I envy you for being a good turner! I am horrible at turns. I remember one day, in what seemed like a freak accident, I landed a clean quad pirouette and I thought I could just die right there I was so happy haha. It never happened again and I struggled with triples for months. Extension is my thing. :p

Has anyone seen commercials for Center Stage 2?? Because this thread is totally making me think of Peter Gallagher. I LOVE IT. I would vote for American Ballet Company if there was one haha...

Well American Ballet Company is a pretty much a direct spoof of American Ballet Theater. Most of the dancers that were in Center Stage are from ABT. :)

Oh, I know. My roomate's cousin is married to Emily (I think that's her name) the girl that gets kicked out for being too fat? And of course she's a twig/amazing dancer in real life. I am WELL versed in Center Stage b/c its one of my fave movies of all time haha. PS Keep going! Hello! I want to hear where you went next!

Hijack but I thought Center Stage 2 was terrible and I LOVED the first one (my first copy was VHS and I wore it out!)

I can't wait to see where you end up!

Small world! That's so cool! Next update coming up! :D

My phone call never came, so at 6:45 I headed up to the union. We have a movie theatre in our union, so Panhellenic planned for us to watch Because I Said So as we waited for the sororities to get their lists in. We watched the movie, and after it was over, the Panhellenic President explained the invite process to us. A few sororities were running late with their lists, so we had to wait an extra 30 minutes. My group played a game where you held an index card to your forehead with a celebrities name on it and people had to give you clues so you could figure out who you were. Finally, the lists were in and we were called in one group at a time to see our invites.

One girl from my group came out, extremely mad. She had been invited back to every house except San Francisco Ballet and just didn't understand why they wouldn't invite her back. I thought she was lucky to have houses to pick from, but maybe that was just me.

I went in to the room to get my list, praying that I would see Atlanta Ballet. I clicked on my name (our invites are done on computer) and I was shocked. I had been dropped from everyone but American Ballet Theatre. I was convinced that there was some kind of mistake. I just stared at the screen. One of my Pi Chis came in and asked if I was ok, and I just started crying. I told her about the parties and how much I loved Atlanta Ballet and how I had gotten ditched at ABT. I didn't understand why I had gotten cut. She explained that cuts this early were usually because of grades, and even if my GPA was high enough to rush, nationals had a requirement, and chapters sometimes had a requirement that was even higher. She told me that I should really give ABT one more shot because they really were a great group of girls, even though I didn't think so today. She told me one day could change my opinion. She assured me that if I still didn't like it tomorrow, I could always drop out. So reluctantly, I accepted my invitation to ABT and headed home to prepare myself for Philanthropy round.

I woke up the next morning to get ready for my only party. I put on the recruitment shirt we were given, a pair of cuffed jeans and leather flip flops. I headed up to meet my group. Ashley had to have her schedule condensed, because she was also a cheerleader at our school and had practice at the same time as some of her parties, so she would be getting done at the same time I was. We decided to ride together.

We lined up to start the first party, and I was just not feeling it today. I was scared I'd get ditched again and I didn't want to face getting cut by my last group. I walked in the door and was picked up by a girl who didn't seem like she wanted to be there. That made two of us. We sat at tables with another sister and PNM to do our craft, and I was so nervous my creative side just wasn't coming out. We watched a slideshow of things the sisters did for their philanthropy, and it looked like fun. My girl kind of ignored me, but I enjoyed talking to the other sister and PNM. Ashley came in after the party had started and sat at my table, so I talked to her as well. It was time for us to leave, so I went out side and waited for Ashley to finish her last party so I could go home. I talked to my Pi Chi and she told me that if I didn't get my invite for the next round, she would call me before we were supposed to meet up.

Good for you for hanging in there and giving ABT a chance! I'm hoping things improved for from here!

Ok I'm really excited to finish my story.....and since it's already typed out, I'm going to try and finish posting it today :)


I went back to my apartment and watched TV with my roommate. I was so nervous all day, just waiting for my phone call. It was 6:30 and my phone hadn't rang yet, so I started to get ready to leave. Just as I had finished putting on my makeup, my phone rang. I felt my throat close before I even looked at the number. I picked up and it was my Pi Chi. I had been released. She told me I could still rush in the spring or wait again and go through next fall. She sounded really sad, and she tried her best to console me, but it just wasn't working. I hung up with her and immediately called my cousin. I was absolutely crushed, and she did her best to assure me that maybe now just wasn't my time. I talked to her for a little while longer before I decided to just take a shower and go to bed. I made a plan to go out of town on Bid Day so I wouldn't risk seeing the celebrations.

Emily ended up dropping out of recruitment. She said she just couldn't see herself in a sorority after all. Laura ended up pledging Atlanta Ballet. She told me she would take me to their parties and stuff so I could meet the girls and possibly pledge in the spring if they were going to do recruitment then. Ashley dropped out as well because she wanted to focus on cheerleading. I found out within the week that the Pi Chi who helped me out when I got my cuts was an Atlanta Ballet and the other was a San Francisco Ballet.

School started the next week, and I threw myself into my school work. I studied all the time and hardly skipped class. I decided that if grades were the reason I was cut, I was not going to give them a chance to hold that against me next time. I went to a party at one of the fraternity houses that weekend and starting making friends there. I met a girl who was a new member of American Ballet Theatre, we'll call her Stephanie, and we spent the night talking. During the second week of classes, I noticed Stephanie sitting across the room in my Music Appreciation class. I moved and sat next to her and we decided to be study partners. We started going to dinner together every week before class, and we hung out a lot. Through her, I met a lot of the new girls and I really grew to like them. Stephanie and I spent a lot of time together and became really good friends. She kept me up to date on the things that American Ballet Theatre was up too. I really started to like these girls, and I could definitely see myself with them behind the frills of recruitment.

In October, Stephanie told me that ABT was definitely participating in Spring Recruitment. She really hoped I would come out because she really wanted me to be her sister. Laura also told me that Atlanta Ballet was doing recruitment as well, but they had less than 10 available spots. I knew they were highly sought after, and I didn't spend much time with them and the connection I felt at recruitment was gone. I went on Christmas Break and could not wait to go to ABT's recruitment events. I went back to school the first week of January and within days of school starting, I was invited to join a Facebook group for girls interested in COB with American Ballet Theatre. The Open Houses were scheduled before Atlanta Ballet's, so I decided to just go to ABT. I really liked the girls that I had met, and I just had this feeling that this was what was supposed to happen.

Keep it coming! I love it when these retro-recruitment's have a twist!

During the second week of school, I went to the first Open House at ABT. I was incredibly nervous, even though I knew a lot of the girls. I actually broke out in hives before I went to the house! After I called my mom and she calmed me down, I finally walked up and knocked on the door. I went inside and filled out an info card. I talked to a few sisters as I filled it out, and when I was done they led me into the chapter room and took me to a group of girls to talk. One of the first girls I talked to reminded me so much of my cousin, which made me feel so comfortable. I felt like I had known her forever. Stephanie came over and joined, and I talked to this group for about 30 minutes. I even saw two of the girls from my Pi Chi group from the fall! Stephanie took me over and showed me the picture boards and then we went and sat with some other girls and talked until it was time to go. Two whole hours had gone by and I felt like I had only been there for 10 minutes! I knew that I was supposed to be an American Ballet Theatre. This was where I belonged.

I left and immediately called my mom. I was so excited about the way things had gone, and she was sure I'd end up happy. Unfortunately, there were still more Open House events, so I had no idea when I'd know anything. I went on with business as usual, with thoughts of ABT still in my mind.

The next Monday, I was supposed to go to dinner with a few of my friends. After class, I went back to the dorms to hang out and watch TV before we went to eat. We were sitting in the common area watching America's Next Top Model when my phone rang. I looked at the number, but I didn't recognize it. I usually never answer numbers that I don't know, but for some reason I did this time.

OHHHHH!!! I can't wait to see who it was!!!

I've been lurking and reading your story but I had to respond. It's a good thing you decided to stick it out and then make friends with Stephanie. It would be easy to ignore girls in a group you didn't join and end up regretting it but it looks like things are going well.

Nice going with the cliffhanger btw. I laughed when I read it and realized you hadn't posted about what the phone call was about.

I want more!

me too I can't wait to find out where you went!!!!!!