The Tale of the Cat and the Ballet Mouse

That night Mimette crept onto the stage. She did not know what to expect but it was certainly not what she saw.

On the stage was a dancer dressed like a Swan Queen. Under magical lights and to the most beautiful music Mimette had ever heard, the dancer glided, turned, and jumped. All around the Swan Queen were other swans, and in the middle a prince who lifted the Swan Queen high in the air.

Mimette was spellbound. She could not move. And so when the dancer glided towards her Mimette could only stare at her with starry eyes.

However, when the Swan Queen saw Mimette, her face filled with fear, and she leapt off the stage instead of gliding off.

That night after the performance there was much activity on the stage. Word had gotten around that there was a mouse about. Everyone looked at each other and said, “Now what?”

Mimette, however, loved the stage and could not stay away. And so, night after night up she would creep. The management tried to catch her with mousetraps but only succeeded in catching the singer’s long robes.

Meanwhile Mimette had decided to learn to dance like the Swan Queen. Mimette’s mother sewed her a little tutu and early every morning she would go up to the ballet studio where the dancers did their daily training. Mimette stood at the barre with the dancers and copied their steps. She did plies, grand battements, adagios, and learned all the French names of the ballet steps.

When the Ballet Mistress, Madame Denisova, would explain steps to the dancers Mimette would keep her ears wide open. She even learned how to control her tail during pirouettes so it would not get in her way.

Occasionally a dancer would spy Mimette and give a shriek but in general everything went very well. Every night Mimette watched the performances, and every morning she was at the barre. And so Mimette not only became cultured, but she also became a beautiful dancer.

The management, however, was not at all pleased. How could they possibly explain to the audience the strange things that happened onstage.

One night Mimi in “La Boheme” almost fainted during her aria because a mouse was sitting on her bed covers staring up at her.

Another night the triumphal march in “Aida” fell apart because there was a mouse sitting in the middle of the stage and all the singers were afraid to step on her in their open-toed sandals.

Such incidents were becoming very regular and a nightmare for the management. Something had to be done.

The management put all their brains together and a decision was reached.

Hobart was the best opera house mouse catcher in the world. Word of his catching abilities went far and wide.

Hobart was sent for.