Final Draft- Querencia

The Grand Place for Expressing 

By: Czarina Caberto

Sitting on the couch, being very still and quiet, waiting for Isabelle to tell me that we’re leaving, I look at the digital clock that flashed neon green numbers, finding out that it was already 8:45am. I look up at the ceiling and close my eyes for a bit. Only one thing was running through my head, “Ugh, I’m so tired!” I feel my body tilting toward one side of the couch as I nearly fall into a deep slumber. Isabelle, my best friend, starts knocking at my door looking at me with tired eyes, as I jerk my body upward from the thunderous knocking. “Zee, c’mon we’re going now.” I rub my eyes with my hands feeling the dryness of my tear ducts, which made my eyes slightly itchy. I yell out to my dad, who was in the other room, “Bye dad. I’m going… love you!” I step out of the door and felt the sun’s ray’s hit me like a ball against a baseball bat, nearly blinding me. I went into the white, Toyota Venza and took in a sniff of the “new car smell”.

We’re just about a couple seconds away from the building. As we approach the driveway, I feel the car shake as it drives past a coarse road. My Uncle Cesar, Isabelle’s dad, pulls up into a tiny parking space as Isabelle and I try to keep our selves awake. My hand searches for the door handle, for the reason that my eyes were half way closed. I finally find it and I step out of the door as I say goodbye to my uncle. My feet start to walk towards the mirror-like, double doors as Isabelle and I suddenly talk about something totally out of the ordinary. Still, very sleepy, my eyes were still half way closed and as my hands search for the door, Isabelle suddenly tells me, “You look like a zombie!” I open my eyes to realize that I was already inside the building. Isabelle had already opened the door for me. I felt the cold air of the air conditioner blow past my body giving me shivers. Usually, that would wake me up, but that didn’t work, considering how tired I was. The pure white walls and doors that surrounded me made me feel like I wasn’t in reality, like I was in a dream where everything was white and the only thing that had color was me. Isabelle see’s me gazing into thin air and looks at me with a strange look… “Czarina? Hello?” I snapped back into reality and said “Huh?” as she lets out a small giggle. Not noticing, I was already standing in front of the navy blue elevator that had the feel of a carpet on its walls. As I pressed the small, round “up” button that was on the right side of the elevator, I saw it open slowly. I stepped one foot in and purposely left the other foot outside just to get on her nerves. I laugh a bit and entered the elevator with my entire body inside. Surprisingly, laughter actually woke me up a little.

The elevator brings us up to the 4^th level and as the door opens, we see five and six year olds running around the open area. To me, those little kids are like my sisters. They can be so sweet and loving, but still yet, they can be a pain in the buttocks. They all see me come out of the elevator. Two of them run up to me and grab me by the waist and one jumps onto my back. I scream to the top of my lungs and my eyes grow larger as the kids harass me in a joking matter. The assistant on duty, Emily, comes walking out of the studio, nicely telling them to behave while class is going on. They laugh as they let go of me. All the little rascals look at me with those bubbly eyes of theirs and I look at them saying “Good morning, kiddos!” I walk into the room and hear the loud, dance music that made the inside of me stir! I feel the sudden urge to dance. The loud bass of the music made the floor shake, which definitely woke me up. It’s funny how it takes such a small thing just to wake up. Music is so effective in a dancer’s life! Listening to the loud music felt as if I was not able to control what I was feeling. But, this feeling of wanting to dance, was the best feeling ever. “Excuse Me!” said a large, tall man behind me. “May I ask you to please turn down the music? I don’t mind hearing a little music, just make sure it’s not very loud. Thank You”. Then he walks out of the studio with a contented face. 

I walk up to the small, front desk to sign myself in for the three classes that I was going to be taking. The voice of the choreographer, yelling out the numbers 1 through 8, made me grin a little, knowing that there are people who actually take the time to help us. My body automatically walks to over to the small, circular “team table”. The “team table” is where only team members put their bags, shoes, and other important items on. My dance mate, Kaylee, sits there, quietly, listening to her sister’s iPod Touch. To us, the dance studio is like our home. It’s a place to hang out, do homework, and of course, DANCE! The dance studio is where my heart is located. I can be who I want to be and no one will judge me. It would be extremely heartbreaking if I ever part from it. It’s been my second home ever since I was a nine. As I watch the activities going on inside the studio, I start to think of my actual home, like the way everyone is just so comfortable with each other. The laughter that I could hear behind me cut off my train of thought. I looked back to see my friends Natsumi and Taylor laughing because of a tiny roly-poly that they thought was a bug. I laughed along with them. Minutes have passed and the class that was before mine has already ended. Time really does go by fast when you’re having fun. I hear my teacher yell out “Jazz-ers! Class is starting! Did everyone sign in?” I see a big group of people rush over to the sign in sheet because they forgot to sign in. Everyone comes back to the center of the floor so they can start warming up. I feel the tightness of my knees stretch apart as I reach down to touch the floor and the energy coming out through my fingers as I reach my hands up to the ceiling. Then, we start to dance, which makes me feel at my best. It doesn’t matter if I look silly. The main thing is I can express myself. As I do a ‘six-step’ across the floor, I could feel the wind from the fan right across from me blowing through my hair. I felt my hair go out of place as I do turns, and the feeling of my feet getting blisters from being barefoot on the beige, wooden floor felt uncomfortable and aching, yet it’s all worth it. We learn the choreography, which makes me feel so anxious to get it perfect, and every time I get something wrong. After a few minutes, my first class comes to an end.

I go back to the team table to grab my soft, comfortable fleece pants that I use to dance hip hop with. I secretly hide in the storage closet, which by the way is restricted to us, dancers, so I could change comfortably. Once I get out, everyone is busy doing something else and they don’t notice me. What a relief! My second class is starting. My teacher, Kent, yells out “Girls! Let’s Go!” Everyone fools around in this class, probably because our teacher is pretty chill with us and doesn’t mind if we aren’t perfect for him. I slip my soft, white low-cut socks and my worn-out converse shoes on and I run toward the front line. There’s just something about being in the front line, which makes me feel so calm and relaxed. Now, in this class I’m really hyped up. Once I start dancing, I can’t stop! My body is uncontrollable when I’m in Hip Hop class. I look towards the front door and I see people pouring in waiting for their class to start. I see one of my friends, Alex, say hi to me and I say hi back. Kent tells me to pay attention and I do what he says. We start dancing and my body just goes with the flow. It’s as if my body can feel the music. Hot and sweaty, I feel an adrenaline rush go throughout my entire body. I start to dance to the highest level and everyone else does the same. Finally, the class was done. I was back to my calm self. I run outside to the metal, water-fountain that supplied us with cold, refreshing water. A tiny drop of water falls unto my chin and then trickles down my neck. Running back inside, I see that my third class has started. I hesitate to get my dance paws on so I can join the rest of the class. We start dancing contemporary. The dance makes me forget about all the technique, but I start to think of an image in my head. I basically just explore the energy and emotion that my body is telling me. I feel like closing my eyes during this piece, because it makes me so relaxed. The lights go off, and the disco ball spins slowly. As I look at it’s reflection on the floor, I think of how good it feels to be a dancer, how it was so easy to just let myself go, and how I could express my self even without word usage. Suddenly, I feel a muscle cramp and I inhale deeply to help calm me down and get rid of the pain. I also smell some Papa Johns’ pizza. Kaylee comes with a box for all of us. Dance class has finished and we all head to the team table to get a slice of pizza each. Oh, how rewarding.