Dancaholic

9. Kickline

This chapter is dedicated to Tormay5! Thanks so much for making the amazing cover to the right!

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"Hi everyone. I am Amber and I'm here to teach you how to kickline. Now for those of you who don't know, kickline is, simply, a line of dancers who perform a kicking dance such as the cancan. No, you are not going to be doing the cancan today so if you were beginning to worry and held your breath, then you may now breathe. I am here to teach you a kickline dance which should be pretty easy for you all to pick up as I have been told you have all been dancing for a few years, am I correct?"

There were murmers of 'Yes' from all the ten girls standing infront of me.

"Okay, well let's get started, shall we?"

"Yeah!" a girl in pink dance shorts and a white crop top eagerly shouted.

I smiled towards the girl. "Glad to see your enthusiasm. Okay, now, I will teach you the dance in eight sections by saying what each section entails while demonstrating so you can get a clear picture of what to do. Understand?"

I could hear everyone say 'Yes' and as I looked at each one of the 10 girls, I smiled. They all sound and look quite excited. This is going to be fun.

"Alrighty then. Everyone form one line so you're standing next to each other. Yup... Good... Now, stand a little farther apart so you have space to more. Great! Now, you'll begin the first section by stepping to the right with your right foot, tap your left foot in front of your right foot. Then you will step to the left with your left foot, tap your right foot in front of your left foot. Then you will step to the right with your right foot, tap your left foot in front of your right foot. Then you will step to the left with your left foot, tap your right foot in front of your left foot, like this. Okay? Like this." I demonstrate. "Now you all try it."

"Great job! Now it's time for the second section. Step onto your right foot and bring your left toe up to your right knee. Then you step onto your left foot, with your right foot crossed behind it. Then step onto your left foot, with the right foot crossed behind it. Uncross byt placing your right foot to the right side of your left foot. Tap your right foot out to the side - without putting any weight on it. Tap your right foot on the right side of your left foot - closed, but don’t put any weight on it. Tap your right foot out to the side - again, don’t put any weight on it. Tap your right foot on the right side of your left foot - closed, but don’t put any weight on it - like this." I demonstrate. "Now your turn."

"Awesome! Now it's time for the third section.  Step onto your left foot and bring your right toe up to the left knee. Then step onto your right foot, with your left foot crossed behind it. Uncross by placing your left foot to the left side of your right foot. Then tap your left foot out to the side without putting any weight on it. Tap your left foot on the left side of your right foot - closed, but don’t put any weight on it. Tap your left foot out to the side but don’t put any weight on it. Then lastly, tap your left foot on the left side of your right foot - closed, but don’t put any weight on it - like this." I demonstrate. "Now your turn."

"Perfect! Now we'll do the fourth section, then we'll do a run through of all the first four sections. Okay, so to begin the fourth section, step forward onto your right foot, then step your left foot forward, bending forward at the waist. Step your left foot back to where you started, then step your right foot behind your left one, bending slightly forward at the waist. Step forward onto your right foot, then step your left foot forward, bending forward at the waist. Step your left foot back to where you started, then step your right foot behind your left one, bending slightly forward at the waist, like this." I demonstrate. "Now your turn."

"Well done everyone! Now, let's put it all together. And a one and a two and a one two, three, begin!"

I began from the first section, looking in the mirror checking that each girl could keep up. Then we moved to the second section, then the third and finally, the fourth. All of them kept up and completed each step with ease.

"Great job! You're really getting the hang of this," I beamed. "Now here comes the fifth section. Step forward onto your right foot, then kick your left foot up, waist high into the air. Step back onto your left foot, then tap your right foot behind your left one, bending forward at the waist. Step forward onto your right foot, then kick your left foot up, waist high into the air. Step back onto your left foot, then close your right foot tightly beside the second one, like this." I demonstrate. "Now your turn."

"Perfect again! Now here comes the sixth section. Extend your right leg into a waist-high kick, then close your leg next to the left one. Extend your left leg into a waist-high kick, then close your leg next to the right one. Extend your right leg into a waist-high kick, then close the leg next to your left one once again. Extend your left leg into a waist-high kick, then close your leg next to the right one, like this." I demonstrate. "Your turn."

"Excellent! Now here comes the seventh section. It gets a little trickier from here. Bounce both feet on the ground, then extend your right leg to a shoulder-high bounce-kick. Bounce both feet on the ground, then extend your left leg to a shoulder-high bounce-kick. Bounce both feet on the ground, then extend your right leg to a shoulder-high bounce-kick. Bounce both feet on the ground, then extend your left leg to a shoulder-high bounce-kick, like this." I demonstrate. "Now you try it."

"Great! Now here comes the eight, and final, section. It gets a little more trickier here. Bounce both feet on the ground, then do a three point turn to the right, closing your left foot in beside your right foot, without putting weight on it. Do a three point turn to the left, closing your right foot in beside your left foot, without putting weight on it. Step onto your right foot, bring your left toe up to your right knee and put your right hand into the air. Step onto your left foot then bounce onto both feet. Execute 10 bounce kicks, alternating right and left. Step onto your right foot, and bring your left toe up to the side of your right knee, with your right arm extended above your head in the final pose, like this." I demonstrate for the last time. "Now you try it."

"Again, perfect job everyone! You've really picked up fast on each section," I smile. "Now, we'll dance from the fifth section through to the end of the eighth section. Again, I'll dance at the front of the room for guidance. Okay, a one, a two, a one, two, three, four!"

I began from the fifth section and danced all the way through to the end of the eighth section. I watched each of the girls as they danced in unison to the dance. Wow, I can't lie; I was extremely impressed. I've only had to show them and go through each section once and they already have it down!

"Great, perfect! Very impressing," I clapped. "Okay, so now, I will play the music and we'll dance the first half along to it. We'll go through the first half twice; the first time I'll be up the front for guidance but the second time it will be up to you all to remember the moves. Okay?" I say while walking over to the stereo.

I noticed that the girls were excited yet they couldn't hide that they were nervous. Totally understandable. Anyway, it turns out they hadn't had anything to worry about because yes, they executed all the moves perfectly even without me dancing along with them in front.

"Okay, that was amazing! Now, we'll dance the second half of the routine to the music. The same applies to what we've just done; we go through it twice. The first time I dance along but the second time I won't."

Again, they went through it flawlessly. Wow, these girls are really amazing dancers!

"Purrfect! Now, we'll go through the whole routine to the music. Let's begin."

So we danced from the first section all the way through to the end of the eighth section without any mistakes. Everyone executed every move perfectly. Either these girls are really fast learners or they've already done this routine before. Hmm... Whatever.

"You all did a great job! You should all be happy with your efforts today. That's all for today, hope you enjoyed it."

There was a wave of "Thank you's" and "Goodbye's" all around. Wow, they must be beat. But hey, that's what they're here for, eh? It shows that they have danced their butts off and, yes, dancing can be a very good workout. I actually quite enjoyed this day. At the end of a nice day, it's always nice to end it with a nice, warm bath. Which is exactly what I'm going to do. At home, not here. There are no baths in the dance studio.