Elsa y su Ballet

It is February, when nearly 60 women who make up Ballet 40/90 meet to begin work. For the next 8 months, difficult rehearsals are ahead of them. The group is made up of housewives, employees, psychologists, teachers, traders. Some are married women; others are singles, widows or divorced women. The youngest is 47 years old, the eldest is 81, and except one of them, no one has ever danced as a professional.
Elsa, the Ballet director, arrives with the weight of her 87 years of age on her shoulders. This great and hyperactive white hair woman, who carries a walking stick, is the one responsible for creating the choreographies, for adapting the music, designing costumes and deciding lighting, among lots of other things.
Rehearsals follow one after the other in pursuit of perfection. Each step, each hand and each gesture will exactly match with the ones Elsa has designed. They repeat each gesture once, a hundred times, a thousand repetitions until they manage each gesture.
Cha-cha-cha, classical music and even military marches are some of the 20 musical genres chosen in order to shape this year's show. Choreographies are shaping up.

www.elsaysuballet.blogspot.com

Finally the opening night comes. Dressing rooms are packed with people. Shoes, dresses and lash extenders are everywhere. "To the stage!" one of them shouts. 58 wonderful women take each other's hand on the stage of the Empire Theatre. Elsa gives the final instructions. They wish each other "much, much merde!" The theatre is ready!! The show begins.