Chapter 22

The competition season started up again, and I was having a nice time... until the cameras came back, and Pyramid and mama drama with it. Pyramid had moved off the chalkboard and the eight of us stood in front of the papers, trying not to look at the cameras.

"Welcome back, everyone, and give a warm welcome to Ursula Green, our newest team member, and her mother Faye, who won't be here most of the time because she has newborns at home," Abby began. "We had a great season last year, and I want to continue that this year. She, Gianna and I have already discussed this, and Joanne will be stepping up more as a choreographer and dance leader this season. If her choreography is YAGP-worthy, then I need to recognize what I have. She may teach solos, duos, trios and group dances. Is everyone okay with this? I hope so."

Abby moved on quickly, but I saw lots of enthusiastic head nods. "Okay. Onto Pyramid. First, Ursula. You're a great dancer, I've seen it and so has everyone else here, but you need to prove yourself on this team. You will be in the group and have a solo."

"Thank you," Ursula offered. She also didn't think much of this pyramid thing.

"Next, Mackenzie. You didn't dance much last season because of your age, but you kept up in that Nationals group, and that's admirable. You're seven and over now, and you're going to have to step up your game."

Kenzie nodded, probably glad to not immediately be compared to Maddie. She only escaped comparison to me because Abby hadn't taught me when I was her age.

"Next, Paige. You're only this low because you didn't win with any of your solos last season, but I thought that you were amazing in the trio and group dance at Nationals, and your teachers tell me how hard you worked over the summer. Keep it up. Next, Nia. Where is your mother?"

"She's at work today, but she thought you might be upset, so she's going to be here two days a week and at competitions," Nia replied confidently.

"Fine. Whatever. Nia, much the same as Paige, but you did win a title last year, and you blew me away in that Nationals trio and the group. You have a Lyrical solo this week, don't let me down, you must be at least in the top two."

Nia grinned. "I won't, Miss Abby."

"Next is Brooke. You were a little rough throughout the season but you won the Teen division with your Nationals solo, and were very expressive in the group dance. You came to all of your classes, and no complaining, so I'm happy with that. Third on the pyramid is Maddie. Maddie, you were winning all year except for one time. You've improved over the summer, and you're only here because you scored a little less than Chloé in your Nationals solo. You will be going up against her this week. You're nine now, at the younger age of the category, so you need to step it up."

Maddie nodded, fine with her placement, but I noticed that my aunt looked a little put off. Uh oh.

"Second on the pyramid, Chloé. You proved that you can dance confidently and win, so let's see if you can keep that up this week and beyond. You won Nationals, you were in a music video, the stakes are higher for you now. I expect more, you need to build off of your success."

Chloé smiled widely at the praise, and Christi looked thrilled.

"But, unbeaten for two and a half years... is Joanne." Abby revealed my new headshot. "You were amazing all season, got a perfect score at Nationals, and are a great leader. Now, you weren't here over the summer, but you were working and improving. Would you like to talk a little bit about what you did?"

Everyone already knew this as we'd been competing as a group for two months. Still, I spoke. "Ursula and I were training at the Joffrey Ballet School in New York. I also had the incredible opportunity to be in a music video for Adele."

"Not just a music video, but the music video for the newest James Bond film!" My aunt put in. The room sounded of cheers for a moment.

"Yes, you represented this company well. You have the YAGP final in three weeks, so I'd like you to perform your Classical combination this week. I want to see it in competition. It will be up to you to practice it, but I'm not worried about that."

"Abby, that's not fair," Christi protested. "She's known that dance for months!"

"Yes, and she's competing pointe ballet in the Senior category. She's not Chloé's competition, so keep your mouth shut," Kelly snapped at Christi. I glanced at her gratefully.

"What, because Chloé can't beat her?"

"Chloé's a great dancer, just as much as Joanne or anyone else here is. They're two age categories apart," my aunt scoffed. "Stop trying to start trouble, and certainly not in front of the children."

"Enough. We have a group dance this week, and we need to start learning it," Abby snapped. "Mothers, out."

We were performing a new group routine called "Sassy Dolls," and it was quite messy for a group that could do harder choreography together.

"Paige, your arms are weak! Tighten your core, I've seen you do it in class!" Abby corrected. "Nia, that's over-the-top, you need to find a different face there. Ooh, Chloé and Joanne, that spacing doesn't work. Two steps forward, Joanne. Good. Why are you not together? This is a simple routine!"

"We kind of suck," Maddie said in the hallway. "Miss Abby is right, we can all do this dance easily."

"It's only the first day. We'll be okay. You have to go learn your solo now," I told her. I went off to practice my dance with Nyssa in my private. It was really coming along, and I was now starting to feel excited for the YAGP final.

"Smile wide. The judges are over there," Nyssa corrected. "Hold that for longer. Make the moment mean more. Better."

The next day, Abby had me lead an audition for a dancer that would help lower the age of the group, with Ursula as a teenager in the mix now. Some kids were new but many were already ALDC members. It went fine except for the fact that Peyton was way off of her spacing and fully bumped into me at one point, knocking me over.

"Peyton! There are no turns in this combination!" Abby screamed, and for once I didn't mind the volume. This was happening too much to not be intentional. "You're done. Go."

Her mother had something to say about this, though Peyton herself left peacefully. "Abby, come on. It was a mistake, everybody makes them."

"I'm just being realistic, Leslie," Abby shot back. "If she does that at a professional audition, she'd get cut right away. I'm preparing her for the real world. Besides, she's too old and she's too tall for the Elite team."

Leslie argued more with Abby, but I just got up and led the group through the dance. In the corner, Gia turned the music up and I turned my hearing aids down.

"Leslie, get out or Peyton's suspended from the studio!" Was enough to get Leslie to leave, and the audition went on. Eventually, a girl named Kendall was chosen. She'd joined the studio over the summer and even I knew her but we all acted like she was new.

Kendall fit in fine with the group, but it was still a hot mess overall. I couldn't blame Abby for being frustrated, especially when she realized that she'd have to cut Ursula, Brooke or I in order to keep the group in Juniors.

"All three of them are equally good at it," Abby sighed. "Joanne's the lead, I'm not cutting her."

"I can sit this one out," Ursula said. "I have a solo this week to prove myself and Brooke wouldn't dance at all if she gets cut from the dance."

"That's very admirable of you," Abby said. "I suppose we'll be facing this all season. Next week, Brooke has the solo and Ursula's in the group, and the week after that Joanne and Ursula are at the YAGP final so Brooke's definitely in the group. Okay, Ursula will go work on her solo while the rest of you pull this routine together."

I was sitting and doing homework in the dancer waiting room area a bit later when Abby stuck her head into the room. "Joanne, do you mind helping out with Kendall's solo? She's just started learning it."

"I'll be right there," I replied, closing my workbook and putting it away. "Hello, Kendall," I said when I got into the room. "Welcome to the team. What can I do to help, Miss Abby?"

"Kendall says that she does better when someone shows her the dance instead of just tells her, so I'd like you to learn it with her," Abby told me. The dance was a sassy Jazz routine with a good amount of turns, and I picked it up pretty quickly, trying to give face. "Don't worry about the facials, Joanne."

I noticed that while Kendall was a good turner, she didn't have great energy, was quite stiff, and had some odd technique errors. She and I had somewhat known each other before this, as we'd both been at Studio 19, but we hadn't talked much due to me being four years older.

"Who taught you at Studio 19?" I asked her. "It's almost like you've been taught incorrect technique, especially with your posture. That's odd for the studio."

Kendall shrugged. "I had general ballet classes, I guess? How can I fix it?"

"Much will come from taking good classes here," Abby told her. "For now, you really need to push your ribs, not just your stomach, in. Pull your head back, almost an uncomfortable amount. Try a run-through with those corrections, without worrying about your energy. That's low too, but that can be fixed. It's not your fault you weren't taught well."

Kendall's solo was in better shape than the group by the time competition came around. I was glad to be one of the first soloists out (as entry number 8) so I didn't have to hear the mothers complaining about one thing or another. Ursula was only three numbers after me so we went backstage together, and marked our solos quietly until my number and dance was called.

"This is entry number eight, a Ballet solo, 'Raymonda.'" I went out and thought that I did excellently- I smiled somewhat naturally, didn't stumble or seem like I was struggling, and made sure to emote to the judges, who were smiling at me.

"That was so good!" Ursula told me after I got offstage. I nodded happily.

"The judges seemed to like it, so hopefully that's enough to win. If not, oh well. How are you feeling?"

"Good!" She replied, remarkably relaxed. "This is my style, and it's definitely competitive."

"This is entry number eleven, an Acrobatics solo, 'Tightrope.'"

Ursula went out there, told a story, flipped, and bent her body in crazy ways. She was thrilled with it, and so was Abby when we got back to the dressing room. "Excellent job, both of you! It would be shocking if you didn't win your categories."

I kissed Ursula on the cheek. "Great job, babe."

Abby looked between us, confused. "I'm sorry, are you two dating?"

I cringed. "Uh... ooh, I thought you knew that. We've been together for a little over three months."

Abby sighed. "Normally I'd advise against it, but you're both professional enough to be teammates if you break up. Yes?"

We nodded. "Neither of us would let it get in the way of our dancing," Ursula said strongly.

The rest of the solos went very well- Nia dazzled with a much-improved Lyrical dance, showing off her technique that was coming along very well, and Maddie and Chloé were amazing as always. Kendall went out and was still a bit stiff and flat, but her posture was noticeably better. She was in a less advanced category this week to put the pressure off of her, not going for a title.

With the solos solidly out of the way, the biggest concern was the group dance- and it was a concern. We went out onstage and acted cute, like sassy dolls, but there was a lot of sloppiness out of the corner of my eye, from most others. I made sure that I was clean, sharp, and entertaining as the lead. It's all I really needed to concern myself with.

At awards, Kendall won the Primary category, Maddie won the Pre-Junior division, Nia was the runner-up to Chloé in the Junior division, Ursula won the Teen division and I won the Senior division. Overall solos were called out next.

"In eighth place overall solos, it's Nia from Abby Lee Dance Company with a score of 285 points. In seventh place overall, it's Maddie from the ALDC with a score of 287 points. Your fifth-place scoring soloist today and the dancer receiving the Radiance award is Chloé from the ALDC with a score of 290 points. Your second-place overall soloist today and the dancer receiving the Stage Presence award is Ursula from the ALDC with 293 points. Your first-place overall soloist and the recipient of the Technique award, scoring 297 points, is Joanne from the ALDC."

We came up to accept our awards gracefully, then sat back down to wait on the group. "In first place in the Junior group, scoring 281 points and receiving the Sass award, it's the Abby Lee Dance Company!"

We all stood up, cheering. Abby wasn't so happy with it, telling us that it was sloppy, and I agreed with her. We would need to do better as a group starting the next week, though it was fabulous to see only top 2 finishes from the soloists.