiness. She lifts an orange hip scarf from a pile at her feet and wraps it around the skirt. Fingernail-sized mirrors in the scarf sparkle in the lights.

    It’s awesome, Angela says. She takes the skirt and scarf from Amala, holds them to her body and twirls. The panels flare out around her feet, and the rest of us clap.

    Let’s go through the choreography one more time, and then we’ll break for the day, Amala says. Try the skirt on for size sometime during the week and decide on a color, and I’ll put in the orders on Friday.

    We strike our starting pose: arms up, palms facing out, head down and away from the audience, body turned slightly to the left. I glance at Angela behind me and roll my shoulders back and down. She copies me, and her posture straightens. I nod and settle back into pose.

    Amala moves the pile of scarves and the skirt to the side of the studio and takes her place in front of us. She presses the remote, and the drums start.

    We hold the pose for eight beats, then turn slowly, snaking our arms around our bodies so we make a wave of motion on the stage. The music gathers speed as the violin and cello sing out a rhythm over the beat of the drums, and we slip into a traveling step layered with hip shimmies and chest lifts. With a roll of drums, we twirl. Oh, I can already imagine the burst of color a line of girls in mermaid skirts and mirrored scarves will make when we’re crossing the stage. The accordion picks up the melody, and we follow along with some classic belly-dance moves. I’m grinning, because I can see how the mirrored scarves are going to sparkle as we drop our right hips and kick, and the lace tops will show off our chest circles.

    We all gather in pairs, and Angela and I dance into the center of the room. This is the part I love, when Angela and I dance next to each other. The music takes over as all the instruments fall into one melody, and it becomes one with my body. The scarf mirrors are going to dazzle the audience during this sequence of slow turns and undulations, and the skirts will swirl around us. The audience will go crazy. We’ll be the stars of the show. It’ll be my first step on the way to becoming a professional belly dancer.

    There’s a pause of one count in the music, and I close my eyes to feel it, then raise my arms above my head and sink into a hip drop. The music builds from slow to fast, and we pick up a shimmy starting at our hips and working up to our shoulders so that our bodies quiver.

    The sound of the violin fills the room, and our arms catch the mood and snake around our bodies again for a count of eight. Energy radiates from our fingertips as we swirl one last time, lift our arms and finish.

    My fingers tingle, and I whirl around and pull Angela into a hug.

    Well done, girls. We’re getting there, Amala says. She opens the studio door, and early spring air from the lobby wafts in. We all head to the edges of the studio for our water bottles, which Angela and I always leave by the door so we can be the first ones into the lobby after class. Everyone is laughing and smiling at each other. That was a great class.

    You looked fantastic, as always, I say to Angela.

    I felt okay, but I still want to work on that sequence with the hips. I get the right half of the figure eight, but my left hip never wants to do it properly, Angela says.

    She’s wearing a blue tank top and deep-purple pants with a gathered fringe around her ankles. With her long dark hair and thick eyelashes, she looks like a belly dancer even without costume or makeup.

    Angela and I have been friends since our moms signed us up for dance classes at the Oak Bay rec center when we were five. We’ve been dancing together for ten years now, and we’ve been BFFS all that time, so I know that even though Angela did the whole dance absolutely perfectly, she’ll work on her moves and correct herself until the moment we walk onstage. Angela loves to dance, but performances make her nervous.

    You were perfect. I take a swig from my water bottle and head to my cubbyhole for my shoes and coat. I never take Angela’s doubts too seriously. She’ll be fantastic once she gets onto the stage.

    She shrugs and shakes herself from head to toe. We’ll see.

    The festival’s going to be amazing. We’re going to be fantastic. Everything’s going to be awesome! I say. The spirit of the dance is still in me, and it makes me jump around the room. Nini and Sarit laugh beside me.

    You’re really looking forward to the festival, aren’t you? Sarit says.

    I am. There’s no use pretending—I’ve wanted to be a professional dancer for at least the past three years, and they all know it. This is the first festival we’ve been invited to, and it makes me feel like shouting with happiness.

    Let’s go before we miss the bus, Angela says.

    Girls are packing up around us, and Angela and I pull on our shoes and coats, but before we’re finished, Amala comes into the doorway and says, One last thing, girls. I have a surprise for you. She takes a deep breath. Dana Sajala has asked me to choose three girls from my classes to join her studio.

    The lobby goes silent. We stand frozen, water bottles partway to our lips, shoes half pulled onto our feet, coats hanging off our arms, as the news sinks in. Then Sarit says, Dana Sajala? and the spell is broken. My heart pounds so loudly I can hear it in my ears.

    You mean to perform with her troupe for the festival? Nini asks.

    Yes—and continue on as one of her students. Amala’s smile is super wide, because she knows the opportunity she’s offering. Dana Sajala is one of the best-known belly dancers in the world. A chance to dance with her would be the perfect start to any career.

    Who have you chosen? Nini asks. It’s what we all want to know, and I can almost feel everyone sucking in their breath.

    I haven’t yet. I’ll tell you next week. Amala holds up her hands and laughs as the noise level rises. No, don’t ask me now. I’m not saying anything more until I’ve spoken to Dana and made my final decision.

    When

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