My Time to Shine (Dance Moms/Harry Potter Crossover - Part 1)

Chapter 16: MackZ's Time To Shine

The ALDC went to the competition on Saturday morning and were once again met by numerous Dance Moms fans. This was the norm for them and they walked past graciously. They entered the dressing room and began to get ready. Maddie was being an absolute pill. She refused to help with anything with the excuse that she wasn't dancing. The filming crew could not be more pleased. Not only could they use this dramatic footage in the show, but it was also a rare gem to capture Maddie's bad side. This fact was not lost on the other girls. 

"Oh Maddie, stop being so immature. You always help your sister with her hair." Melissa was becoming frustrated with Maddie's attitude.

"It's ok, Mom, I can do it," Mackenzie assured her mother as she began braiding her own hair. The four girls were to all have braided hairstyles that were slightly different from one another. She did two french braids and then tucked them in at the base of her head and secured them with pins. She then got a start on her makeup.

"Maddie, please stop putting a damper on everyone's day. If your going to act like this can you go to the audience or lobby or something?" Maddie shot her mother a scornful look in reply but stayed put and emersed herself in her iPhone.

The group began rehearsing. It was essential to practice everything with props, as the probability of error was always higher. Their costumes were very similar to the shade of the boxes. They wore different combinations of white and khaki.

The group dance went fairly well. Kenzie thought it was great on her part but when they came back to the dressing room, Abby had it out with Kendall. She had accidentally hit a box and it had flown two feet out of line. It seemed that Kendall was always the one to have her props go rogue and always endured the consequences. Poor poor Kendall. Despite the prop glitch, the girls pulled out a first-place win, with the highest group score of the competition. This win was heightened for them because it was all without Maddie.

Kenzie was the only soloist this week. While all the girls took off their makeup and returned their hair to normal pedestrian styles, Mackenzie scrapped her group makeup and began to cover herself with what looked like patches of dirt. They used varying shades of brown eyeshadow to achieve this dirty effect. She knew exactly how to put it on as she had been present for Maddie's solo prep for this exact dance last season. The braids she had worn for the group piece worked perfectly for her solo as they were tight to her head and wouldn't cause bumps in the shawl she wrapped around as a hood. She pinned the edges of this into place so it wouldn't fall as she did her turning sequences. If there was one thing Abby couldn't stand, apart from a prop out of line, it was a hairpiece that didn't stay where it was supposed to stay. Mackenzie decided she should add a few stitches to the shawl and her hair just in case.

Once her hair, costume, and makeup were completely ready, she began to go over her piece. There was about an hour between the group performance and her solo so she didn't have to stress about time. There had been some competitions where the girls had less than ten minutes to switch. These always caused stress in the dressing room but, fortunately, that was not the case today.

Mackenzie put her white Apple headphones in and plugged in her iPhone to listen to the song a couple of times while visualizing and marking the dance. The other girls were clearly relieved that they were done for the day and were basking in their post-performance bliss. For Kenzie though, it was game time. She rehearsed by herself until Abby came in.

"MackZ! It's like your song says, 'It's My Time To Shine'. You are a famous pop star with a number 1 album on iTunes but you are going to show me that's not all you are. You're an incredibly versatile performer. You can do any piece, any time. Got it?" Kenzie drew in a breath and nodded. She felt nervous but not cripplingly so. She usually had extreme nervousness beforehand, close to nausea sometimes, but not this time. She felt less scared and much more excited. "Ok girls, moms, head to the audience! I will be there in a minute. Kendall put on your ALDC jacket, you know competition etiquette! My goodness!" Everyone left, including Mackenzie and Abby. They peeled away from the group to the backstage area.