Fly With You - TNS Season 7

chapter 3

"Show time," Emily said. "Let's have our first group out on the floor, please."

I hung back at the side of the room as the first five dancers took their places in the middle of the room. Emily had walked us all through the choreo, and we'd had some time to go over it ourselves, and now we'd been divided up randomly into groups and it was time to perform it. To say that I was nervous was an understatement. This was my shot. I couldn't throw it away.

Kenzie stood front centre of the group, with Summer and Cleo on either side of her. I'd noticed this a lot - the "old A Troupe" were taking up the front row positions, no doubt to assume their dominance. Cleo looked intimidated by the two "oldies", which was fair enough. In the second row was Viola and Izzy, who I was informed were both younger members of the studio.

The music started, and they all began to dance. I noticed how they'd all put their own individual spin on certain parts of the choreography, just as I had. And it was easy to tell what kind of dancer everyone was, too.

Izzy and Kenzie were all hip hop moves, throwing in backflips and funky arm movements where they could. Summer was much more contemporary, and her motions were more fluid. Viola was an acro dancer, and you could tell - her extensions were insane and she was super flexible. Cleo had what I'd describe as an urban style, and I really liked some of her moves. I really hoped she made A Troupe.

When they'd finished, there was a smattering of applause before the second group took their positions. Kingston and Henry were both in this group, and as Henry walked out to the floor he gave me a subtle thumbs up. I also recognized Amy, who quickly pushed her way to front centre. Behind them stood Hayley and Ozzy.

Again, they were all amazing. Amy's acro moves were off the charts, and it seemed like there was no style Kingston couldn't do - he was just as good at contemporary as he was hip hop. Henry was incredible, as always, and the others seemed good too - although Hayley looked extremely nervous, and I saw Emily frown as she watched her.

And suddenly something happened, and I realized that Hayley had slipped and fallen to the ground, and on her way she'd taken Amy down with her. The two girls hurried to get back on their feet, but I saw Amy's face redden as she picked up the dance again, and knew nothing good would come of it.

Group 3 next. My group. I walked forwards, feeling my breathing quicken, but Henry placed a hand on my shoulder and gave me a reassuring smile, out of breath having just danced. I smiled back and then looked around as for where to stand.

Line placements were a big deal. I realized with a shock that Richelle was in my group, and that of course the way had been cleared for her to take front centre. I quickly scanned the rest of my group - Finn, Heathcliff, and Jude. So I would definitely be relegated to the second row. Sure enough, Heath and Finn took their positions on either side of Richelle, so Jude and I moved back a little and got into position as well. Just as the music began, I shot Jude a smile. We were going to make the team. We had to.

I tuned out the rest of the group then, and focused only on my performance, my dancing. And it went well. I threw in a couple of extra moves just for personality, but kept the choreo mainly the way it was, knowing somehow that Emily would approve. I'd seen her look at Kenzie in a funny way, and realized that too many tricks and fancy dressings was probably not a good idea.

And once I'd finished, I felt like I'd done myself proud. Because no matter what happened, I'd danced to the best of my abilities, and that was all that mattered.

As the fourth and final group went to perform, I found myself standing next to Richelle at the side of the room. And she gave me a genuine smile. "There's no way you aren't making A Troupe now."