Madame Szeto

Madame Szeto is the elegant, exacting teacher who welcomes Ever Wong into a Taipei ballet studio and helps her rediscover ballet as a living practice. Her significance lies in the contrast she offers to the shame and self-consciousness that have shaped Ever’s relation to her body: in Madame Szeto’s class, the body is trained with precision, but it is also allowed to express pleasure and love of dance.

Identity and Introduction

Madame Szeto is introduced at Szeto Ballet Studio, a modest two-story building on the outskirts of Taipei, about forty-five minutes from campus. Ever finds a reception room furnished with faded pink walls and well-loved Chinese wooden furniture; beyond the desk, a mirror-lined studio holds a dozen girls her age practicing at a polished double bar. Tchaikovsky’s “Waltz of the Flowers” accompanies their work, while a red-haired woman teaches in a mixture of Mandarin and French. Madame Szeto approaches Ever separately: an elegant Chinese woman in her forties, with black hair in a tidy French braid and the carriage of someone who had once danced professionally.

Madame Szeto speaks English with an American accent and appears surprised when Ever approaches her. Ever explains that she is with Chien Tan, saw the studio’s Coppélia album at a photography studio, and is a dancer hoping to find a place in a class or summer ballet. Madame Szeto welcomes her without hesitation and introduces herself, turning Ever’s uncertain request into an invitation to join.

The Studio and the Invitation

The studio is preparing excerpts from Swan Lake for an August performance at a community theater. Madame Szeto gives Ever an amateur playbill and explains that most parts do not require auditions; auditions are required only for the solos. When Ever immediately asks which roles are solo parts, Madame Szeto begins to answer, including Odette among them. That possibility gives Ever a concrete ambition: she loves the story of the princess cursed into a swan and hopes for the chance to work with Madame Szeto one-on-one.

The lessons cost little, though Ever recognizes that the studio may not have raised its prices in ten years. The expense does not remove the practical demands of fitting classes into her stay, but the chance to dance makes them worthwhile. In the evenings after dinner, she shoulders her dance bag and pointe shoes and makes the trip from campus to the studio. The routine marks a change in her days: ballet is no longer only a remembered part of her life but a commitment she repeatedly chooses.

Teaching and Technique

Madame Szeto teaches through demonstration and specific physical correction. She moves across the floor with a muted flow, showing combinations such as pas de bourrée and pirouette, while switching between Mandarin and English so Ever can follow. Her teaching is attentive to each student: she corrects one dancer’s turnout, praises another’s arms, and gives individual encouragement rather than relying on general approval.

In Ever’s second class, Madame Szeto takes hold of her biceps to show her how to engage her arms, then positions them to help lock in her balance. She explains the lines of energy running from side to side and from head to toe, and lifts Ever’s chin. The instruction is tactile and exact, grounded in the dancer’s body rather than abstract aspiration. Technique becomes a way to feel and organize movement: placement, balance, and expressive line are connected rather than treated as separate goals.

Relationship with Ever and Narrative Significance

Madame Szeto’s standards are demanding, but her corrections are accompanied by a deliberate search for what each student can do well. For Ever, that combination matters. She has not always loved ballet as much as modern and jazz, but under Madame Szeto her feeling begins to change. The teacher’s attention gives her an experience of being seen in a setting where disciplined work and personal expression reinforce each other.

After correcting Ever’s arms and posture, Madame Szeto tells her, “When you love the dance, it shows, my new bird. Let it show.” The phrase names the lesson beneath the technical ones: dance should make visible the feeling that motivates it. Ever responds to that recognition with gratitude and renewed effort, tightening her turns and pushing her leaps higher as she works toward the possibility of an Odette solo. Madame Szeto therefore functions not simply as the person who offers Ever a class, but as a mentor whose instruction makes ballet newly compelling and whose encouragement gives Ever permission to let her commitment be visible.