florence pugh & she / her / cis woman ‷ watch out , THEODORA “DORA” HART has crash-landed into roswell !! they look twenty-four years old and celebrate their birthday on july 19th. they are from roswell, new mexico, reside in greystone complex and are currently working as a student / bartender at area 51. one thing you should know about them is she showed great promise within dance until getting a career-ending injury‷
BACKGROUND:
theodora madeline hart was born july 19, 1998, and become the second addition to the hart family.
despite being smack-dab in the middle of three kids, theodora was able to avoid the consequences of middle child syndrome by excelling at dance
it all started at age three, when she begged her parents to let her be a ballerina. her parents saw how much she loved music and how much she loved watching people dance, so they agreed to pull some money together and sign her up for a few classes. they started with three, assuming that she would get bored of it and eventually want to move on
however, this was not the case. theodora absolutely LOVED dancing and would talk about nothing else. the harts always tried the best they could to provide for her and get her dance lessons
when she was six, she wanted to start exploring other dance styles. things like tap, hip-hop, contemporary / lyrical, etc. she wanted to be a jack of all trades
as she tried to expand her horizons, it was clear she was a natural. her teachers would oggle over her ability, and other parents hated her.
despite being a hot shot on the dance floor, being home was always humbling. as she wanted to do more with dance, her parents required her to earn the money to do so. she was always offering to clean the dishes, help with laundry, or even clean her siblings rooms just to prove how bad she wanted it. you could say the hart house was always looking spotless because of her
as much as she wanted to put all her time into dance ( moving to home school to spend more time at dance a la maddie ziegler ), the harts couldn’t afford it and were in no shape to homeschool her.
she didn’t mind attending roswell public schools, though. the other girls at school would tell her how cool they thought it was that she was a LEGIT BALLERINA ( she was not one ).
the kids from school could be much more fun than the ones from dance, though. they weren’t afraid to run and play on the playground. however, after a bad fall and a nasty scrape, her dance teacher told her to watch it. bad blemishes on the legs would ruin the aesthetic of dancing, and getting injuries, no matter how small, would often get you sat out. soon enough, theodora became an indoor recess type of kid.
as things started getting more serious with dance, they also started getting more expensive. going to competitions on a semi-regular basis, purchasing costumes, etc. was all costly. with three kids and themselves to feed, the harts had to break the news that they just couldn’t juggle it all.
theodora went crying to her dance teacher, saying that this looked like the end. the harts just didn’t have the means for it, and there was no way around that. however, her dance teacher had said that with her talent, they could definitely work something out and attempt to find her a... sponsor, of sorts, to pay for her competitions and costumes.
and, luckily, they found one. someone who invested in the studio also decided to invest in theodora. the better she competed, the better the studio looked, and the more people would want to come. she was the poster child for her studio, and she had no qualms with that.
being so serious about dance made being a regular kid quite difficult. she would watch what she ate, she didn’t have much free time, and she was an average student due to putting all her time into dance. however, as her older brother succeeded in academics, her parents wanted the same from her.
whenever she could, she begged matthew to tag along on the drives to dance to help her with her homework. while she would practice simple moves and stretches in her home, she’d ask him to help her study for her tests. he would ask the questions, and she would try her best to answer them correctly. and with his help, her grades actually went up.
this continued to be their system for years. even when it was no longer cool to spend time with your little sister, matthew rose to the occasion and helped her as best he could.
unfortunately, as he got further into high school, he just got busier. it’s not that he didn’t want to help, he just was overbooked.
watching matthew enter high school and really flourish right as she was starting middle school and her priorities were changing really gave her a new view on life.
seeing matthew talk with a new girl almost weekly told theodora she needed to start talking to boys. however, it was a lot easier for the oldest hart as THE PLAYER and more difficult for the middle hart as THE ONE BEING PLAYED.
middle school relationships can be barely considered as such, but still, each breakup was more soul-crushing than the last. and matthew took care of each and every one of them.
her first year of high school was the year matthew had gotten his scholarship to a fancy private school all the way across the country. she wasn’t sure how she was going to make it on her own. she’d never been nervous for her first day of school, but the first day of ninth grade was rough.
who was going to take care of her now? she had friends, but most of them were from dance and went to other schools. because of her busy schedule, she really didn’t have many proper school friends.
she begged her parents to try and get her into the same school as her brother, but because they both had been busy, her grades weren’t as stellar as the scholarship would require. they weren’t bad and they were certainly above average, but she had to admit it-- when it came to academia, she was not her brother.
luckily, he decided to come back home a year later. she no longer had to face the big scary world by herself.
the rest of high school was a breeze. her whole family was still in new mexico, there were no big changes in her life. she could fully focus on school and dance.
at the beginning of her senior year, she began to feel immense pain in her right thigh. she tried to push through it, telling herself she was just sore. she’d worked through the pain before, and it had always been minor.
unlike those previous times, this pain did not go away. instead, it worsened. she finally told her dance teacher was was going on, and her dance teacher told her to go get it checked out immediately.
although it was what was best, she sometimes wishes she had never gone to the doctor. after multiple x-rays and mris, she was told she was suffering from hip impingement.
she was told she would no longer be able to dance so that she could heal, and that it was likely she wouldn’t be able to dance like she used to ever again. she sobbed when she heard the news
it was a rough few months after that. her schedule was now wide open and she had nothing to show for her years of hard work. a small circle of friends and somewhat decent grades that would slowly drop throughout her mourning period.
theodora had her whole life planned out. she wasn’t going to need to go to college. she had a promising career in dance ahead of her. she never looked into colleges or even considered a plan b. and now, as she laid at home on rest while everyone was filling out their college applications, she didn’t know what to do. she could apply to different universities and just attend undeclared, but why waste money with no plan ahead of you?
the decision to take a gap year was an easy one. she’d missed the college application window entirely, and she no longer had a sense of identity. WHO WAS SHE WITHOUT DANCE?
dance had taken up her entire childhood, and she had no idea who she was without it. she didn’t have any other hobbies and didn’t know what she liked or disliked.
the only thing she was committed to during her gap year was continuing her physical therapy. her parents allowed her to stay at home, and she would help out however she could. sometimes if she felt she was being too much, she would ask matthew if she could come visit him for a weekend. clinging to what was familiar was what she needed.
her gap year then turned into two, and then three. she applied for community college classes at the age of twenty-one, and transferred to a nearby university at twenty-two.
during her three gap years, she really entered her rebellious phase ( just a few years late )
MENTION OF DRUG USE TW: despite not attending college, she knew people who did. she managed to smile her way into many college parties. she was a pretty girl, who was going to turn her away? it was at these parties she really starting drinking and experimenting with different drugs. she tried psychedelics like shrooms and acid, but the only one she really stuck with was marijuana, and that was mainly for pain relief.
her party days are not over, but they’re a lot less frequent now that she’s a bartender at a nightclub. if she’s not working, she’s at home, needing a break. she’s trying to find a in-between of who she once was and who her party days made her. a comfortable middle that’s normal for a young woman in her early twenties.
PERSONALITY:
due to being the star of her old dance studio, she’s developed a bit of a... spoiled personality
she’s humbled a bit since she’s not dancing anymore, but sometimes she can still be... eh
overall just wants a lot of fun
definitely watches dancing with the stars just to cry
i’ll figure things out as i go i promise KDFJHGDFJKGHDK
