She has spent upwards of six hours per day on this single performance while also trying to balance biology homework with finding a job after graduation.
Most ballerinas have coaches barking instructions at them throughout the rehearsal.
Stand up straighter.
Point your toes.
Go slower.
But for Edwards, it’s different.
Her natural talent and the hours she spends in the studio set her apart. Coaches critique less often. Underclassmen watch with wide eyes.
“She looks so good,” a ballerina says from the audience. “She looks so beautiful.”
The young ballerinas have been holding their breaths throughout her performance. They watch her take a few steps and hold her final pose.
They finally exhale.
***
Onlookers are common when Edwards dances.
Three weeks before rehearsals began, she was practicing in the studio. A younger dancer walked in, asking to watch Edwards’ rehearsal.
“You inspire me so much,” the dancer said. “I love watching you dance.”
In a room more industrial than artistic — cinder block walls and a high ceiling with exposed beams — Edwards floated elegantly through her steps with Ellis.
Ballet coach Violette Verdy worked with them on their technique. She stopped them mid-routine to offer pointers.
Verdy demonstrates how to angle her back and adjust her shoulder blades.
Edwards picks up on the tip quickly. It hardly ever took her a second time to get it right, but she does the steps again and again.
“Sometimes even thinking of something differently, it will change everything,” Edwards said.
Verdy and Edwards worked on the incline of her head for five minutes. In another pose, her hips were not aligned correctly.
When she practices a routine, Edwards works until each step feels right. She performs again and again until the routine becomes natural.
Establishing muscle memory helps with nerves before performing onstage.
“You want it to be a habit,” she said. “You want to program that in and make sure it doesn’t leave.”
When she first starts with a new ballet, she focuses on the counts and the choreography. Those first steps usually take a few hours before they become subconscious.
Edwards and Ellis were selected from 10 couples to perform Swan Lake.
Throughout the rest of the rehearsals, Edwards has focused on putting everything together before opening night.
“You’re like a ballet cook,” she said. “How do you put all of these things in one moment and stay in that moment?”
***
For many, injury can be a serious problem in ballet. Edwards said every dancer is hurting.
Edwards struggles with a tight hamstring in her left leg. The injury requires her to stretch and strengthen the muscle everyday.
“Your body is your instrument,” she said.
Regular stretching, eating the right foods, getting enough sleep and drinking a lot of water are all requirements for ballet dancers.
But balancing the physical requirements gets more difficult with academics mixed in. Each ballerina is required to have a second area of study outside of the Jacobs School of Music.
Edwards chose biology after falling in love with the subject during her junior year of high school.
When she first came to IU, she wanted to study biochemistry. But the department’s classes only met during her rehearsal times.
Ballet dancers can’t take any classes between 11:30 a.m. and 5:45 p.m. They’re required to be in the studio training during those times.
Biology was a flexible major that would work with her schedule, Edwards said.
This May, she’ll graduate with both a ballet and biology background. That same month, she’ll hear back from about 25 different ballet companies she applied to.
Her goal is to dance professionally for a few years before graduate school. She intends to pursue something biology-related.
Edwards will work through the academic stress, the hyper-tight hamstring and the long hours of ballet rehearsal.
But this weekend, she has to put all of that aside. At 8 p.m. Friday, the curtain will open and Edwards will step out in a white tutu and pink tights.
Hundreds of eyes will watch her attempt perfection.
