Chapter 36

Filming stopped for two months, but my schedule just got busier. I flew out to LA the day after the competition, Ursula and Melody and Misty coming along with Aunt Melissa and Kenzie, to prepare for the Grammy awards performance. I had been able to choreograph my own dance to "Rolling in the Deep," a great honor, and poured everything I had into it. The flight attendants checked that no one around us was allergic to cats and so I was able to hold Misty in my lap.

"Is she an Emotional Support Animal?" One of the flight attendants asked. "She's very calm."

I shook my head.

"Well, you could apply for her to be one, or even a service animal if you qualify. That way you would be able to travel with her better."

"I'll definitely look into that, thank you," I replied. I turned to Ursula and smiled. "I would definitely qualify for a service animal, but as lovely as Misty is, I don't think she could be trained. I'd need to get a dog for PTSD and anxiety, probably, but I know of at least five serious allergies in the studio. The ESA route would probably be better at first."

"It's a good idea," Ursula agreed.

We got settled in an LA hotel, with Adele and her team meeting us in a private dining room. Ursula and Melody did their best to be professional, but Kenzie couldn't hide her excitement and ran up to hug Adele right away.

"Kenz!" Aunt Melissa scolded her youngest. "My apologies, ma'am, she's seven and very excited."

"That's perfectly alright. I'm expecting myself- this is not public information, so please don't share it- so I' developing a soft spot for children."

"Congratulations!" Melody smiled at the singer. "I'm Melody, Joanne's sister. The little one is Mackenzie, our cousin."

Ursula introduced herself as well, and we all sat down, with Adele insisting on holding Misty. "Now, Joanne will be allowed backstage, but will need an adult with her at all times for safety. The rest of you also need an adult."

"Is there anyone that could watch Joanne?" Aunt Melissa asked. "I really don't feel comfortable leaving Kenzie with a stranger, and Ursula's parents were adamant that I watch her carefully. She has a bad habit of getting lost easily."

Ursula huffed playfully. "Is One Direction attending? They're adults, I think."

"That's debatable. They will be in attendance, but I can have one of my bodyguards accompany Joanne. He's responsible and trained," Adele laughed. "Now, Joanne, you must show me the dance. You will be able to be at a dance studio tomorrow and the next day, to rehearse the piece and take classes, then rehearsal at the venue begins. I have a costume for you, it will arrive in two days. In the meantime, I was hoping to have dinner with you all and get to know you better."

We had a lovely dinner together, meeting Adele's boyfriend and some of her staff. I spent the next few days practicing the Grammys dance and attending classes at a nearby studio, and the quality of the classes and teachers made me feel a bit jealous.

The Grammys stage was just amazing, something I'd only ever seen on TV. Ironically, only Misty was allowed to come with me, on her cute little leash. The attending artists couldn't get enough of her, with One Direction deciding that they would take care of her while I practiced the staging for the dance. I tried on my costume, a flowing black dress with sparkles to match Adele's.

"We can make it shorter if you need it to be, though it is very light," she told me. "I'm no expert in costume design."

"Neither am I, it'll be up to how well I can dance in it," I replied. The skirt had to be cut down a few inches but it was still very flowy and would look great onstage. The dance was more about emotion anyway as this audience was musicians and the general public, so a highly technical ballet piece wouldn't have as much impact as a powerful, emotional Contemporary piece. Adele said that the song was about an awful breakup, and while Ursula was my first relationship, I had experienced heartbreak with my parents and getting separated from Melody in 2009.

"Ms. Adele?" I asked while the camera crew was setting up a new angle. "Is it possible that I could use this dance for the YAGP final? I can't use music with lyrics so it would have to be to a different song."

"Oh, of course, dear! You did choreograph it, so as long as you didn't use my song it wouldn't be a problem."

Adele took me out to a celebrity dinner that night, and for the first time, I was truly starstruck when I saw Paul McCartney sitting at the table, along with many other big names. Adele laughed at my dropped jaw and wide eyes.

"I take it you're a Beatles fan, then?"

"My sister calls me a superfan because I know a lot about their songs. Not their personal lives, I'm not that type of fan."

"You strike me as having an excellent memory. Go meet Paul, then," Adele urged me gently. I regained control of myself and approached the table, sitting in between Adele and Paul McCartney. This was absolutely wild.

"Hello Mr. McCartney, I'm Joanne Ziegler. I'm dancing for Adele at the show," I said, holding my hand out to shake. He took it firmly.

"Lovely to meet you, dear, please call me Paul. This is my wife Nancy," he said warmly. "Did I hear Adele say that you're a Beatles fan?"

I blushed. "Yes, sir- I mean, Paul. 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps' is my favorite song, though 'Let it Be' is a close second."

"Yes, that song was George's best," Paul said reflectively. "It's nice to see that the younger generation still listens to our music. Ringo couldn't be here, unfortunately, for a family matter."

And so I found myself chatting casually with many famous singers and their guests. Ursula, Kenzie, Melody and even my aunt bombarded me with questions when I got back, which I answered happily. Paul even invited us out for tea the next day, though that meeting turned out to be a bit somber.

Something was up, I knew from the grim faces of a few staff members as I was practicing the piece with the camera shots. The news was bad; Whitney Houston was dead of a suspected overdose. I kept to myself, as I hadn't known her, but gave Adele my condolences.

"I'm sorry about Ms. Houston. She was a wonderful singer."

"A wonderful person, too. Drugs take too many of us." Adele shook her head. "Do you mind if Misty stays with me for a bit?"

"No, not at all."

"Why the long face?" Ursula asked me when I met up with my family for the tea appointment. "Whitney Houston died this morning," I told them quietly. "Suspected drug overdose."

"Oh, no, how awful," my aunt gasped. "She was a standout artist, that's tragic. Kenz, you must be on your best behavior today. Mr. and Mrs. McCartney are a gentleman and a lady, and quite famous besides."

"They'll insist by going by Paul and Nancy," I informed them. "They're both lovely people."

Kenzie charmed the older couple, and at the end of tea, I had Paul McCartney's contact information. I questioned, once again, if this was all even real. Ursula kept pinching herself on the way back to the venue, where I finished up rehearsals and got to watch other artists practice. There was a tribute performance dropped to make room for Jennifer Hudson's tribute to Whitney Houston, and the group of artists performing a Beatles tribute all approached me at once as I was leaving.

"Miss Joanne," Paul said formally. "We've seen your Adele performance and were wondering if you would be able to dance during our Beatles tribute."

I could only gape at them. "Really? You want me to dance?"

"I'll take that as a yes," Bruce Springsteen chuckled. "The rehearsal is now, though, and we haven't given you anything to dance to."

"I can come up with something," I replied a bit too eagerly. I texted my aunt to let her know and listened to the three-song performance, mind kicking into dance mode. It was just another performance, it totally wasn't for my musical hero. No, perfectly normal.

"Can someone film this?" I asked a staff member, who pulled out a regular camera. I kept the dance pretty contained, as I only had a small area to work with, and went with a Lyrical style. To my surprise, I received some clapping at the end.

"You just came up with that?" Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters and Nirvana asked. "That's quite impressive."

"Thank you," I replied, blushing. "Um- Mr. Grohl, I hate to ask, but the Foo Fighters is my sister's favorite band, and I was wondering if you could sign something for her."

"Is your sister around?"

"Yes, she's outside with my aunt, cousin and girlfriend."

"The band's all still here, we'd be happy to meet your sister."

Melody looked like all of her dreams were coming true when the Foo Fighters came out and talked with her, and Aunt Melissa swooned over Bruce Springsteen.

"Maddie's going to be so mad," Ursula said, and I agreed wholeheartedly. "You'll have to get lots of signatures for her." Maddie hadn't been able to convince Aunt Melissa to let her take time off school, much to her chagrin. I felt for her; I would have begged and cried to go too. I'd promised to bring her and no one else along if I ever did another music video, which was likely. Everyone else had agreed that this was a fair situation.

The next day passed by with rehearsals and dance practice, and before I knew it I was walking the red carpet at the Grammys. I was half-hiding behind Adele and not too many paparazzi wanted to take a picture of me, but I found myself getting ushered over by the celebrity running all of the red carpet interviews. I wore a lovely blue dress that was tasteful, and my hair was down. I had only put on minimal makeup.

"Miss Ziegler! Miss Ziegler! Hello," the celebrity greeted me. "You look a bit overwhelmed, if stunning."

"Thank you. This is all a bit much for me," I admitted.

"Completely understandable. You're performing twice tonight, correct?"

"Yes, initially I was slated to dance for Adele but Mr. McCartney and the rest of the musicians performing the Beatles tribute asked me personally to dance during their performance."

"Wow! That's amazing."

"It is. I couldn't believe it, I still can't. I hope that I don't fall on my face or something, I haven't done that in years but today might be the day," I joked lightly.

This got a laugh. "I'm sure you'll do wonderfully. Break a leg tonight."

"Thank you," I said and moved on. Luckily no one else stopped me before I got into the hall and went to sit where Adele was assigned. To my surprise, Misty was there in her carrier and meowed hello.

"Wow, I think she likes the cat better than me," I said. It was nice to have the animal with me.

My first performance was about an hour and a half into the show, and I enjoyed every moment that I had before needing to get changed and head backstage.

"Are you ready?" Adele asked me as we prepared in the wings. I nodded, a bit fidgety.

"I'm definitely nervous," I admitted. "I always am before big performances, though."

Gwenyth Paltrow and Ceelo Green finished their introduction, and Adele and I entered, with her taking her place at the microphone and me standing in my starting position a bit away from her. When the music began, I forgot about everything, where I was, the fact that Adele was singing live next to me, and I just performed, pouring all the emotion I could into it. At one point I almost stepped on a camera, but otherwise I felt great about the performance.

The audience was standing and clapping when the song ended, and Adele pulled me up beside her and had me bow to the audience. She'd already won two awards, and I suppose was willing to share the spotlight, but it was still incredibly generous of her.

I rode on the high of the performance right up until the next one. In that time, Adele won three more awards, including Album of the Year. Such a nice person deserved it, I thought. And her songs were incredible.

I'd managed to get a classical white Lyrical costume for the Beatles performance, as the Adele dress wasn't appropriate for the lighter tone of the second dance. I stood alongside some of my musical heroes once again, and felt only a bit more calm when entering the Grammys stage for the second time.

This performance was even better than the first one, and I grinned at the end, quite out of breath. What a dream come true.

The crowd of celebrities were clapping for me as well as the legendary artists behind me. I couldn't imagine a better night, especially with my family and girlfriend in the audience, cheering me on.