A short girl with curly brown hair drapes satin ribbons around her delicate ankles. She slides new pointe shoes onto her feet and exhales nervously. After lacing the ribbons and knotting them tightly, she climbs slowly to her feet and approaches the barre.

“Breathe in, breathe out,” she whispers.

The dancer rolls up on her toes and balances for a few seconds. She smiles triumphantly. “Baby steps,” she tells herself.

Middletown High School senior Jordan DuMars is recovering from a devastating injury: a torn anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL. It is the kind of injury that can remove a dancer from the studio or athlete from the field for six months.

For DuMars, the ACL injury kept her out for most of her senior year.

She tore her left ACL in early October while rehearsing an audition piece for the Nutcracker ballet. After landing badly on her left leg, she said she heard a “pop that sounded like a million Rice Krispies popping all at once.” A couple weeks later, she received a call from her doctor verifying the injury.

DuMars had two options: let the ligament heal for two months and then continue dancing, but possibly injure it further; or surgery.

With her doctor’s advice, DuMars chose surgery. On Oct. 28, her completely torn ACL was replaced with a male cadaver’s hamstring tendon. There are two absorbable pins in her knee that support the tendon; the pins should dissolve in a year.

The doctors predict a full recovery by April.

Dee Buchanan, owner of the Dee Buchanan Studio of Dance and DuMars’s dance teacher for six years, supported DuMars wholeheartedly through her struggle.

“Jordan has always been a talented, dedicated, and enthusiastic dancer,” said Buchanan. She said DuMars’s injury has been a damper on all of the “lasts” of her senior year: her last season on Dance Line and Dance Team, her last Nutcracker, and her last Dance Masters pageant.

“All of these things were, prior to her injury, how she would have defined her senior year,” said Buchanan.

Now DuMars appreciates the “firsts” of her recovery process: the first day she could stand without crutches, the first day she could do a plie again, and the first day she could roll up on her pointe shoes.

“She has to look at the baby steps,” said Buchanan.

“I am slowly coming back,” said DuMars. “Now I can tap in a chair!”

Although DuMars is making a steady comeback, the injury has been an emotional blow.

Buchanan said she knows DuMars struggles when she realizes the “season is moving on” without her. “The patience required is probably the most difficult aspect,” she said.

“I’m not dancing my senior year,” said DuMars. She said this was the hardest emotional part of her injury, especially since just before she tore her ACL, she had decided to major in dance. Not being able to dance could thwart her chance of getting into college dance programs, she said.

“One of the hardest moments was walking up to a college dance program audition table on my crutches and having to explain my injury,” said DuMars. She said many of the other applicants were whispering about her. “I don’t know how I found strength at that moment.”

Even though the injury may seem like bad timing, Buchanan received an e-mail that proved otherwise.

“I had a conversation with a dance faculty member at a college Jordan is considering.  And interestingly, he mentioned the ‘good timing’ of this injury. While we have been looking at the ‘lasts’ she’ll miss, he observed the blessing of her beginning her freshman year in college as a healthy aspiring dancer.”

Buchanan said DuMars is now grateful for this positive aspect and is focusing on things she can improve while injured.

“She’s managing the Varsity Dance Team, she’s the student stage manager for our Nutcracker, and she’s been teaching dance classes throughout this process,” said Buchanan.

Jess Carr, a close friend and former dance teacher of DuMars, is amazed by the determination she displays.

“In just a month and a half, she’s improved so much,” said Carr. “It’s because of her amazing passion. She wants to be back so bad.”

DuMars retains a sense of hope even through the physical and emotional hardships.

“God gives me strength when I think I don’t have any left,” said DuMars.

She added a few words of encouragement to anyone struggling with an injury: “Don’t give up. Stay positive. Have faith that everything happens for a reason. And everything that doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Sometimes it’s hard to believe these things are true. But you have to believe.”

Middletown High School’s varsity dance team count grows to 30 dancers this year.  Though the line will be large, the ladies are looking forward to this season, hoping for it to be one of the best ones yet.

With over 10 returning seniors and 11 other veterans, the team has formed a tight-knit bond that no other MHS team can touch.

“All of my closest friends are on dance team.  Even though we get a lot done at practice, it’s always just as much fun as one big hang-out.  Not to mention we have an awesome captain,“ said MHS junior Kelly Mclister.

Senior captain Marissa Machak is looking forward to her last year on the team and she feels honored to be captain.

“I was so excited when I saw my name on the list.  Any of the seniors would have made a great captain so I know it was a tough pick for the judges,“ said Machak.

The team will be performing during halftime at a total of 10 varsity home games; five boys’ games and five girls’ games. 

Along with the regular performances, the dance team will also be featured in the Holiday Spectacular on Dec. 5 and 6.