Dancing

            Dancing is all little Marie van Goethem, a fourteen-year-old ballet dancer in the famed Paris Opéra, can think about in the book Marie, Dancing by Carolyn Meyer. It is the only thing in her life that brings her joy. Unfortunately, she has lived a life of poverty. Along the way having to deal with hunger, her mother's drinking, and her selfish older sister. Then when things could have gone worse she finds an artist, Edgar Degas. He demands Marie's presence in his studio where it appears that her life will change in a big way. He is willing to pay her to pose for his new idea for a sculpture and he promises her to make her a star.
              I can relate so much to this story because I know what it's like to love dancing but not have the money to pay for the classes needed. The difference between me and her is that I'm not a model for a very famous sculpture. Marie van Goethem is the model for the sculpture, Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer. This year for the dance concert since the theme was artwork, the sculpture was used as one of the artworks. The thing about this dance was that it was open to anybody for a solo. I love to dance and I think she is very lucky to find an artist that was willing to pay her for modeling. What surprised me is what Marie van Goethem planned on doing with the money. Instead of paying for more advanced private lessons, she used the money to pay her family through poverty.  
              I would have used the money for selfish reasons, especially since my mother was a drunk my sister was a selfish meanie that made me go through hunger for days and starve me. After that, I wouldn't have given them a single cent of my money. Luckily for Marie's family she still had a big kind heart and must have been raised with somebody wise. Then again I love dancing and would do anything to dance just like Marie van Goethem.