`` SONG for SIENNA

[ade]

••• ---------------------------------------------------------------------- •••

------ There wasn't enough room in the small apartment. Her and her brother had just arrived in California. Their apartment was fairly bare. Small hallway, two bedrooms, both had a bed, dresser and suitcase. On Luke's wall he had a cross and a poster of some starry night. On Adelaide's walls, she had a lot up. Pictures of her friends back in Rome, pictures she had cut out of national geographic magazines, she liked to cover her walls, make them her own. But other than her walls being mostly filled, her room was fairly empty and still there was no space. At least, no space for her dancing. She had to struggle just to do her warm up stretches. How was she supposed to get the dancing scholarship to Valkyrie University if she was not even able to practice? So far, she loved the beaches. She loved the warm weather. But she could not get it in her head to love California. She had never loved New Jersey either. She missed Rome. Rome was her safe haven for six years. Six years of her teenage life. She missed the language, she missed the culture, she missed the food. She missed the free open studios. She missed the music in streets. She missed visiting the Vatican and she wasn't even Christian! But it was beautiful, and it was home. She knew that.

------ It scared her because she wanted to stay near her brother but one day she wanted to return to Italy... for good. Losing her brother scared her more than anything else in the world. He was the only family she had left, but he had his career set. He needed to go where he was needed and to be honest, since he was more of a modern Priest as opposed to the more traditional Roman priests, she knew he would not be returning to Rome for life. He might visit, but Rome was not his home, Rome was his school. That's all. Yes, her brother was a priest. Junior Priest specifically. He had the name for it since birth, Luke. Ade pulled her backpack up further on her shoulder as she pulled the large door to the cathedral open. It was not a Sunday, there was no congregation today, not that she came regularly anyways but she needed to see her brother who was doing some office work right now. She stepped into the large room and looked up at the towering ceiling. This was the only time she truly loved churches, when they were empty of people and you could just focus on the beauty of the architecture and the feeling of safety brought on by the collective effervescence of all those who's lives had been touched by faith. She felt that way in Synagogs and temples and anywhere dealing with faith really. It wasn't about being Christian. It was about being human.

------ Ade walked further into the church, enjoying the soft but echoing sound of her flats clicking on the stone floors. She tilted her head to the side slightly as she saw a nun lighting a candle and praying. The sides of Ade's lips curled up slightly as she offered the women a small smile. Faith was something Ade was not blessed with but was jealous of. She looked around again, wondering which direction she would go to find Luke when luck would have it he turned the corner out of a small staircase. He was adorning the black suit with the white collar, traditional of a priest, and carrying a notebook and the Bible. He looked up and saw her. Ade smiled and waved from across the room before he walked over to her, "Ade, is everything okay? Are you alright?" He asked concerned. She didn't often visit him at work. She nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine. I was just wondering..." She paused, she didn't know how to ask him this and she didn't want to impose. "Are there any empty rooms here? Like in the basement or something?" Luke looked at her confused for a moment before he seemed to get it as if reading her mind. He nodded slightly, "Well, yes I suppose, the meeting halls stay empty but no." He replied, "I'm sorry Ade but I am new here and I don't know how strict they are and-" "No, stop, don't worry. I get it." She nodded, "The studio's here aren't open for public use, I was just looking for a place."

------ Luke bit the inside of his lip and dropped his voice a little lower. "Look, I know it's different here but I don't know where else we could go. Rome was never supposed to be forever." He said, his tone very gentle. "I know, I just miss it. It was still home for me, my first real home." "Mine too." He replied, he leaned down and gave her a small hug before he added, "Look, we'll figure something out. For now, maybe just check out the dance studio, see if we could afford any of the classes or something. I'll see you at home though." He spoke as he made his way towards the podium. Ade nodded and sighed slightly as she turned around and made her way back towards the door. Back outside, the girl made her way towards the Astaire Studios. She enjoyed walking so it was no issue for her. Once there, stepping inside she quickly put her back against the wall in order to avoid being trampled by a group of girls who must have just gotten out of class. Ade watched them go before continuing. She looked at the bulletin board advertising the classes but they all seemed so expensive. She bit the inside of her cheek when she heard some stern sounding lady talking, or scolding more like it to a janitor. Curious, Ade walked up the staircase and watched as the woman yelled at him for not working faster. Once the scary woman left Ade approached the man, "Is she always like that?" The man laughed slightly and nodded as he opened one of the studios up and made his way inside. "Yeah... she's a bit high strung." He said through a raspy voice, he was at least in his sixties from what Ade could guess. Ade looked around the dance studio, it was gorgeous. "Well I think you're doing wonderfully, the place is beautiful."

------ The man nodded, "Guess so, so you're not a student?" Ade shook her head, "No, I was just looking for-- I can't afford anything here anyways." The janitor leaned his mop against the wall and put his hand out, "If you like, you can work here. I can start with the connecting studio down the hall." Ade looked at the man wide eyed, "Really?" He nodded, "Yeah, you seem like a nice girl, should have known you weren't a student though, they never look me in the eye... just don't tell the boss lady" He laughed slightly, "the name's Eugene." She shook his hand, "Ade and thank you." She gave an honest smile as the older gentleman walked back into the hall. Ade grinned excitedly and put her bag down, quickly pulling off her sweatshirt and jeans, she already had her leotard and tights on, she only needed to pull her hair back into a bun and pull on her skirt. She sat down and pulled off her flats and pulled on her point shoes. She stood up and tested their flexibility, good, still fit like a glove. Ade walked over and quickly dusted the toe before she pulled a cd out of her bag and put it into the sound system. She smiled as the song (CLICK) began to play and walked over to the bar to simply do some warm ups. first, third, second, switch sides... plie... and as the song picked up, she moved from warm up to actual practice. She went on her toes. She barely felt the pain anymore. If she danced for too long she might and she still got the sores from it, all ballet dancers did, exempting the men since male ballet dancers did not go on their toes. Pirouette piquée.... Piqué.... Fouetté rond de jambe en tournant...

••• ---------------------------------------------------------------------- •••

STATUS;; complete
TAGGED;; brighton<3
CREDITS;; format stolen from lainey, with a little tweaking by me
LYRICS;; - - - - - - - -
CLOTHES;; Here
NOTES;; yay first ade post<3 Oh and for the ballet terms and demonstrations I used THIS SITE It's a really cool site I think

[brighton]

I KNEW MAYBE SOMEDAY I WOULD UNDERSTAND
EVERYONE'S A KID NO ONE CARES ABOUT YOU JUST
HAVE TO KEEP SCREAMING UNTIL THEY HEAR YOU OUT
. . . . . . .

UNLIKE A LOT of people he knew, Brighton always knew he wanted to do something in the fine arts. He was quite the charmer, but acting wasn’t something he had a keen interest in. It was music and dance that held him together, and those two things were the basis of his healing when the accident first happened nearly a decade ago. He would like to think that music brought him out of the initial depression he had after the accident that left him blind in both blue eyes. It was a total shock, he had to reevaluate his entire life, basically have a new one when he lost such a valuable sense. But that didn’t keep him down for long, he still had his personality, and after a while, his confidence came back eventually. But it gave him a certain awareness of the world around him and the people this world. He had more respect for movement, more respect for the piano now than he did when he had the ability to see. Though there were things he couldn’t do that he used to, like reading a fresh sheet of music, or books, or looking at old pictures, but it wasn’t like he did that anyway. There was one thing he did regret never seeing, the faces of his little sisters, that was the one and only thing that he would give anything in the world to see... And his reflection, he did grow about a foot and a few inches since the last time he saw himself. But that was about it, Brighton got along fine just the way he was.

However, it were times such as these where he was truly thankful that he had lost the gift of sight many years ago. He wasn’t interested in the latest fashions, he wasn’t even interested in the notion of physical beauty either. Unlike the majority of people around him, he had the ability to feel beauty rather than see it. It was a much different concept, he didn’t have esthetically pleasing features to rely on and so he had the much harder task of actually knowing a person before becoming attracted to them. Sex was all in one’s head anyway, the way chemical react within the folds of the brain, it was something that must be interesting for some people, but for Brighton, he had bigger problems to deal with. Like how there was someone landing most definitely wrong. He could hear them land hard whereas all the rest of the dancers managed to land on a softer foot, light as elves, the way ballet was supposed to be. My goodness, if he had just seen the person messing up, shit would have hit the fan, but this way, the perpetrator had some time to clean their act up. Although he was playing the piano fluidly, he suddenly crushed the palms of his hands against the ivories, causing an unpleasant sound, “All right, someone is fucking up!” He said it bluntly, he didn’t care if he should hold his tongue because he was the teacher, but this was a part time gig, he was doing this for fun, and if these people could not fix their flaws, that was not going to fly with him. “Brian, play it from the top.” He spoke softly, slapping his hands together before they went to his sides. Sauntering towards the group, with his back to the piano, he waited for the music to play. As it began and the girls danced in formation, Brighton slowed his pace, listening intently and moving on. Brighton got closer to the culprit, and raised a hand and Brian ceased as the ballet dancers continued.

It did not take long for the former Ray Ban man (a name he garnered after high school and well into college) to pin point the weakest link and suddenly, he dismissed the class twenty minutes early, including Brian, he temporary pianist. For a second he was quiet, and immediately returned to the piano and picked up where Brian left off. “You need to feel the music, you’re problem is that you’re thinking too much about what comes next. Stop that. You don’t move to the music, the music moved through you, you’re just a vessel.” With some more encouraging words, the student began to let loose and low and behold, after a while the landing became softer, the movements across the floor became smoother. After a few more practices, he dismissed this student also and walked into the back office that was connected to the dance room. He gathered his things, accidentally dropping his bag. With a sigh, he gathered his things, cracked his back and turned towards the door. As his hand stroked the smooth surface of the chrome doorknob when he heard the crackle of the surround sound turning on. Brighton froze in place, as if a burglar had just shattered a window in order to get in. Someone was in his studio, he didn’t have another class today, and so this felt like an invasion of delicate privacy, not that he was a private person when it came to his passions. He shuffled back into the main area, dusting himself off.... But really just rubbing his sore shoulders and shins. His office wasn’t the most safe of places, but hey, it was something; something he didn’t need per se. It was nice to go back into a little room, get his bearings straight and avoid another bout of anger towards some truly talented people who were just having an off day.

Currently he was just flustered over the fact that there was another person who didn’t land perfectly. What the fuck, world? “What is with people and landing hard?” He sighed harshly, shaking his head as this person was obviously practicing. It bothered him to no extent, when people did things wrong. Mind you, this person was probably just wanting some one on one time with herself, just getting some practice in and he was still angry at his own stupid group of dancers... advanced, his ass... “Nice song choice, by the way. Not a lot of dancers choose something contemporary... the girls around here go for Beethoven or tchaikovsky  during christmas... but ‘Song for Sienna,’ I like it.” Brighton nodded his head, his arms still crossed as he walked towards the piano in a three strides. His fingers grazed against the coolness of the keys, a familiar place. However, Brighton noticed the woman, well, he assumed woman since her stance was hardly masculine as she danced, had stopped and hadn’t spoken. Brighton supposed he did just waltz in, but in all fairness, he was still in the room when she was the one who came in. “You know, I’m not going to kick you out of here, keep practicing, but if you land hard one more time, I’m going to have to show you how it’s done....” He nodded, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, vaguely wondering if she knew he couldn’t actually see her.

. . . . . . .

notesysorry, so late.
tagged ade <3
words 1186
attire his regular threads
lyrics 'written in the stars' by tinie tempah ft eric turner
credit format to moi, banner to caution

[/blockquote][/blockquote][/blockquote][/justify]

[ade]

••• ---------------------------------------------------------------------- •••

------ Adelaide had been dancing since she was a little girl. Shockingly, even with the poisonous relationship she had with her father, it was the one thing he seemed to let her have. She had started dancing when she was seven years old. It was shortly after her father began selling her that she began sneaking out. She had run away, which was dangerous in their side of Chicago. She ran into some type of celebration though in the park. It had reggae dancing, contemporary dancing, and more. From the moment she had seen it, even at seven, she knew. That was how you truly spoke. That was how to feel. Ade had then began sneaking out to hide and watch some of the ballet classes. When her father caught her, instead of being angry, as she thought he would be, he nodded and said if that's all she wanted after working so hard... might as well. So he hired a private ballet instructor for her. She had been dancing ever since.

------ As she grew older, and read more, and learned more, she realized how many people in the world expressed themselves through dance. It was practically universal. Not the styles but the essence of dance itself. It seemed so natural to her. I mean, name one person you know who hasn't danced at least once in their lifetime. Even if it was not part of a class or celebration but just them in their rooms or to their own beat thinking they were alone. Everyone dances. And in Ade's mind, as long as they were dancing from the heart, it was perfect, offbeat and all. For herself, she liked having technique to fall back onto, but that was what worked best for her. When she went to Rome with Luke when she was fourteen, that was when she really was introduced to other dancing forms. She took a few months to travel around Europe with a dancing group, where she got to learn traditional dancings from Austria, Greece, Germany, Ireland and for the record, even attempting Irish dancing was the hardest form she had ever tried. Ballet came naturally to her but Irish dancing... let's just say, she had great admiration for them. She even traveled into Africa for a bit.

------ She really fell in love with reggae styles. As well as some of the more tribal styles she saw in Africa. That was when her obsession with trying to find a way to merge these styles with ballet was born. Ade wanted to find a way to dance a mixture of ballet, reggae, tribal, austrian, and any other form of strictly cultural dances together for a style that was not only uniquely her own, but uniquely the world's. A style that someone who grew up in the villages of Uganda could recognize and feel welcome with as easily as anyone from the Russian ballet. A dance that helped celebrate the differences in the cultures of the world. Cultural acceptance through movement, motion, and emotion. Human Expression at it's best. The world's cultural diversity in movement was her fascination, ballet was simply her discipline. But she would find a way to continue to learn. She would always keep learning. As for strictly practicing, she was simply working on her ballet formations. While she loved it, she had no interest in being a Prima Ballerina performing only for the wealthy in large theatres and acting like a diva blowing kisses to old white people while wearing a tutu and carrying flowers.

------ Adelaide was so distracted by the music, she had not noticed when another person entered the room, someone who was not the nice janitor who let her into the studio. “Nice song choice, by the way. Not a lot of dancers choose something contemporary... the girls around here go for Beethoven or tchaikovsky during christmas... but ‘Song for Sienna,’ I like it.” When Adelaide finally heard the man's voice she nearly jumped out of her skin. She spun around and immediately put her hands behind her back, clasping them together, a nervous habit when she thought she might be in trouble. But all the man did was compliment her song choice. She watched him nervously and quietly as the song came to an end. Did he think she was a student or something?

------ She didn't want to be false, she just wanted a practice space. “You know, I’m not going to kick you out of here, keep practicing, but if you land hard one more time, I’m going to have to show you how it’s done....” Ade raised her eyebrows at him. After a moment of being quiet, she took notice of his sunglasses and the fact he was wearing dark glasses, she shook her head. Don't assume things, she reminded herself. "Umm... actually... I didn't land hard." She said plainly but modestly. She took a few steps to the right, "I didn't even make the smallest leap" She looked to the floor and gently tapped a few places with her pointe before she crouched down, "The floor has a dead spot." She added, not trying to insult him, she knew some people got defensive of their space. She knocked the floor at the dead spot where the support for the dance floor had worn and made a much harder, solid sound. Ade stood back up and looked at the man, praying he didn't take it as her being arrogant. It wasn't. It was more her recognizing her own strengths, "And thank you for trying to help, but I already know how to land, that's sort of ballet 101." She added as though it was nothing, but not wanting to be a bother, she nodded slightly and walked over to her bag to get ready to leave. This was not really her space now was it?

••• ---------------------------------------------------------------------- •••

STATUS;; complete
TAGGED;; brighton<3
CREDITS;; format stolen from lainey, with a little tweaking by me
LYRICS;; - - - - - - - -
CLOTHES;; Here
NOTES;; Yay<3

TERMS DEMOS