Irish Dance Camp

Chapter 7

We headed to our first class, which was drills with the instructor named Niamh. The class was in the same room that we had practiced in the night before.
"Good morning, girls!" Niamh said. "Heavy shoes on, please!" Her Irish accent was so thick, I could hardly make out what she was saying.
We all silently put on our hard shoes, and then stood in a line in front of Niamh. Now's the time to show her what you're made of. You can do this. I thought to myself.
We did different drills for half an hour straight, only stopping when songs ended. The last ten minutes were all front clicks, and five minutes in I felt faint. The only way I was able to get through was by thinking, just a few more, finish these and you're all done, over and over until we finally finished.
I noticed Claire clutching her stomach.
"Can I use the restroom?" I heard her mutter. Niamh nodded, and Claire ran off, probably trying to keep from puking in the hallway.
"Nice job girls," Niamh said. "We are going to do your hornpipe leads in a step down the line. Chop chop!" Thank goodness it's nothing too hard, I thought to myself.
We scrambled into line, and Julie was the only one brave enough to go first. I saw Niamh's jaw drop as she started to dance.
Somehow, watching Julie dance made me want to dance better, too. I decided to go next, keeping the corrections Grace had told me the night before in mind.
I started to dance, and tried to own every single move. I finished super sharp, then Niamh called me over.
"That was super strong and confident, but you need to cross over your rhythms more." Niamh said.
Huh? I've always had good crossing..... What happened?
As I was walking back to the line, it occurred to me that the reason was probably because I was focusing so much on performing that I forgot about my technique. Ugh.
I started to drill my corrections in the back of the room right as Claire walked back in. I rushed over.
"Are you ok?!" I whispered.
"Yeah, I've just never drilled that hard before." We both laughed and walked back in line.
The day went by rather quickly, and soon it was the last class of the day with an instructor named Brandon. I was doing my hornpipe for what felt like was the bajillionth time that day, and I was sort of figuring out how to balance confidence and technique. Finally I finished with treble and hop back bang treble and toe and then bowed. Brandon nodded his head and then called me over.
"Very impressive, Ciara. That's the best I've seen you do it." He said.
"Thank you so much!" I beamed.
"You deserve it. Are you competing at the nationals?"
"Yes sir!"
"Well I think we can expect great things from you!" He said. I walked to the other side of the room, grinning ear to ear.
"What are you so happy about?" A girl named Taylor scoffed. I hadn't talked to her much at all since I had gotten here.
"Um, well, Brandon said-"
"Never mind that. What did you say you got at worlds again?" She said, crossing her arms.
"Fortieth?"
"Makes sense," she said, smirking. "You dance like a beginner."
Carly immediately intervened. "She recalled, which means she's in the top 0.33% in the world! I wouldn't be talking if I were you!"
"I think I know what I'm talking about. I'm 8th in world, afterall...."
"Knock it off, alright!" Carly said.
"Oh please. What did you get again? Oh, that's right, you didn't even recall!" Taylor walked off briskly. I just stood there in shock.
"Wait.... What just happened?!" I asked Carly.
"That girl is a jerk, that's what happened." At that moment, Brandon announced that class was over and it was time to head back to our dorms.
Just when I went to grab my bag, I noticed my dorm key was gone.