𝖢𝗁𝖺𝗌𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖲𝗍𝖺𝗋𝗌 || 𝖣𝖺𝗇𝖼𝖾 𝖬𝗈𝗆𝗌

Lights! Camera! Dance!

TW:

"Girls, next week, the new team arrives. It's gonna be a tough week." Miss Abby started off. "You all know that Mackenzie is shooting her very first video, for "It's A Girl Party". We shot all day today, and we have a big night ahead of us." She turned to look at the pyramid. "Now, this is a rough pyramid 'cause I have to get tough." And she revealed the bottom headshot. "Nia. You weren't in the group routine. When the routine first started, the one struggling with the movements was Nia. This is a wake-up call." She looked at all of us. "Every single one of you, you may not always automatically be in the group."

Yeah, Nia wasn't in the group, but she had a solo and at least placed. It wasn't a first-place win, but she was third at the very least.

The teacher continued. "Kendall. You were second." The girl nodded in response and the older woman sighed dramatically. "You know how I feel about second." Miss Abby revealed the next headshot. "Giselle. You were keeping up quite well until the end. There-- well, you know what I'm talking about." My older sister nodded. "Kalani, I'm still seeing technical issues. I want you to work your way back up to that top of the pyramid. Understand?"

Just like the last two girls, the thirteen-year-old nodded in response to the teacher's comments.

"Mackenzie. You had to work on all your music while you were learning that routine, and you did it. You went out there, and you looked great. According to--" She looked at the mothers. "My people." She turned back to us and revealed the next headshot. "Evie. You were gorgeous in the group. At least according to them." She pointed at the mothers with the headshot coverings.

Maddie

Chloe   Genevieve   Mackenzie

Kalani   Giselle    Kendall    Nia

"This week, we are going to Masters of Dance Arts in Buffalo, New York." Miss Abby announced. "Before I give out assignments, I want to let you know that this entire week is going to be all about my mom. The best dance mom in the whole world." Some of the girls nodded. "Maddie, you're doing a solo. It's called "Come to the Cabaret". It's a musical theater piece. So, my mom has a really close tie with the people involved in cabaret. You cannot go out on that stage and be anything less than stellar. Got it?"

The eldest Ziegler sister seemingly agreed with the woman. "Yes."

"The next solo is going to Chloe. Chloe, you are doing a solo about the '50s, and it's called "Friday Night"." The teacher told the girl. "My last solo is going to Evie. Your solo is a lyrical piece entitled "Dancing In The Sky" because we all know my mom loves to dance, and I know that it's the first thing she's going to do once she is free from the pain."

That's a really deep and sad way to see it.

"And our group routine is "Amazing Grace". Everybody is in--" She pointed at us with the headshot coverings, soon stopping on the youngest dancer. "--Except you, Mackenzie. You have a lot on your plate. Now, Maddie did a solo to "Amazing Grace" at nationals. You are now going to rework this routine into a group performance. Okay?" Melissa clapped in excitement. "So it's lyrical, it's pretty. Nia, you're in it, I guess. Yes? We'll see. Everybody--" All the attention went back to her. "This has to be flawless."

Just like every week.

"All right, now listen: we have a busy, busy schedule." She continued talking. "What's gonna happen is-- Mackenzie, you're gonna join me and we're gonna head out to the next site for the shoot. Chloe, you are not cast in the slumber party scene in the video that we're doing. You're gonna stay here and work with James on your solo. Okay, the rest of you can go ahead and step out, but I want you to stay warm. All right-- you guys--"