Chapter 61

The holiday break was relaxing but a bit too short for my liking. I was excited going into the next competition, though, because it was the YAGP Semi-Final in Chicago, Illinois instead of an ALDC competition. All four ALDC members that had qualified for YAGP were competing.

Maddie was the debutant of the group and was very nervous, but it seemed like a more useful emotion than on the show. She was much more relaxed off-camera.

Braxton as well as a few other Studio Bleu members was computing, and of course we would be competing our pas de deux routines, which were solid at the moment. He traveled out with us as he was around the house for half the time anyway.

"What do I need to do in order to qualify for the final?" Ursula asked me on the plane ride over.

"You would need top three, fourth at worst," I replied thoughtfully. "Your Classical is much more competitive this year, that'll help you quite a bit. How do you feel, Chloé?"

"I feel a lot of pressure now that I made the Final and placed there," she said. "I feel like I'm the favorite to win, especially being at the top of the age range."

"I feel much the same," I agreed. "Being the reigning Final winner is both a lot of pressure and a good thing. At least I'm in the middle of the age range."

"I hope for top six," Maddie said. "I'd love to make the Final, but we'll see."

"It's good to be ambitious," I told my cousin. "Just go out there and do your best, see what happens. It's a really friendly and warm environment behind the scenes, so you shouldn't run into any issues there."

There was a rising star in the Junior world, Carmina Ballestros, who was a year younger than me, and no one could be counted out. Still, I had a Senior-level Classical piece that I'd needed special permission for, so that was a leg up on my competition. I was also one of the few to do my Contemporary en pointe.

We arrived at the competition a day early to be able to settle in, and Maddie and Chloé mainly needed help to get their homework in order. Ursula was hyperorganized and had hers laid out better than mine, and I was homeschooled. The next morning was bright and early, with Junior classes starting right away. Nyssa and Christi stayed with Maddie and Chloé until their class, with Christi liking Maddie now that she wasn't an Abby favorite.

There were more eyes on me now. I managed to by chance find a spot beside Carmina, who proved to be a very nice girl.

"Hi, you're Carmina Ballestros, right? I'm Joanne Ziegler," I said to her. She smiled.

"It's nice to meet you! I'm really excited to be in Juniors. I'm glad that you're here, we can push each other."

"Me too," I replied warmly. "I'm excited for these classes, too."

Both Carmina and I showed the combination this class, and we came out just as the Pre-competitive category began, with Maddie up in the second group. She was performing a variation from Le Corsaire and from what I had seen, it was up to the level it needed to be to reach her goal. When she came onstage, she didn't look nervous, had great extension, and wonderful expression. She still had some work to do on her technique but it was a strong performance.

Two groups later, Chloé performed her "Fairy Doll" variation excellently, showing that she was more than ready to move up to the Junior level next year. It was the best performance of all the dances that I watched to my eye.

After another masterclass, it was the Juniors' time to perform their Classical pieces. I was in a middle group by age, the third of the group to go. I watched Carmina perform elegantly and knew that I had to be at my best to beat her.

"Please welcome Joanne, entry number ninety-two, age thirteen."

I knew this dance, I'd worked on it for ages, I was confident in it. I let that confidence flow through and thought that I did a great job with it. It was hard, though, so I was a bit out of breath backstage. I caught a few eyes on me.

"That's something that Seniors do. Is that even allowed?" One girl asked me, flabbergasted.

I nodded while sipping my water. "With special permission, yeah. I'm Joanne Ziegler."

"Athenia Norian," the girl introduced herself. She went on a few numbers later and did very well.

Ursula, being a year older than me, was four groups after me and toward the back end of the day. She was performing a variation from "La Fille Ma Gardee" and was charming onstage, putting on a much more confident and balanced show than the year before. She grinned at me in the wings when I congratulated her.

"Thanks, much better than last year. I'm happy with it."

That night, all of us had dinner together, and Christi was lost in thought the whole time. "Is everything okay, Christi?" My aunt asked. The blonde woman nodded.

"Yes, actually. I wanted to tell you all this before Abby- but I've made the decision to move the whole family to New York starting next fall so that Chloé can be full-time at Joffrey."

Caught off guard, I couldn't help but smile. "Oh wow! That's really awesome. That'll be good for her development."

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking. Abby's basically been ignoring Chloé these last few weeks, and she's not getting the ballet instruction that she needs at the ALDC. Besides, once Joanne and Ursula leave, Abby's going to go crazy, I can feel it. I don't want that for Chloé."

"She's not that bad," Chloé protested.

"She will be," Ursula said darkly. "Look at the way she's treating Maddie right now. Imagine that if there's only one dancer who's consistently winning. I think that Nia can handle herself fine as the favorite, but still."

"Why is everyone leaving?" Maddie pouted. "The show's bad, yes, but I keep losing friends."

"We can talk every day, we can still be best friends," Chloé promised. Maddie smiled slightly. They had such a lovely bond and Chloé was over at the house all the time to do study dates and to just hang out.

I only had the pas de deux the next day, though that was hard enough. Braxton actually had his Senior competition in the morning and took a nap instead of a masterclass over lunch, which was funny to me. We were a bit older on average so we were in the third group instead of the second.

The performance wasn't absolute perfection but it was quite good, so we were happy with it. That ended the competition day for me, though I did manage to get a masterclass in on Jazz, of all things.

I had two dances the next day, my individual Contemporary piece in the morning and pas de deux Contemporary in the afternoon. I felt good about my dances, and performed with confidence in the morning. It was as close to perfect as it could be. Ursula, too, performed admirably.

The pas de deux three before us unfortunately had a fall, which for some reason scared Braxton quite badly.

"What if that happens to us?" He hissed to me. "We do that lift."

"It won't if you do the lift properly," I responded. "This is why I don't like to watch dances before us. Look, they finished well. Please, get it together." "You need to be nicer."

"We're on in ten minutes, Braxton."

"You're right. Sorry." Braxton put his hands to his head. "We got this."

While the performance wasn't the best it could be, it was competitive and Braxton was stable and emotional. He managed to pull it back from the point of disaster.

"See, the lift was great," I said afterwards. "Good job." Callbacks were announced to the Junior category and the pas de deux that evening, and both Ursula and I and Brandon and I's pas de deux made it. We decided to just eat dinner in our hotel and stay up a bit late to watch a movie, as neither of us had any dancing until after 1 PM. That's when the Junior final round would be. Therefore we got to watch Chloé and Maddie perform their Contemporary's pieces, both ALDC solos that I had choreographed put into a more heavily ballet format. They both shined onstage and would very likely make the final round.

Each group of competitors got individual time behind the curtain to warm up, a nice format that reduced crowding as much as the competition could- they were also doing Senior finals that night, with Braxton making the cut. It was a Friday competition for the ALDC that week and the results were already in; the group placed 7th, Brooke won the Teen division, Paige won over Nicaya and Kendall, Nia won the Pre-Teen division and Kenzie and Paige's duet won. Overall pretty good.

I thought that I matched my first performance, and enjoyed myself onstage. It was the favorite ballet solo that I'd done, and I still had a few more months of it. Braxton and Ursula performed and were wonderful as well.

Braxton's nerves appeared to be gone the next day, and we did well in our second Classical pas de deux performance. From what I could see, everyone else did too, so it would be a tight result. Chloé and Maddie did a rerun of their pieces for the final round and did wonderfully.

A banquet where everyone got to chat and get to know each other followed, and I got acquainted with quite a few of my competitors.

"How are you allowed to perform pas de deux with someone from another studio?" Ava Shannon from Michigan asked me.

"Both of our studio heads worked it out with YAGP," I replied. "It'll only be for this season anyway, we're both going to New York Ballet in the late summer as apprentices and will be able to compete for them."

"Congratulations!" Ava beamed. "Aren't you a little young, though? Not that you don't deserve it."

I shrugged. "I am a bit young, but it's not unheard of. It's going to be a lot, up and moving right at the end of filming. I'll be glad to get away from it all."

Awards finally came around, with the top 12 Pre-competitive announcements starting it off. Both Chloé and Maddie made the top 12, much to their delight. The top two in Classical had been called, and neither of them had heard their names.

"First place Classical, Men and Women Pre-competitive, goes to Miss Chloé Lukasiak, the Abby Lee Dance Company, Pennsylvania!"

Chloé grinned brightly and took the plaque, returning to her spot next to Maddie once she was told to. Maddie gave her a smile. That was all for that category until the Hope award was given out.

Pas de deux was up next, and Braxton and I won Classical and the overall, much to our relief. We were going back to the finals. After the Ensemble awards, it was finally time for Junior awards, with Ursula and I being called up as part of the top 12.

"Third place in the Classical Dance category goes to Miss Ursula Green, the Abby Lee Dance Company, Pennsylvania! Second place in the Classical Dance category goes to Miss Airi Suzuki, the Academy of Russian Classical Ballet, Michigan! First place in the Classical Dance category goes to Miss Joanne Ziegler, the Abby Lee Dance Company, Pennsylvania!"

Ursula, Airi (who was just twelve) and I congratulated each other.

"Third place in the Contemporary Dance category goes to Miss Ursula Green, the Abby Lee Dance Company, Pennsylvania! Second place in the Contemporary Dance category goes to Miss Autumn Steed, the Academy of Dance Arts, Illinois! First place in the Contemporary Dance Category goes to Miss Joanne Ziegler, the Abby Lee Dance Company, Pennsylvania!"

That meant that Ursula and I were third and first place, which would more than likely qualify us for the Final in just a few months. We high fived when we got back in line. Braxton won the Senior category, much to his delight, then it was time for special awards.

"We give out the Hope award to a rising star that we think has wonderful potential in the Pre-Competitive category. This year, that honor goes to Chloé Lukasiak." Chloé's dreams were coming true, and Christi had proud tears running down her face. Chloé was a special dancer, and I was so happy that others were giving her these honors to prove it.

"The dancer getting our Youth Grand Prix Award is also winning the Outstanding Choreographer Award. This dancer is Joanne Ziegler." I smiled and took the plaques, thrilled beyond belief. No one won the Grand Prix Award for Seniors, which I knew that Braxton had been going for. He had room to improve, as we all did.

We all fell asleep happy that night, not quite ready to return to the real world.