Alex Ko

by Alex Ko

  The worst part about the audition wasn’t the difference in style, or the stone-faced judges, or having to spend all Saturday driving to and from Chicago. The worst part was that you didn’t get the results for weeks. When my audition at the Kirov finished, they thanked us all for coming and told us they would be in touch . . . eventually. Over the next week, I repeated the audition process eleven more times with different companies. I thought it would get easier, but it was always intimidating. I wanted to get in so badly. But if auditioning was bad, waiting for the results was worse. I felt like I would never find out.

  Sadly, this is normal. Whether it’s for a ballet school or a Broadway show, professional-level auditions can drag on and on. The worry and the wonder are always in the back of my mind. I think it’s because I know that someone somewhere is judging me. When I’m in the audition, I can do better, try harder, change my form. But once it’s over, I’m powerless to change anything.

  Luckily, I had a lot to distract me. I loved being in classes at the university. For the first time, I wasn’t the only kid who was crazy-dedicated to ballet. Everyone at the Dance Forum was there because they wanted to make it, and were willing to put in the time. It felt nice being around a group of similar kids my age.

  At home, we’d settled into a routine. I’d taken on more of the chores around the house. When I really needed a distraction, I had my dog, Ming Ming, who was always excited to play fetch or go for a walk. And yeah, sure, maybe I checked the mailbox every single time I took Ming Ming out, but often I was able to forget about my auditions for hours at a time.

  Applying to a summer intensive is a lot like applying to college. If you get in, you get a thick package in the mail. If you don’t, it’s just a thin envelope. When I found the first heavy package waiting for me—from the Kirov, actually—I thought my heart was going to explode. The Kirov was my first choice. They were one of the best, most competitive schools in the world, and I had promised Dad that I’d study from the best.

  When I handed the envelope to Mom, I was beaming.

  “Alex!” she almost yelled. “This is wonderful!”

  She gave me a huge hug.

  “You really deserve this,” she said. “Now, the moment of truth.”

  Mom opened the envelope and pulled out a bunch of papers. She scanned the welcome letter.

  “Congratulations . . . great skill . . . accepted . . . ,” she mumbled under her breath as she speed-read. Then she paused.

  “Did they give me a scholarship?”

  “Yes!” She actually did yell this time. And I did too. I jumped up and down with excitement. I’d gotten into one of the best programs in the country. Eloy told me that thousands of kids probably tried out. I felt honored.

  “But it’s only fifty percent of the tuition,” she continued. “That means we’ll have to come up with the rest.”

  She bit her lip, a sure sign that she was nervous about something. “Alex, will you excuse me for a second? I’m going to call Grandma and Grandpa.”

  I knew what that meant. She was going to ask her parents for money. I felt bad having to borrow from our grandparents, but we’d already talked about it weeks before. They’d said it would be my birthday and Christmas presents all rolled up in one, and they were happy to do it. Still, I knew it was hard on my mom, and I hated making her ask them. But there didn’t seem to be any other option.

  Over the next few weeks, I was accepted into not one, not two, but all of the schools I applied to. I couldn’t believe how lucky I was. I think a lot of other kids who are trained in ballet technique programs have a hard time with auditions and being judged. The fact that I’d spent so long doing competition dancing definitely helped me. But sadly, most of the programs didn’t give me scholarships, which meant that even though I got into a lot of schools, I couldn’t consider most of them.

  “So I can go to the Kirov in Washington, the School of American Ballet in New York City, or Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle,” I told my dad late one night after saying my prayers. Those were the three schools at which I’d gotten scholarships.

  “What do you think, Dad?”

  No answer came, but I didn’t expect one. Praying isn’t like that, not for me. It’s more about finding the answer in myself. I knew my dad loved water, and PNB was right on Puget Sound in Seattle. If he’d been alive, Dad would have wanted me to go there. Also, they were the only ones who’d given me a full-tuition scholarship. The other two had offered only half scholarships, which meant my mom and grandparents would be on the hook for the other half and everything else, like housing and food. Also, PNB taught Balanchine, so it would be the most like what I was already learning from Eloy at the Dance Forum.

  “You should visit,” Eloy said. “That’s the only way you’ll know if it’s the school for you.”

  “I wish,” I told him. We could barely afford to send me for the summer—there was no way we could afford a visit.

  Or so I thought. . . .

  Even without getting to visit, I decided that PNB was the right choice. Partly, it was about the money. We just couldn’t afford to have me go anywhere else. But it was also about the city, and the program. Seattle wasn’t as big as Washington or New York, and for a kid from Iowa, it felt manageable. I was going to be alone there all summer, and Mom felt safer imagining me in Seattle than in Manhattan. And the more I read about the school, the more I felt it would be the best match for what Eloy was already teaching me. Still, I wished I could go visit, just to be certain.

  Right after I finally decided on PNB, the strangest thing happened. Mom’s job made a sudden announcement: they needed her to go to Seattle—immediately.

  “Do you want to go?” she asked me. “I think we can make it work, if I trade in my ticket for two cheaper ones.”

  Did I want to go? She’d have had to lock me in the garage to keep me home! I think I might have screamed aloud before I got ahold of myself.

  I pretty much went right up to my room and started packing. When I’m excited or nervous, I get really bad and pack my whole wardrobe. I don’t know why, but I always do. Every. Single. Time. It’s like a disease. Some sort of packing disorder. I packed all the journals Dad had given me, and all of the framed pictures of both of us. But Mom reminded me that we could bring only what fit in a carry-on bag because it costs money to check a suitcase, so I only took one photo: a picture of Dad out in California, near the water, which always made him happy. He was smiling at the camera, looking over his shoulder, and I always felt like he was looking back at me from some moment in the far future when we would be together again. Even at my darkest moments, the photo gave me hope and made me smile. I take it with me every time I travel.

  From the moment we landed, I loved Seattle. Being near water made me feel like Dad was there with us. I could almost pretend that the last year hadn’t happened, and we were on a family vacation. Then there was the school. PNB was beautiful. It had big windows that let the light stream in, and these giant cool pillars outside the building. Mom arranged for me to take a master class with them, to see how I liked it. The teacher was none other than Peter Boal. He was a dancer with the New York City Ballet and artistic director of PNB. In the ballet world, he was famous.

  The woman behind the desk at PNB asked if I needed dance clothes, but I’d brought mine with me.

  “Thanks!” I said, my smile beaming. I couldn’t believe it: everything was working out.

  That class turned out to be one of the best I’d ever taken. The studio was beautiful. The students were talented and focused. Peter was amazing. The moment that I stepped out of that classroom, I was filled with pure joy. I remember Peter telling me that he was looking forward to having me come and train at the school.

  Too bad it never happened.

  Mom was waiting for me in the lobby when the class let out. She looked upset but wouldn’t say why. My stomach flip-flopped inside me. We left the studio and went to a mall nearby to get lunch. After futzing with her chopsticks, Mo
m finally looked at me.

  “Alex,” she said, “I have to tell you something.”

  She took a deep breath, and I waited.

  “I don’t know how else to do this, so I’m just going to say it. Grandma and Grandpa don’t have the money right now. I’m afraid we can’t afford to send you to PNB. I’m so, so sorry.”

  I felt like I was in a horror movie. How was that possible? How could I be here, in Seattle, at PNB, taking classes, and not be able to go? Maybe I’d misheard her somehow.

  “But . . . they said they would! They promised.” I could feel my face growing hot as I spoke. Not only did I feel awful, I was embarrassed too. I hate being emotional in public.

  “I know, and they feel terrible. I feel terrible. And I can’t imagine how you feel. But we don’t have the money, Alex. We can’t change that. If I could, I would.”

  She put her hand on my shoulder and squeezed it gently, but I was numb.

  “Why? Mom, they promised!” I knew I was repeating myself, but it just didn’t make any sense. Why was this happening, just when it seemed like things were finally working out? I could feel tears welling up, and I forced them back down.

  “I don’t know, honey.” She sniffed. She was near crying too. “I just got off the phone with them. They can’t afford it right now, and we can’t either.”

  This isn’t fair! Part of me wanted to scream. I wanted to run back to the studio and beg them to take me. I’d live in the lobby. I’d clean the bathrooms! I’d do anything if they would just let me stay.

  But the bigger part of me knew that Mom was right. Even with the scholarship, we couldn’t afford it, not without help. And there was no one else we could ask. My plan was falling apart. How would I live up to the promise I had given Dad? If we couldn’t afford teachers, how could I become a great ballet dancer? Suddenly everything was up in the air.

  Thankfully, God had plans I didn’t know about.

  Chapter 13

  My First Step to Broadway

  “Today is a beautiful day,” I whispered, looking at the ceiling from the top of the bunk beds I shared with Matt. I hadn’t looked outside, and I didn’t have anything special planned, but I hoped to make it true just by saying the sentence out loud. I know it sounds cheesy, but try it sometime. It doesn’t work if you don’t mean it, though. You have to convince yourself: today IS a beautiful day.

  And I needed it. I was still reeling from learning that I wouldn’t be going to PNB—or anywhere else this summer. When I got back to Iowa, I went right to my room and locked the door behind me. I couldn’t stop thinking about everything I had worked for, and how it had all come to nothing. But the real reason I was so sad was that I had let Dad down. I wanted to be great for him, and how could I without great teachers?

  For about a week, I moped around feeling sorry for myself, and angry at my grandparents. Everything was so . . . unfair. What’s the point of working so hard, I thought, if being the best doesn’t even matter?

  Strangely enough, it was talking to Dad that helped me feel better. Every time I tried to tell him that it had all gone wrong, and I had totally failed, I could hear his voice in my head saying, “God doesn’t make mistakes. Don’t give up.” I knew what I had to do: I had to forget PNB and move on. I didn’t want to look at anything PNB, or watch a PNB ballet. In my head, PNB and I had broken up.

  It took one week of being back in Iowa, taking ballet, and hanging out with Matt and John to really drive PNB out of my mind.

  And then Eloy stopped me after class one day.

  “Sarah and I are going to New York for ten days,” he said. “Do you want to come?”

  Instantly, I knew two things. First, I wanted to go. What performer doesn’t dream about New York City? I probably thought about New York every single day of my life. Second, Mom was going to say no. Ten days in the big city without her? No way. She liked Eloy and Sarah, but we hadn’t known them that long.

  “I’ll have to check with my mom,” I told Eloy. I didn’t want to say that I wanted to go until I knew I could actually do it.

  “Check with her,” he agreed. “She can talk to me if she wants. I think it would be good for you to see what it’s like in the city.” That’s how he said it, as though there was only one city in the world. The city. “Going to New York will make you more well-rounded, and anyway, you’ll have to go eventually if you continue being this good!”

  Making him proud felt almost as good as making Dad proud.

  I called Mom immediately, even though she was already on her way to pick me up.

  “I have to talk to you about something,” I said.

  “What is it?”

  “It’s nothing bad,” I said quickly. “But I can’t tell you until we’re home.”

  “Aaa-lex,” she said, a warning tone in her voice. She hated when I did this.

  If I knew she wasn’t going to respond well to something, I tried to tell her at the best time possible. If I told her while we were still at the university, she would march right back into the studio to talk to Eloy and say no, and I’d never get to New York. I had to convince her slowly.

  The whole way home I could tell she was annoyed, but I refused to spill the beans until we were in the house.

  “What?” she asked as soon as the front door closed behind us.

  “Eloy invited me to New York with him,” I started.

  “No,” she said, and turned away.

  “But he thinks it’ll be good for me!” I protested.

  “No,” she repeated. “End of story. I’m sorry, Alex, it’s a fantastic offer and you should thank Eloy from both of us. But I just don’t think it’s a good idea right now.”

  I’d been expecting this, so I wasn’t too upset. I had a plan. I waited a few days, then started begging.

  “Please?”

  “Pretty please?”

  “I’ll do anything you want.”

  “Pleeeeeeeease!”

  “Anything. I’ll do anything.”

  “I’ll do extra chores for the next two years.”

  “I’ll mow the lawn for the next ten years.”

  “Anything!”

  After a week, she agreed to talk to Eloy. I knew it was a lot to ask, to let your twelve-year-old son go to New York City with just his dance teachers, but I could handle it—if Eloy convinced her I’d be in good hands.

  “Let me think about it,” she said after talking to Eloy. She felt better knowing that it was going to be Eloy, Sarah, and their baby going as a family. Also, Eloy mentioned that we’d be staying at Sarah’s sister’s house outside the city, which was both safer and cheaper. But Mom was still worried, and money was still an issue. The trip was a week and a half, so it would be way less expensive than any of the summer programs I’d looked at, but it would still cost money, which we didn’t have much of.

  Finally, after weeks of saying “let me think about it,” Mom sat me down.

  “Here are the rules,” she said.

  “I agree!” I yelled, before she’d even said another word. Her serious face dissolved into a laugh, and I knew everything would work out.

  “You will call home every day,” she said when she caught her breath. “You and I are planning out your entire schedule in advance so I know where you are at all times. And you’re taking as many ballet classes as you can, because you deserve them.”

  Eloy arranged for me to study at Steps on Broadway, one of the premier dance studios in New York City. I was so excited I could barely believe it. I packed my schedule with as many classes as I could fit. If I was only going to be there for ten days, I wanted to make the most of it.

  Little did I know that “making the most of it” in New York City could lead to some very big things. . . .

  I’ll never forget the city growing bigger and brighter beneath us as our plane descended for landing. The lights seemed to go on forever. It felt like you could drop Iowa City down in the middle of Manhattan and it would be swallowed up without a burp. I was just some ki
d, with little money and worse luck. Would I drown in the city, or shine bright? I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

  My fear and excitement grew as I entered Steps on Broadway for the first time. People in dance clothes rushed in and out, talking about auditions, rehearsals, and roles. Big picture windows looked out on the busy Manhattan streets below, and as I signed in to my first class, I watched bright yellow taxis whiz by outside. Above my head, portraits of famous alumni smiled down like guardian angels. One day, I hoped, my picture would join them.

  Please, I whispered to myself (and Dad), let me stay here. Don’t let this be PNB all over again. I was terrified that as soon as I let myself relax, it would all be taken from me. I’d come so close, so many times.

  I slipped into the back of the studio, feeling shy and hoping to go unnoticed. As I stretched, the teacher watched me. He had short gray hair and small, wire-framed glasses that looked very sophisticated. He wore all black and was exactly what I pictured when I thought of a dance teacher in New York City. Right before we started, he came over.

  “Alex Ko?” he asked.

  “Yup!” I nodded. Eloy must have told him about me.

  “Wilhelm Burmann,” he said. “Call me Willy.”

  We shook hands.