Dancing for the Lord The Academy - By Emily Goodman Page 0,28
was probably a schedule somewhere; but the rooms were much the same as one another. There wasn’t any reason she could think of why it would really matter, as long as everyone who had signed up for a room got one; and since there wasn’t anyone in sight, she didn’t think it would be a problem on this particular afternoon.
Most of the time, Danni danced to classical music. It was the way she had been trained; and it was easier to find her own pattern in a song that had no words. Going to church with Mrs. Baxter, however, had put her in a praise and worship mood; so after she finished warming up, she slipped in one of her praise and worship CDs, moved to the middle of the floor, and simply gave herself over to the music for awhile.
Her heart was pounding. Some of the songs on the CD were not the quiet, gentle songs that she had intended to dance to. Some of them gave her a real workout; and Danni was grateful that she had slipped on a pair of the black ballet slippers rather than her pointe shoes for this particular exercise. She could have kept up with it; but her training kicked in, and she naturally shifted to a little bit of jazz dance.
Actually, didn’t she have a pair of jazz shoes in her bag somewhere? Danni thought about changing; but the music had claimed her, and anyway, it didn’t matter what she was wearing. What mattered was what she did—the way she gave her body over to God, letting him have complete and absolute control of her.
She spun until she was dizzy, leapt to the heights of heaven. Never mind that there was no one to see. Danni knew who she was dancing for.
I’m so glad You’re here, Lord, she prayed silently. So glad. Dancing here, when it’s just You and me…this is when it’s the best. This is when I come home.
The music slowed; and without realizing it, Danni found herself dancing with an invisible partner—dancing as though Michael held her by the hand. There was no one there; but if there had been someone, if they had been watching, they would have almost been able to see the invisible steps of her silent partner, right there beside her in the still room.
The music cut off abruptly. Danni spun, nearly losing her balance before she checked herself and turned the spin into a graceful movement.
The black-haired girl from the hallway—Katarina—glared at her. “I have this room reserved,” she snapped irritably.
Danni stared at her. She had been here for little more than an hour; in that time, had all of the practice rooms filled up?
It wasn’t possible, she realized. There were still empty rooms. Katarina was just giving her a hard time—and the worst part of it was, it was working.
“I—I’m sorry,” she said quickly. “I didn’t realize—“
“There’s a schedule at the front of the wing.” Katarina folded her arms over her chest, tapping her foot imperiously—though the effect was ruined somewhat by the fact that she was wearing only a pair of socks. “If you want one of the rooms, you fill in the box on the schedule.”
“I—there wasn’t anyone here when I came in,” Danni stuttered.
“Now there is.” Katarina glowered at her. “If you want the room, you fill in the box. If it’s full, you don’t dance here. Period.”
“I—sorry,” Danni mumbled again. She hurried across the room to her dance bag.
Katarina got there first. “I have this room for an hour,” she snapped again. “And you’re cutting into it. Get out.” She slung Danni’s bag out in the hall, her street clothes—neatly folded alongside the bag only moments before—after it.
Danni just stared at her, stunned. Only self-preservation made her scurry out of the room; and somehow, she wasn’t surprised when Katarina slammed the door behind her.
The peaceful mood was broken. Danni didn’t even dare go back for her CD, was in fact grateful that it was just a copy. She and Michael had learned a long time ago that they had a bad habit of leaving CDs in places where they could not be reclaimed, so the set she carried in her dance bag contained no originals.
That was the only good thing about the encounter. Danni’s hands were shaking as she pulled off her shoes, slipped back into her street clothes. The peaceful mood had been broken, leaving only the bitter remains of that joy behind.