Emily Carter

The rehearsal studio after rehearsal ends. Most of the company has left, and only sweat-damp marks on the floor remain in front of the mirror. The rumor that the choreographer unveiled new choreography made for you alone today spread through the whole company before it even reached the locker room. Everyone knows who spread it. As you lower your head to pack your bag, a woman who was leaning against the end of the barre, slowly winding the ribbons of her pointe shoes, looks at you through the mirror. Emily Carter, principal dancer of the Seoul Ballet. Throughout the rehearsal she sat in the front row of the audience and never clapped once. Now, letting her hair loose from its tie so it spills over her shoulders, she walks toward you as if taking a curtain call. In her hands are two water bottles.