It’s Ballet Slippers for This Cinderella

In the ballet world, it’s as rare and treasured an occurrence as the climactic, third-act awakening of Sleeping Beauty.

But when the Dance Theatre of Harlem came to East L.A. College last week to put on an educational performance for 8,000 students, the unexpected happened to 9-year-old Elysse Evans.

She entered the auditorium last Tuesday a normal fourth-grader from South-Central and left it a potential ballet swan.

Elysse, who has never had any formal dance training or even seen a ballet, ventured up on stage during audience participation and did the “butterfly,” a dance popular on MTV and in school multipurpose rooms.

On the spot, Ballet Master Keith Saunders offered her a summer scholarship to train at the Dance Theatre of Harlem’s school--only the second such offer in 10 years, according to company manager Edward Schoelwer.

“She had that indefinable, very, very, very special thing,” Schoelwer said. “Everyone recognized it instantly.”

Elysse, who was greeted backstage by ballet dancers screaming her name, said she has decided to accept the offer.

“I want to become a ballerina, but I don’t know anything about it,” she said. She said she is excited about New York. When asked what New York means to her, her answer comes quickly: “Fancy cars and Pizza Hut.”

Elysse went home on the bus and told her disbelieving mother the news.

“I said, ‘I don’t think they meant that, honey. They just said you dance well,’ ” said her mother, Elyshia Evans. “I was like, ‘OK, that’s great. Now go clean your room.’ ”

But Elysse, who is known among friends for her strong will, insisted that it was true.

She and her teacher recounted the story of how she was picked out of the crowd:

“I got on stage, and I just started dancing,” said Elysse. “I did the butterfly, where you hold your knees and put them together. And then I did the pump, and then I just started doing it all.”

“I was amazed,” said Carolyn Willie, Elysse’s teacher. “She was in another world, just dancing all that shaky, shaky stuff. I didn’t know what I was sending up to that stage.”

But those in the ballet world recognized it immediately, Schoelwer said. Everyone backstage, from the dancers to the ballet mistress, was urging Saunders to offer her a scholarship, he said.

On Thursday, Bertha Jackson, the principal of Manhattan Place Elementary School, where Elysse has been an honor student since preschool, called Elyshia Evans to confirm her daughter’s tale.

But no one from the ballet company has called Elysse’s mother yet. Schoelwer said someone will be in touch soon. Company officials in New York must determine if the scholarship will just cover tuition or include other costs such as air fare and room and board.

Meanwhile, Elysse’s parents, aunts, uncles and grandmother are trying to figure out what sending their little girl to New York will mean to their close-knit family.

“We’re just overwhelmed,” said Elyshia Evans, who is expecting a third daughter to be born in April. “I didn’t even know they look at kids this young.”

She and Elysse’s father, Andre, stayed up late Thursday, discussing whether the offer was real, and whether one of them, or maybe Elysse’s grandmother, DiAnn L. Johnson, a minister at Hamilton United Methodist Church, could take eight weeks off in the summer to accompany Elysse.

But most important, Elysse’s parents talked late into the night about whether they should encourage their daughter to become a dancer. The career of a ballet dancer is physically and mentally demanding, comparatively short and incredibly difficult.

Her parents had always assumed that their children would go to college. Both Elysse and her older sister, Krystle, 12, are outstanding students who spend their spare time in church groups, playing sports or reading books from the “Babysitters Club” series. Elysse is a cheerleader and Krystle is a basketball star. Their mother and grandmother volunteer in their classrooms, and their father, who works as a city parking enforcement officer, volunteers when he can.

Ballet? New York? Eight hours a day of practice for an uncertain future as a dancer? These were not part of the plan. On the other hand, both parents believe in encouraging their children’s dreams.

“This is opportunity, knocking at the door,” said Elyshia Evans, who was a dancer when she was younger but did not put her daughter into dancing because “I didn’t want to push my girls into things they didn’t want to do.”

She called her brother in Louisiana for advice.

He said: “Send her.”

His wife said: “Oh no. Not New York.”

Her brother reminded her that, when he was young, a then-unknown singer named MC Hammer asked him to join his fledgling dance troupe. He said no.

“He missed his chance, and he reminded me of that,” Elyshia Evans said.

Johnson, Elysse’s grandmother, reminded the family of another coincidence. Last week, Elysse had watched a TV special about choreographer and dancer Debbie Allen, and then announced that she wanted to become a dancer.

“It was almost like God put that before you to prepare you for this,” Johnson said to her granddaughter, who was practicing ballet positions she learned last week.

Jackson, Elysse’s principal, said the school would hold fund-raisers to help defray any costs not covered by the ballet company, and that it would become a learning experience for the entire school.

In the end, Elysse’s parents are excited about the prospects of their daughter going, but they are withholding judgment until they get the final word.

“It’s happened so fast. It’s real exciting,” said Andre Evans. “First, we need to get all the information, and then we’ll make a decision.”

In the meantime, they are trying to prepare Elysse.

“You know they’re gonna work you really hard,” Elyshia Evans said to her daughter. “Do you expect that?”

“I’m ready for it,” Elysse said.