Chapter 14

"Okay, first off, Joanne's feet were bleeding after last weekend, and she needs to get caught up on schoolwork. She's perfectly fine with just the group, and it's basically half of a solo anyway. As for Maddie, she'll be okay, I feel like she's proven herself to Abby already that she can dance at Nationals in a solo or duet. The same goes for Joanne," my aunt replied defensively. 

"I would be shocked if Joanne doesn't get at least a solo at Nationals. She's absolutely earned it, and her duet with Brooke won Regionals," Christi said. "Chloé needs to prove herself, though, especially after Abby gave her a week off. There are two spots in their age division, I'd definitely want Chloé to get a solo. No offense, Holly and Kelly. I know Nia and Paige have been working really hard and they're rapidly, visibly improving."

"Record-wise, I'd pick Chloé over Nia," Holly said grudgingly. "But I always want more opportunities for my daughter, and I don't think that's so bad."

"No, it's not, as long as you don't put down other children to do so, Melissa."

This was going to get ugly, so I stood and moved to where Abby was teaching Chloé her solo. The teacher indicated that I should come in. "Welcome in, Joanne, maybe you can help."

Chloé was being set up to lose, I knew right away. She was a great dancer, and musical theater could be competitive, but this dance was just too simple. She had a prop and a fun story. On one hand, I felt bad for Chloé and knew that Abby would drag her through the mud for getting anything lower than first place, but at the same time knew that Nia had a much better chance of winning. If she could get her technique clean and faces matched to the dance.

"You're good," I told her. "It's clean, it's cute. I think that coming up with a story for yourself would make it better, though. It's what I do for all of my solos."

"I concur. Work on it, you'd better win," Abby practically threatened the nine-year-old. I gave her a supportive pat on the shoulder as I took the space to look over my solo, with Gia's help. Maddie came in too to practice her older tap solo. This was a hectic week; the aired competition was on a Sunday, as we were going to other national competitions on Friday and Saturday. I would not be competing on Friday (the others were just doing a group dance there anyway) as I had master classes and a solo to compete for Teen Dancer. That was why I needed to rest as much as I could now while learning the group and keeping my technique sharp.

Paige stuck her head into the studio after a bit. "Hey Joanne, your aunt wants to talk to you."

"Oh, okay. Thanks, Paigey." I smiled at her and left the room.

"Joanne, there you are. Nike has a photoshoot opportunity for you tomorrow morning. Can you do it?"

"What time?"

"Nine. You'd be back for group rehearsal at one."

"Okay, I'll do it on the condition that I'm off pointe."

"I'm sure they won't mind."

"Nike?" Christi stuck her head out of the mothers' room.

"I do some clothes modeling for them," I explained. "I don't do jobs that mess with dance, naturally."

"Oh. Well, good for you," Christi told me, and I nodded politely back. She never could gather the courage to talk bad about me to my face.

The photoshoot went well, and the next afternoon, I was teaching Nia the second half of her solo. "Okay, so here, do that walking handstand you did last week. Your face needs to be fearful here. Kick out of the handstand and go into arabesque. Try to get your plié higher and extend your back leg. Turn towards the judges- they'll be where your mom is sitting now- and smile creepily. Good. You don't have your needle yet, correct? That's fine, do a leg hold instead then fall gracefully to the ground."

I snorted in laughter when Nia did the death drop as her fall. "Um... that's great, but I don't think it quite works for this number, Nia. Let's slow down the fall together."

Nia's solo and the group was coming along very well by the time Chloé and I left for Dance Masters of Orlando with Christi. We met up with Brandon, Nina, Killian and John from the senior company, with Nina and I being entered for the Miss Dance of America title. I would be competing with my "Justice" Contemporary solo, improved to be more technically challenging, while Nina had a fabulous Jazz solo that would absolutely give me a run for my money. Chloé had a Musical Theater piece that was charming and better than her new solo, while Brandon had a Jazz solo and John had Tap. Nina, Brandon and I had a fun Jazz trio called "The Good Life."

The competition weekend went well overall; Chloé didn't place, Brandon was 4th in the Teen Mr. Dance of America, John won Mr. Dance of America, the trio got first place overall for Teen Duo/Trio, Nina was a top 10 Finalist for Miss Dance of America and had the highest-scoring Jazz solo of the competition, while I had the highest-scoring Contemporary solo of the competition and won Miss Dance of America.

The rest of the Elite team congratulated Chloé and I when we got to the aired competition, which was happening in tandem with yet another competition.

"Good job, Joanne," Abby complimented me when I got to the dressing room. "Yours and Brooke's solos are up first, are you ready?"

"Yes, just let me get into my costume and warm up," I replied. I'd be going with the white instead of the pink today, my hair up in an elegant ballet bun. I was actually the first Teen solo to go, and I thought that it was going well up until my music stopped a minute in. I just counted in my head and the audience was sort of clapping to the beat by the end.

"I hope that my music doesn't do that," Brooke told me backstage before grimacing and holding her shoulder.

"Is it out?" I asked.

"No, it's not painful enough."

"Your solo is all shoulder- maybe you should talk to Abby about it?"

"Only if you help me."

"What's up, girls? Very professional, Joanne, you didn't miss a beat."

"My shoulder has been popping out all week, and it's really bothering me. I'm worried that if I do the solo I'll injure myself for Nationals," Brooke told Abby.

"It's your choice, you're the oldest," Abby told her, quite understanding. "I don't want you injured."

"I think that I won't do it," Brooke decided. "I'm fine for the group, though."

"Good. That's what I like to hear."

So Brooke's solo was pulled and I was back to work for the Junior solos. Nia was calmer than usual, probably because Abby was spending all of her time barking orders at poor Chloé. They alongside Maddie went out and performed to their best, especially Nia, who had good technique and musicality. Chloé was absolutely adorable and made the most of her easier dance. Maddie was great, charming, a strong tapper. The group, which was one of the first Junior groups to compete, was going fine until I went to change the costume and the fabric stuck. Thinking quickly, I did my firebird into back scale and released the fabric on the part at the end where I walked forward, smiling as if released from the sin of wrath.

As soon as I got offstage and a safe distance from the stage, I groaned and rolled my eyes. "What?" Nia asked me. "I thought that you did good."

"Yeah, you too. The costume change didn't work, so I had to do it at the end," I responded. "I don't think it affected my performance, but the judges will notice."

"Okay, who made that costume?" Abby was in a rage, storming down the hall. "She tugged hard enough, but it didn't work."

"If that were me, I'd be getting screamed at," Chloé said. "No offense, Joanne."

"You're right," I agreed.

Awards came along soon enough, and I was called as first place in the Teen division. That was good. Juniors got very interesting, as Maddie was third, and Nia of all people was first. All three won their respective divisions for dance style.Holly was in tears and Nia was grinning ear to ear. Chloé, hiding her disappointment well, hugged Nia as she went up to claim her first individual national title.

"You scored a 290, the second-highest score of the competition. How do you feel about that?" The announcer asked.

"Incredible!" Nia almost yelled into the mic, making the audience laugh.

"What studio are you from?"

"Abby Lee Dance Company?"

"You are also receiving a Choreography Award today- who is your choreographer?"

"Joanne Ziegler!"

"Oh! Well, Joanne, come on up and accept the award too," the announcer said warmly.

It was a great day, especially after the group won despite the costume mishap. 

AN: Joanne had the highest score of the day with a 294.7; the group scored 288.4