My Beloved

Chapter 137 - THE SEMIFINAL

"I think I will visit the Louvre Museum and the Palace of Versailles," Zenna said.

"Ah, I didn't go to the Palace of Versailles. I should tag along with you." Han Luo fluttered her eyelashes and started acting cute to make Zenna agree. 

"Can I come as well?" Jared tested the waters. 

"The more, the merrier." Zenna giggled. 

Before they headed toward the back stage, the three of them put their hands on each other's shoulders and stood for a moment for the final encouragement. 

Han Luo spoke with confidence, "We can do it. We will go onto the stage and nail it." Somehow, her confidence reached Jared and Zenna's hearts and calmed them down. 

"Yes, we can do it!" Jared exclaimed with hope and assurance. 

Zenna gathered some courage and declared, "We will win!" 

Jared chose 'The Nutcracker' for his semifinal performance. The Nutcracker is an 1892 two-act ballet.

In Act I, it is showed that on the Christmas Eve, family and friends gathered in the parlor to decorate the beautiful Christmas tree in preparation for the party. After the party begins, a mysterious figure enters the room. That is Drosselmeyer, a local Councilman, Magician, and Clara's godfather who is also a talented toymaker. He gives Clara and her younger sister Fritz a wooden nutcracker by taking away four dolls full of life. The girls become sad after losing such amazing dolls but Clara falls in love with the wooden nutcracker at her first encounter. However, Fritz breaks it out of anger and sadness. In the middle of the night, Clara secretly goes downstairs to check on her beloved nutcracker. However, when she wanted to touch it, the clock chimes at midnight and the mice begin to fill the room as well as the nutcracker becomes alive.

That's when Jared appears.

The nutcracker appears to be fighting against the Mouse king leading a troop of mice soldiers. As the Mouse King advances on the still-wounded nutcracker, Clara throws her slipper at him, distracting him long enough for the nutcracker to stab him. The mice retreat and the nutcracker is transformed into a handsome Prince. He leads Clara in the moonlit night through a pine forest in which the snowflakes dance around them, beckoning them to his kingdom as the first act ends.

In Act II, Clara and the Prince travel to the beautiful Land of Sweets, currently ruled by the Sugar Plum Fairy, in place of the Prince until his return. In honor of the Prince's return with the young lady, they hold a celebration banquet. To conclude the night, the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier perform a dance. A final waltz is performed by all the sweets, after which the Sugar Plum Fairy ushers Clara and the Prince down from their throne. He bows to her, she kisses Clara goodbye, and leads them to a reindeer drawn sleigh. It takes off as they wave goodbye to all the subjects who wave back.

Jared's dancing moves were astonishing. The nineteenth century's costumes and the acting also brought the whole act to life which presented a stunning and award worth performance.

Han Luo saw his performance from the backstage and was stunned to her very core; she understood why Jared was the best among the best. He was not only a good dancer but also had confidence when presenting himself. He believed in his heart that he was a good dancer and that gave him enough guts to be confident.

Han Luo clenched her fists. 'I can do it. I can do it.' She closed her eyes and kept reciting the same sentence again and again till she gathered courage. When she opened her eyes again, she was determined to give her best for her dream.

The last performance was hers. When the music started, Alice patted her back from behind. "You can do this. Go girl!" She tried to provide her with the much needed assurance.

Han Luo stepped onto the stage. She was going to perform 'Swan Lake'.

Swan Lake, Op. 20, is a ballet composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failure, it is now one of the most popular ballets of all time. The scenario, initially in two acts, was fashioned from Russian and German folk tales.

In the drama, it has four acts. Prince Siegfried is celebrating his birthday with his tutor, friends and peasants when his mother, Queen, comes and tells him to marry. Prince Siegfried becomes upset that he cannot marry for love and to cheer him up, his teacher and friend takes him out for hunting.

That's when the dancing starts.

On the stage, young, beautiful white swans were dancing along with Odette, aka Han Luo.

Odette is a beautiful young maiden who is almost killed by Prince Siegfried in her swan form. However, after seeing her transforming into a breathtakingly beautiful maiden, Prince Siegfried freezes on the spot. Odette gets to know Prince Siegfried and tells him about her curse that has been cast by the evil owl-like sorcerer Rothbart. The spell can only be broken if one who has never loved before swears to love Odette forever. However, if Rothbart dies before the spell is broken, it can never be undone.

In the morning, Odette turns into a swan and Prince Siegfried returns to the palace. The Queen holds a costume ball and Rothbart comes with his daughter, Odile, who is transformed to look like Odette. Prince Siegfried sees Odile who looks like Odette and falls for her. They dance together.

Odile, the black swan's dancing style was fiercer than Odette, the white swan. Han Luo performed both as the white swan and the black swan. While white swan's movements were graceful and elegant, the black swan's movements were wild and aggressive. The judges and the audiences were once more amazed by Han Luo's arabesques. She played around and tipped herself backward off of balance without really losing her balance at all.

While Odile and Prince Siegfried were dancing, Odette appears at the castle window and attempts to warn Siegfried, but he does not see her. He then proclaims to the court that he will marry Odile before Rothbart shows him a magical vision of Odette. Grief-stricken and realizing his mistake (he vowed only to love Odette), Siegfried hurries back to the lake. He asks for forgiveness and aggrieved Odette forgives him. However, his betrayal cannot be undone. Rather than remain a swan forever, Odette chooses to die. Siegfried chooses to die with her and they leap into the lake, where they will stay together forever. This breaks Rothbart's spell over the swan maidens, causing him to lose his power over them and he dies. In the end, the swan maidens, who transform to maidens, watch as Siegfried and Odette ascend into the Heavens together, forever united in love.

When Han Luo jumped from the higher stage, her male partner – who acted as Prince Siegfried – followed her and jumped from the high stage and disappeared from the sights of the judges and the audiences. Their hearts broke when the scene came to this.. When Han Luo and her male partner were seen in the end of the act as they were ascending into heaven, the onlookers started to clap and whistle.