"Very nice, Mademoiselle Steinfeld," said Mme Noelle, I bit my lip. She hadn't said anything when I finished my bourree. I tried not to worry about it. It might not mean a thing, after all.

    I found Mme Noelle very intimidating when I first joined this school, back when my family moved to Stoneybrook, Connecticut. That was not too long ago, when my dad was transferred to the Stamford office of his firm. The move was tough on the whole family.

    It was tough for the usual reasons - leaving friends and family, coming to a strange new place - but there were other reasons that made it even worse. The neighborhood we used to live in, in New Jersey, was completely integrated. So were the schools. But in Stoneybrook, it's different. Here there are very few black families. People just weren't used id seeing black faces - and they didn't make us feel too welcome. In fact, it was the opposite.

    But over time, we've all made friends in Stoneybrook, and our lives have settled down. I'd have to say that my family is pretty happy here now. And for me, one of the best parts of the move was getting into this dance school. The school isn't actually in Stoneybrook - it's in Stamford, where my dad's office is. It's one of the best on the East Coast - if you don't count the really big ones in New York City. And Mme Noelle is known throughout the ballet community as an excellent teacher. I don't find her quite so intimidating anymore.

    I looked up to see that Katie Beth Parsons had just finished her routine. She looked pretty happy with herself, but then she usually does. She's kind of one of Madame's pets - she has been since she was the youngest member of the class when she joined it. Now that I've joined, she isn't the youngest anymore (she's twelve), but she's still a favorite of Madame's.