Balancing on my toe tips appears to be pained utter foolishness. It ranks up there with trying to get a ballpoint pen to balance on its tip. A spinning top I can understand. But a balancing act on toes with one leg extended, in my mind, is akin to drawing a square circle.
Yet, that is precisely the magic people delight in each time the curtain rises, and Zippora Karz flies across the stage — effortlessly — poised only on the tips of her ballet shoes. She smiles continuously, not because of the audience, but because she is happy with herself. She has reached a pinnacle few ballerinas can claim. She has achieved a dream. She is a soloist.
If she makes a mistake, God forbid, she covers it so brilliantly that even the most critical ballet trainer/instructor would fail to notice. Critics call her daunting graceful poise: flawless, magnificent, like-no-other. She dances difficult routines choreographed specifically for her — so well known and executed are her skills.
The Sugarless Plum is the story of Zippora Karz, told by her in first person. She reveals the mystique of ballet in such a way that only with our imaginations can we, outside the art, know the struggles, hardships, disappointments all ballerina’s face.
• There are the constant struggles with sore feet: calluses, blisters, bent or dislocated toes, even broken bones.
• There are the hardships of daily workouts and countless hours of practice at the barre.
• There are the uncountable disappointments posted on bulletin boards where a ballerina finds she did or did not receive a part or that she may or may not move to a higher level class.
Karz begins The Sugarless Plum at age twenty-one. She is starring in a brand-new ballet, Les Petits Riens. Her good friend, Peter Martins, the ballet-master-in-chief of the New York City Ballet, has choreographed her starring role. Zippora has been a member of this world famous ballet company for only three years now.
Article Author: Regis Schilken
Regis Schilken's stories reflect his search for meaning in a very human but frightening way. Two of his books have been published: The Oculi Incident and The Island Off Stony Point. A third, You Know When will be published this year. …
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