A PAIR OF ICE-SKATES that once lived in a shoe case had been left unused for so many months that they became jealous of the ballet shoes that practiced dancing every day of the year, regardless of season.

One cold winter day, news that an ice-skating arena opened at the city center rocked their ears. “Now it’s our turn to prove our worth!”, they told the other shoes in the case, and they followed them to the arena to see what they were up to.

No sooner had the ice-skates stepped on ice, however, than they slipped and fell, as it had been quite some time since their last workout. “Well, it wasn’t that difficult the last  time”, they told the other shoes to justify themselves and tried again.

After many failed attempts, they finally made it. Putting one foot after the other, they were, eventually, successful in a complete array of dance moves on ice without falling. “Yet we didn’t understand your dance moves”, the other shoes which were watching them for over an hour and had gotten bored, told them. They, then, got up from their seats and went back home, as time had passed and it was too late for skating.

“How could they possibly not understand we were ice- skating?”, the ice-skates wondered. They, then, realized that they had only been walking on a straight line so as to avoid falling, which probably confused everyone as to whether they were dancing or not. A few minutes later, the ballet shoes approached them and gave them a red ribbon. “This will help you master the moves!”, they told them, and they all walked back home.

Troubled about its use, the ice-skates threw the ribbon in the air and tried to dance around it. As it still left them puzzled and desperate, they decided to get a dance manual with concrete steps to follow. So they went to the nearest city and after giving the bookshelves a thorough scan, they came across a tiny  book with all the details about the art of dance.

After a rigorous rehearsal plan the next days, they decided it was time to show the other shoes their talent. So confident were they after following all these moves to the last detail, that they left the red ribbon on the bench. Yet, the very moment they walked on ice  and tried to follow the book’s instructions, they realized they had forgotten half of it and the more attention they paid to details, the more confused they became. At some point, one of them slipped on ice and the other shoes started laughing at them.

“Don’t follow the steps, follow your heart!”, the ballet shoes advised them and gave them the red ribbon. The ice-skates then unwrapped it, threw it in the air and tried to follow its rhythm. As the ribbon swirled in the air, they danced around it with grace, and as soon as it touched the ground, they picked it up again and threw it in the air. Within a few minutes they managed to set up a complete ice-skating performance, moving from one side of the arena to the other with great ease. The shoes that were watching them got so amazed at their rhythm that they couldn’t help but burst into applause, not realizing that they were not following specific steps but rather dancing as they felt better.

And so our good ice-skates left the manual aside, realizing that the most important thing in ice-skating is dancing with one’s heart.