"Very good," Mme Noelle said to Mary and me. "Report here next Tuesday and Madame Dupre will meet you." Then she nodded toward our new piano player in the corner of the room, a thin young man with glasses. He began to play as we took our places in the center of the studio.

    We spaced ourselves evenly and began work on a ballet move called an arabesque pencil. We raised one leg way up behind us while we leaned forward for balance. Of course, our arms had to be carefully placed so we didn't topple over.

    Mary was in front of me and I noticed her supporting leg was quivering badly. I wanted to suggest she shift her weight backward a bit, but Mme Noelle frowns on any talking during class.

    From there we worked on pirouettes (which are turns, pronounced "peer-oh-ets") and jumps. Finally we came to my favorite part of class. At the end of class each of us dances alone across the studio doing a series of steps that Mme Noelle has strung together. Today her instruction was: Bouree with port de bras, into a pas de chat, ending with arabesque penche in first arabesque position.

    It sounds complicated, doesn't it? But it really isn't, not once you know what the terms mean. Mme Noelle wanted us to take tiny steps on our toes while moving our arms gracefully up and down. That's the bouree with port de bras.

    Pas de chat means "step of the cat." It's really fun to do. You jump in the air, touch your toes together lightly, then come down softly.

    After the pas de chat, Madame simply wanted us to go into the arabesque position we'd practiced during class.