Post by Aurelie Amandine on Apr 19, 2022 10:13:17 GMT
Spring - Eve of the Royal Gala - The Royal Hyrulean Opera House
The Royal Opera House had been a second home to the young Hylian ballerina for three quarters of her life. Every detail of the RHOH halls she knew as intimately as the five key positions of her art that gave birth to any and all choreography. From the lavish polished marble entrance hall with the statue to the three Goddesses; to the similarly grand foyer with the intricately carved staircases that brought spectators to the branching paths that led to the two separate wings that split the establishment neatly between the Ballet and the Opera proper. There was the twisting corridors behind the scenes that allowed all the performers and stagehands to flit quickly to the dressing rooms and set storage rooms. Her personal favourite was the rickety staircase that had threatened to collapse under her that took her to a secluded location on the roof top where she could get the most beautiful view of Death Mountain as the sun set.
Then there was the crown jewel of the Opera House: the Theatre de Hyrule. The largest and most opulent theatre and stage in the land. A love letter to all of Hyrule's people and their artistic pursuits. It was only used for the most auspicious and important of events of the year. It was a special position to be able to work within such historic and beautiful halls that few would get to experience. This would be the scene that the ballerina's story would take place in.
It was on this night, the night of the Royal Gala, that the culmination of young Aurelie Amandine's efforts would eventuate. She was hand picked by the Artistic Director to perform tonight in the first Pas de Deux of the evening. The countless hours spent stretching at the barre, of memorising any and all variations for even the smallest of roles so as to be prepared at the drop of a hat if it was required had finally paid off.
She was to dance the role of Anju during the Clock Tower pas de deux of act one. The young ingénue in the ill fated story of Kafei and Anju - whose love for each other needed to persevere through not only opposition from their families, but a dark curse and the ambiguous ending where the very moon itself threatened to crush them. Not even some of the principal dancers had been honoured with the opportunity to perform such a cherished role. Much less on the eve where the entire company put on a variety of performances for the hundreds of patrons it would also attract, but for the royal family themselves.
If all went well tonight, her promising career trajectory would be cemented. Much like countless dancers before her that had been elevated because of this very evening. At just nineteen, Miss Amandine never would have expected such a chance to be gifted to her. Her official promotion from coryphée to soloist would be announced publicly, making her the youngest soloist in the company since the legendary Parnissa Theresa some twenty years ago.
Yet, success wasn't guaranteed. She was all too aware that it didn't matter how many times she had rehearsed the piece to a standard that had earned her a small smile and quirk of the eyebrow from the otherwise steely faced Ballet mistress Miss Ircine. Performances always had a way of not going as planned, and a performer was only ever as good as their last performance. Aurelie was aware of how harsh the dance world could be - and how acidic the critics and academics of Hyrule's art scene could be. If she failed, it likely would be her first and last performance as a lead.
Even just in her dress rehearsal earlier during a complete run through of the entire programme, she had fallen out of several turns and had nearly slipped climbing the stairs of the clock tower balcony set piece (it was a terrifying sensation as those steps were very steep). Her legs had given out at that very last moment of the near ten minute performance. She had spent a good portion of the afternoon furiously icing them in five minute intervals of continuous blasts of ice mist to relax her muscles.
Her sloppiness had put her on edge. Aurelie knew that she was far more capable than that. Yet no matter how hard she tried, her mind wouldn't stop racing over every single miscalculation or error in her steps. It was a torrent of self-criticism with the knifelike precision of a surgeon. Her turn out during the initial over the shoulder lift had been awful. Her plies were nowhere near deep enough for what the actual choreography had been. She had been two full half counts behind a series of partnered lifts which then had the flow on of both her and her partner, Yowaka, being late into the first kiss between Kafei and Anju.
Typically, the din of the shared dressing area of the corps de ballet would be enough to distract her from these kinds of worries. However, as she was now to be a soloist, she was being given a joint room with another soloist. While she was assured by the conductor that the orchestra would adjust their pacing to not catch the two of them out during the evening - she was not confident in that and in her spare moments had been tapping and humming the rhythm of the music while thinking about the steps. Much to the chagrin of the other woman she was sharing the room with.
"For the love of Hylia, I am begging you. Please stop that! I'm trying to focus as well!" Ora, the svelte Hylian with dark crimson hair and deep pink eyes, pleaded whilst trying to coax her hair into the sleek chignon that had been iconic for Ballerinas. The strain in her voice was evidence that she was already at her breaking point with her new dressing room companion.
Aurelie looked at her and whispered a quick apology and busied her hands by reaching for a lacquered wooden box that contained her stage cosmetics and brushes. Yet, even that proved difficult as she felt her hands shaking. The thin, tapered brush packed full of deep aubergine pigment meant to deepen her eye crease slipped through her fingers and clattered on the dark wooden bench space in front of her.
With a frustrated sigh, Aurelie placed a hand in her head - pushing her fringe off of her forehead and put the brush back into the box and closed the lid. With her nerves shot like this, she was liable to take her eye out trying to draw her signature thin line on her lower lashline that would give the appearance of wide, doe like eyes from the stage.
Shouldn't have pushed myself that much with those spells...what an idiotic decision.
She would push herself off of the chair and make her way to the door. The only thing that would settle her mind right now was talking to Yowaka. Through the course of their rehearsals together, she had found him to be very calming.
"Don't go too far away... it's only an hour and a half before her grandness starts that infernal caterwauling she likes to compare to singing! Would be a shame if you were trying to put your face on then." Ora quipped at the expense of the infamous Soprano Saharia Brightmoon. The woman widened her eyes and puffed out her cheeks a tad into a rude, but funny, imitation of the prima donna that was almost universally disliked by all the Opera House company for her ego and outbursts.
Aurelie held back a laugh before exiting the dressing room. She appreciated that small gesture from Ora to help get her out of her head.
It took her a good while to find the much taller Sheikah man standing at the edge of the wings to the stage. Even en pointe, she only just grazed the crook of his neck. He was a first soloist, and one of the few Sheikah to currently be in the Ballet company. In her mind, he made the perfect Kafei, his long silver blue hair and deep crimson eyes almost perfectly matched descriptions of the heroic man. She also noted he was quite handsome. In that silent, brooding kind of way. It was a pleasure to dance with him.
He didn't even look at her before speaking.
"I won't let you fall or embarrass yourself, just focus on feeling what Anju feels. You'll be beautiful tonight. I promise. We've all felt this way during our first big role."
He turned to her, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder before walking away.
"...Thank you."
While she had been hoping for a more analytic conversation about what exactly they needed to do, Aurelie couldn't fault him for telling her what she knew she actually needed to hear.
Having slipped on the delicate pale lilac empire-waisted shift dress that fell past her knees, she tied a thick braided hair piece around her bun, and around the top of her head like a headband. She interwove a similarly hued ribbon through the braid. She took care to apply just enough makeup to have her face read from the back rows, but not heavy enough to be too dramatic for Anju. The fake eyelashes felt heavy on her eyelids. But it was a weight she was well and truly used to after dancing for as long as she had.
A stage hand opened the door to advise her that there was now fourty minutes until her stage call.
The order of the evening was to be the opening remarks from the artistic directors, three pieces from the orchestra, two pieces from the Opera singers and Hylian choir. There would then be a guesting performance from the Goron drummers guild and the Zoran symphony. All of this would be done with the curtains drawn from center stage, hiding the Clocktower set. The Ballet mistress would run through the promotions within the company, and then the grand reveal of the set would take place. After her and Yowaka's pas de deux, there would be an hour intermission - giving plenty of time for the stage to be reset for the rest of the evening.
Having taken Yowaka's advice to heart, the young ballerina only thought of what Anju would be feeling. She had just met Kafei for the first time, and had fallen in love with him instantly. It was Anju's first time experiencing such an emotion. The sheer thrill of seeing him from Aurelie's view point would have been intoxicating - yet she knew Anju's self doubt caused her to feel self conscious and uncertain about Kafei's feelings for her. That would need to be an undercurrent of emotion for the duration of the performance. Breathing deeply, she would make her way to the wings of the stage. The two dancers gave each other one solemn nod before Aurelie ascended the connecting staircase that would lead her to the platform of the set piece.
Miss Ircine's clear voice would ring out across the halls of the theatre, offering her congratulations to all the promoted dancers. She would then introduced both Yowaka and Aurelie as Kafei and Anju.
Aurelie quickly ran on the tips of her feet to her stage mark as the gaslights dimmed to a near pitch black, and the curtains flew back as the opening notes of the organ filled the air. The white-blue lamps would shine onto her face, instantly warming her. A moment of character-appropriate uncertainty would register on her face for a moment as she peered out into the audience from her vantage point of the balcony of the clocktower. Now was her moment.
The Royal Opera House had been a second home to the young Hylian ballerina for three quarters of her life. Every detail of the RHOH halls she knew as intimately as the five key positions of her art that gave birth to any and all choreography. From the lavish polished marble entrance hall with the statue to the three Goddesses; to the similarly grand foyer with the intricately carved staircases that brought spectators to the branching paths that led to the two separate wings that split the establishment neatly between the Ballet and the Opera proper. There was the twisting corridors behind the scenes that allowed all the performers and stagehands to flit quickly to the dressing rooms and set storage rooms. Her personal favourite was the rickety staircase that had threatened to collapse under her that took her to a secluded location on the roof top where she could get the most beautiful view of Death Mountain as the sun set.
Then there was the crown jewel of the Opera House: the Theatre de Hyrule. The largest and most opulent theatre and stage in the land. A love letter to all of Hyrule's people and their artistic pursuits. It was only used for the most auspicious and important of events of the year. It was a special position to be able to work within such historic and beautiful halls that few would get to experience. This would be the scene that the ballerina's story would take place in.
It was on this night, the night of the Royal Gala, that the culmination of young Aurelie Amandine's efforts would eventuate. She was hand picked by the Artistic Director to perform tonight in the first Pas de Deux of the evening. The countless hours spent stretching at the barre, of memorising any and all variations for even the smallest of roles so as to be prepared at the drop of a hat if it was required had finally paid off.
She was to dance the role of Anju during the Clock Tower pas de deux of act one. The young ingénue in the ill fated story of Kafei and Anju - whose love for each other needed to persevere through not only opposition from their families, but a dark curse and the ambiguous ending where the very moon itself threatened to crush them. Not even some of the principal dancers had been honoured with the opportunity to perform such a cherished role. Much less on the eve where the entire company put on a variety of performances for the hundreds of patrons it would also attract, but for the royal family themselves.
If all went well tonight, her promising career trajectory would be cemented. Much like countless dancers before her that had been elevated because of this very evening. At just nineteen, Miss Amandine never would have expected such a chance to be gifted to her. Her official promotion from coryphée to soloist would be announced publicly, making her the youngest soloist in the company since the legendary Parnissa Theresa some twenty years ago.
Yet, success wasn't guaranteed. She was all too aware that it didn't matter how many times she had rehearsed the piece to a standard that had earned her a small smile and quirk of the eyebrow from the otherwise steely faced Ballet mistress Miss Ircine. Performances always had a way of not going as planned, and a performer was only ever as good as their last performance. Aurelie was aware of how harsh the dance world could be - and how acidic the critics and academics of Hyrule's art scene could be. If she failed, it likely would be her first and last performance as a lead.
Even just in her dress rehearsal earlier during a complete run through of the entire programme, she had fallen out of several turns and had nearly slipped climbing the stairs of the clock tower balcony set piece (it was a terrifying sensation as those steps were very steep). Her legs had given out at that very last moment of the near ten minute performance. She had spent a good portion of the afternoon furiously icing them in five minute intervals of continuous blasts of ice mist to relax her muscles.
Her sloppiness had put her on edge. Aurelie knew that she was far more capable than that. Yet no matter how hard she tried, her mind wouldn't stop racing over every single miscalculation or error in her steps. It was a torrent of self-criticism with the knifelike precision of a surgeon. Her turn out during the initial over the shoulder lift had been awful. Her plies were nowhere near deep enough for what the actual choreography had been. She had been two full half counts behind a series of partnered lifts which then had the flow on of both her and her partner, Yowaka, being late into the first kiss between Kafei and Anju.
Typically, the din of the shared dressing area of the corps de ballet would be enough to distract her from these kinds of worries. However, as she was now to be a soloist, she was being given a joint room with another soloist. While she was assured by the conductor that the orchestra would adjust their pacing to not catch the two of them out during the evening - she was not confident in that and in her spare moments had been tapping and humming the rhythm of the music while thinking about the steps. Much to the chagrin of the other woman she was sharing the room with.
"For the love of Hylia, I am begging you. Please stop that! I'm trying to focus as well!" Ora, the svelte Hylian with dark crimson hair and deep pink eyes, pleaded whilst trying to coax her hair into the sleek chignon that had been iconic for Ballerinas. The strain in her voice was evidence that she was already at her breaking point with her new dressing room companion.
Aurelie looked at her and whispered a quick apology and busied her hands by reaching for a lacquered wooden box that contained her stage cosmetics and brushes. Yet, even that proved difficult as she felt her hands shaking. The thin, tapered brush packed full of deep aubergine pigment meant to deepen her eye crease slipped through her fingers and clattered on the dark wooden bench space in front of her.
With a frustrated sigh, Aurelie placed a hand in her head - pushing her fringe off of her forehead and put the brush back into the box and closed the lid. With her nerves shot like this, she was liable to take her eye out trying to draw her signature thin line on her lower lashline that would give the appearance of wide, doe like eyes from the stage.
Shouldn't have pushed myself that much with those spells...what an idiotic decision.
She would push herself off of the chair and make her way to the door. The only thing that would settle her mind right now was talking to Yowaka. Through the course of their rehearsals together, she had found him to be very calming.
"Don't go too far away... it's only an hour and a half before her grandness starts that infernal caterwauling she likes to compare to singing! Would be a shame if you were trying to put your face on then." Ora quipped at the expense of the infamous Soprano Saharia Brightmoon. The woman widened her eyes and puffed out her cheeks a tad into a rude, but funny, imitation of the prima donna that was almost universally disliked by all the Opera House company for her ego and outbursts.
Aurelie held back a laugh before exiting the dressing room. She appreciated that small gesture from Ora to help get her out of her head.
It took her a good while to find the much taller Sheikah man standing at the edge of the wings to the stage. Even en pointe, she only just grazed the crook of his neck. He was a first soloist, and one of the few Sheikah to currently be in the Ballet company. In her mind, he made the perfect Kafei, his long silver blue hair and deep crimson eyes almost perfectly matched descriptions of the heroic man. She also noted he was quite handsome. In that silent, brooding kind of way. It was a pleasure to dance with him.
He didn't even look at her before speaking.
"I won't let you fall or embarrass yourself, just focus on feeling what Anju feels. You'll be beautiful tonight. I promise. We've all felt this way during our first big role."
He turned to her, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder before walking away.
"...Thank you."
While she had been hoping for a more analytic conversation about what exactly they needed to do, Aurelie couldn't fault him for telling her what she knew she actually needed to hear.
Having slipped on the delicate pale lilac empire-waisted shift dress that fell past her knees, she tied a thick braided hair piece around her bun, and around the top of her head like a headband. She interwove a similarly hued ribbon through the braid. She took care to apply just enough makeup to have her face read from the back rows, but not heavy enough to be too dramatic for Anju. The fake eyelashes felt heavy on her eyelids. But it was a weight she was well and truly used to after dancing for as long as she had.
A stage hand opened the door to advise her that there was now fourty minutes until her stage call.
The order of the evening was to be the opening remarks from the artistic directors, three pieces from the orchestra, two pieces from the Opera singers and Hylian choir. There would then be a guesting performance from the Goron drummers guild and the Zoran symphony. All of this would be done with the curtains drawn from center stage, hiding the Clocktower set. The Ballet mistress would run through the promotions within the company, and then the grand reveal of the set would take place. After her and Yowaka's pas de deux, there would be an hour intermission - giving plenty of time for the stage to be reset for the rest of the evening.
Having taken Yowaka's advice to heart, the young ballerina only thought of what Anju would be feeling. She had just met Kafei for the first time, and had fallen in love with him instantly. It was Anju's first time experiencing such an emotion. The sheer thrill of seeing him from Aurelie's view point would have been intoxicating - yet she knew Anju's self doubt caused her to feel self conscious and uncertain about Kafei's feelings for her. That would need to be an undercurrent of emotion for the duration of the performance. Breathing deeply, she would make her way to the wings of the stage. The two dancers gave each other one solemn nod before Aurelie ascended the connecting staircase that would lead her to the platform of the set piece.
Miss Ircine's clear voice would ring out across the halls of the theatre, offering her congratulations to all the promoted dancers. She would then introduced both Yowaka and Aurelie as Kafei and Anju.
Aurelie quickly ran on the tips of her feet to her stage mark as the gaslights dimmed to a near pitch black, and the curtains flew back as the opening notes of the organ filled the air. The white-blue lamps would shine onto her face, instantly warming her. A moment of character-appropriate uncertainty would register on her face for a moment as she peered out into the audience from her vantage point of the balcony of the clocktower. Now was her moment.
