CHAPTER V
ON STAGE!

When Karen Kain is dancing in a show, she must get ready a few hours beforehand. She puts on her make-up and puts her hair up. Then she spends the rest of the time warming up. This gets her body ready for two or three hours of dancing. If she did not warm up, she might hurt herself while dancing. By the time she is ready to go on, she is usually tired.

She gets worried before each show. She sometimes thinks that she will not be able to remember the steps. Sometimes she thinks she will not be able to do the hard jumps and turns. Then she says to herself, "O.K., Karen. Pull yourself together."

At other times, she just does not want to dance. But when she hears the music, she forgets that she is tired. She says, "The music is what makes me want to dance."

The girl is dancing now. She is wearing a lovely white tutu and there I are little stars in her hair. She floats along. Her feet never seem to touch the ground.

This is the same girl who worked so hard in class this morning. Tomorrow she will be back in