Olivia's Enchanted Summer by Lyn Gardner Read Free Book Online Page A

middle of the big top, Georgia, Kylie and some of the others, dressed in various shades of green, were swinging round and round, on great multicoloured skeins of material known as silks. They were wearing ballet shoes and were poised en pointe. The effect was beautiful, as if a forest of slender, delicate trees were swaying gracefully in the wind under a series of falling rainbows. The music reached its dreamy climax as the girls spun faster and faster, until it seemed as if they might rise off the ground and take flight. The audience cheered in appreciation, and the Swans moved seamlessly into the very final sequence of the show. The audience were loving every minute. As the show ended and the finalcheers died away at last, Olivia and the others ran excitedly into the girls’ dressing room.
    â€œIt may only have been nine people, but a standing ovation is a standing ovation,” said Georgia delightedly. Olivia, who was texting Tom to tell him about it, grinned and nodded.
    â€œThey loved it,” said Aeysha. “Particularly the silks. I love that bit so much, too. You all look so ethereal. Who would have thought that something so simple as people tumbling and swinging on lengths of material could be so magical?”
    â€œIt might look simple,” said Georgia, “but I’m hanging on for dear life.”
    â€œBut you don’t look as though you are,” said Aeysha. “You make it look easy. The whole sequence makes me feel tingly when I watch it.”
    â€œIt’s because of Kasha’s music,” said Eel.
    â€œAnd Pablo’s lighting,” said Aeysha. “The way it throws shadows against the sides of the tent is brilliant. Really spooky.”
    â€œAnd the way he and Jack have choreographed it all,” added Olivia.
    â€œAnd,” finished Eel, “because we’re all so brilliant on the silks. Well, at least for beginners.”
    â€œYes,” said Alicia, who’d been listening in, amused. “For total beginners, you are all brilliant on the silks. The cleverness is in the way Jack has disguised your very considerable limitations and played to your strengths. There’s no one thing that makes that sequence so good, it’s the mix of all of them. Take just one element away and it would be distinctly average. The sum is more than the parts. But well done, everyone. I was glad to see you gave it your all, even for such a tiny audience. It’s a lovely show. One of the best the Swans have done.”
    Olivia knew that was high praise coming from Alicia. When Olivia and Eel had first arrived at the Swan, their grandmother had dismissed the circus as having no value and had a grudge against it because it had taken Toni away from her and the London stage. Olivia was just beaming at her gran when the woman from the café came up.
    â€œI just wanted to tell you how much my kids and I enjoyed the show,” she said. “I’ll be telling all my customers about it. Shame there were so few people here, it was magic!”
    â€œI wish we could magic up some more,” said Eel, hopping from foot to foot.
    â€œYou don’t need magic for that, just a good show. Now you just need to let people know about it,” said the café owner. “You need to get busy leafleting and offering half-price tickets. Maybe even give some tickets away. That’s what everyone does in the first few days to get an audience and generate word of mouth. It’s an investment.”
    Eel turned a cartwheel in her excitement.
    â€œMum, I want to learn how to do that,” said the café owner’s son, who was about Eel’s age.
    â€œMe too,” said his sister, who was a couple of years older.
    â€œI’ll teach you,” said Eel, and she started showing them what to do while the woman continued talking to Alicia and Jack, who had come to join them all.
    The café owner smiled at Alicia. “It’s a pity there’s