baby take a bow ! ( dance moms )

002. wildly inappropriate

I rushed out the door of studio c, where miss jennine was doing a run through of one of our jazz groups: achy breaky heart. i enjoyed this one a lot, as i did some cartwheels in it, and because I didn't have to do it with the junior elite team, as they were called on the show, but they're actually the petites. I'm a hot tot, and mackenzie's a hot shot, which means i only have one group with her, our jazz line 'pinktastic'.

after we had finished running through the number, and miss jennine had given her critiques, i went into the den with ruby and chrissy, my two best friends, and took off my jazz shoes. they were a bit tight for my feet now, so i would have to ask mommy to get me some new ones.

the others went into a different studio for tap, but i stayed with the big girls for the filming of chalkboard for the second episode. when miss abby called us, we filed into studio a and i sat on the floor to the right of maddie so she could start talking.

"phoenix was rough," miss abby started, "you guys got your butts kicked. here in pittsburgh, you've won everything, but it's clearly a different story when you get on a plane and fly across the country. for years i took the kids myself. i made sure their hair was right. i made sure their makeup was right. i put the headpiece on. all the moms wanna go now because their reliving their childhood through all of you. and now that's when the trouble happens. i am the leader. i am the teacher. you do what i say. when your mothers are telling you what to do, that's a conflict. do you understand? now, nia, how do you think you did?"

i looked over at nia as she replied.

"well, i think we could have improved." nia said shyly.

"what do you need to improve?" miss abby nodded approvingly.

"pointing my feet?" she answered timidly, it almost sounding like a question.

"yes," miss abby agreed, "very sloppy. the feet, the leg, the shoulder, the arm. the same mistake over and over and over, and that pulls the group down. chloe," abby sighed at her, "the headband was bad. next time what are you going to do?"

"i'm going to make sure my headpiece stays on." chloe replied.

"could you have prevented that?" miss abby questioned. chloe nodded. "yes, good." she moved her focus onto the pyramid. "the group number will be called 'electricity'. can everybody say that?"

"electricity." i repeated with the rest of the girls.

miss abby pointed to the top of the pyramid, "maddie, because you were great last weekend, you didn't give me any trouble, and your mother didn't give me any trouble, you're gonna be front and. center for the beginning of the routine." maddie nodded towards miss abby, and mommy nodded as well with a big smile. "everybody's goal should be to be right here. yes? two solos will be competing. maddie, you will be doing one of your solos, and chloe, you will be doing one of yours."

"girls, a new girl will be joining this group, she is vivi-anne, and her mom is cathy. mackenzie, she's about your age, so i'm going to be putting you in a duet with her. matilda, you're not going to be sitting around doing nothing this week, i don't want to bring dead weight, and you've been working on a trio with some girls in your group, so i'm going to give you the chance to compete that. right, everybody up. mackenzie, you have ballet in 10 minutes, and matilda, you have a run-through of the trio in studio c now. moms, you are dismissed, thank you."

i looked over at mommy excitedly, as i'd get to perform my trio with ruby and christina! i'd been working on it for competing at competitions before the show, and we'd won with it in the 4 year old jazz division at dance educators of america, and in the overalls we got third, so it was great. it was going to be so fun!