"A Failure of Balletic Proportions"

There are few things as inspiring as the success story of a young dancer. She came from a family of great dancers - you could say it ran in the family blood. Out of pure love for the sport she sacrificed much and spent the better part of her adolescence in a rehearsal hall. Her dedication was obvious and endless hours in technique resulted in flawless skill. Over the course of her career she performed all over the world and retired to serve as director of the most elite dance school in the country

~~V~~

Morgan began her tumultuous battle with the world of dance at the age of eight. She tried very hard not to let the fact that she was the tallest and gangliest girl in the class get the better of her. Weekly classes were a difficulty for Morgan and an even greater difficulty for those watching.

Somehow she muddled through exactly eight years of unflattering leotards, consistent last-row placement in the year-end recital, and the all-too frequent bruisings from - well, there are really innumerable things to run into in a dance studio when you can't quite get the hang of that whole cessation of motion business. You could say the family blood ran out of Morgan quite frequently. Most days Morgan considered herself a success if she managed to avoid tying the ribbons of her pointe shoes to each other. A less stubborn individual might have considered the many alternative horizons worth pursuing.

Her teacher's dedication was obvious, and endless hours of trial and error brought her up to the overcrowded level of mediocrity. At the age of fourteen Morgan suffered from scoliosis and chronic arthritis. But her family was extraordinarily supportive - her mother encouraged her to hang on to her dreams, and not to let failures or setbacks or injuries keep her from dancing. And Morgan kept at it - she knew performing with a professional company would be impossible, but just maybe determination would pull her through a few years of college ballet with the rest of the mediocre.

Two more years of questionable improvement found Morgan hovering in the second to last row. Preparations were well under way for the annual recital when one overly exhuberant tour jeté landed her in a hospital bed facing knee surgery.

When one is active in the world of dance, one is never very far from inspirational quotes by Agnes de Mille and Martha Graham and a lot of never give up on your dreams propaganda. However there comes a definite point in life when you just stop listening and come to the decision that failure is too harsh a word - try "pursuing new horizons."