Script

SIDE 1

Keep the movements fluid. Ready, and&

(Music begins.)

Imagine crystal clear water flowing gently downstream. Mabel! I said water, not molasses. What s wrong with you today?
 

I feel faint. I haven t had a thing to eat since breakfast.
 

It s only nine forty-five.
 

I don t care what time it is. My stomach s screamin  Feed me! Feed Me!
 

Hang in there, Mabel, only three and a half hours till lunch. Classical lines, people. Imagine you re dancing for Balanchine. Gently ladies, gently. You re ballerinas, not truck drivers. That s lovely, Iris. You look like the Swan Queen.

(TYRONE does his own thing.)

Tyrone. This is adagio, not disco.
 

But it s so boring& and talk about uptight.
 

We study classical dance for the same reason we study Mozart. To build technique and learn classic form. Think of it as a trip to the museum.
 

But why does it have to be like that? Why couldn t you do ballet that was different  switched on  tight-wired  like the traffic in Times Square?
 

(impressed)
Sounds like you ve given this a lot of thought.

SIDE 2

That scale better be broken! I give up!! I just give up. This body s retainin more water than the Titanic!!! Wait a minute. What s that smell?

(MABEL looks around, then sees IRIS with the pudding.)

Ooooh! Vanilla pudding!! My favorite.
 

Sorry, Ms. Bell says you need to lose weight.
 

Then how about a sniff? One good sniff could tide me over till lunch.
 

Well, okay. But just one.

(IRIS holds out the pudding to her, but then suddenly passes it to another girl, who in turn keep passing it to another, until it finally ends back in IRIS s hand.)

No Mabel, you better not tempt yourself.
 

(falling to the floor)
I wanna die. I wanna die. Do you know what I go through day in and day out? There s the sore muscles and the back pain and the sweat. But worse than that  I CAN T EAT!!