Pirouettes&Flips

>>twelve<<

Renjun detached his phone from his ear, feeling mostly happy but also undeniably melancholic. His old studio's regionals competition was yesterday and they have won it, not that surprising considering their existence in internationals last year. Renjun, of course felt over the moon for his friends and his teachers but one little selfish part of his brain couldn't help but think that he wanted to be there with them, competing and winning.

However that wasn't fair for both his current studio and his old studio. They have been working their asses off for the past few weeks for the upcoming competition in SM Dance Studio and Renjun was ready to give it his all to win with his new teammates and friends.

His phone's notification bell rang, indicating that he has a new mail. Chenle has sent him their performance video upon his request. There were two links, two different performances. For regionals studios needed to have two different group routines. After all the studios perform their routines, about half of them get cut out and the remaining ones perform their second routines to come in first place. The winner moves onto nationals which needs much more routines including two solos(one male, one female) one duet, one small group and two full group routines for semi-finals and finals. After every section studios would get eliminated and the winner of the finals would move onto internationals. Internationals didn't have much of a difference than nationals except a few extra activities between sections to get the upper hand in the competition.

He clicked on the first link that his best friend sent him and watched as the familiar faces took their places on the stage. The routine was great, nothing out of ordinary except a few lifts that were put in between. The routine was obviously enough to get them over the first half of the competition and Renjun guessed that they would put the actual show on the last round. That's what they have done last year as well. Once the video was over he clicked on the second link and watched an empty stage covering his phone screen.

Slowly dancers started coming up on the stage and took their places. Their costumes all had their own little details, colored with a beautiful tone of blue. He could see their faces had something on it but all their faces were looking on the floor so he couldn't exactly see what it was. First he thought they have made some extravagant make up to portray their story, it wouldn't be the first time he has seen something like that, in fact he has been part of a few routines in the past but his guess turned out to be wrong when they lifted their heads in unison. Everyone was wearing black masks covering half of their faces. Masks had little details on them, the same tone on their costumes, and one single feather could be seen on everyones left side.

Renjun got goosebumps with the thought of the masks. There were so many things that could go wrong and it could cost them the whole competition. Before anything else they were obviously limitage for their sights. If they can't see around them properly they might bump at each other on the stage or get their positions wrong. Feathers could fall any moment or get in the person's eye or make them itch causing distraction.

Renjun has always been afraid of dances that needed prompts. Things they need to hold, things they need to throw and catch, things they need to put on themselves and the list goes on. He has never been in a stage accident and he really wanted to keep it that way. He has obviously danced with prompts before but he has always feared that something would go wrong.

Of course, these things were meaningful in the judges eyes. The costumes, the makeup and facial expressions, the prompts and such always meant some extra points in the judges' eye. The more extra your routine was, the more points you would get. His old studio was known for using these details in clever ways to get points and these details what helped them to get the internationals last year, with the dancers' practices of course.

The routine obviously had a story to it so Renjun focused on the moves and the way they were being portrayed. He unconsciously smiled as his eyes found Jun on the right side of the stage. Even with the masks his eyes couldn't miss him. Not that he couldn't tell apart the rest of them(except the two of them who were new) he liked to think about Jun in an extra way.