The Next Step

Practical Things

My first class is at 11:00 and it's a practical so I'm pretty excited to do it.
After I have some cereal and toast from the buffet, I go upstairs to get changed. I couldn't be bothered to change out of my pyjamas before eating so I just went in them. I really don't care what people think of me.
I choose to wear black tights and a tight black shirt with a black crop top underneath. I wear my black flats with no socks because I'll just be taking them off anyway.
I brush my messy hair and put it up in a tight bun. I don't want it falling in my face while I'm trying to dance.
I leave around 10:00 and walk to the building. It takes me 20 minutes to get there so I still have ages to stretch and get ready.
Once I walk inside the building I go to the dance gym. Almost everyone in the room is stretching on a bar or on the ground.
I put my small bag in the corner of the massive room and walk towards a silver bar connected to a mirror taking up a whole wall in the room. I stick my leg up on it and bend down. I haven't stretched in a while so my muscles are a little tense but I, sure it shouldn't take me too long to loosen up.
I stretch my other leg and look around the room. Girls are laughing and chatting to each other while stretching out there arms and legs. There are only about 9 guys in the room and about 16 girls. This is only one class for this subject.
I turn around and place my left hand on the bar. I raise my right leg and stretch it up next to my head. I do the same with my left leg and then turn back to my left hand holding the bar. I stand on my toes and bend down with my knees a couple of times.
Suddenly a woman with blonde curly hair bursts through the doors. Everyone quiets down and she places her bags in the side of the room.
"Good morning class." She half smiles.
"Good morning Katie." Everyone says in unison. Oh. This is Katie. She's our teacher for practical lessons. I've read about her online. She is much prettier in person.
She has dark mascara with black eyeshadow and lip gloss.
I've never really been into make up.
I don't understand the concept of it. Girls put it on to make themselves look pretty, but most of the time they are just as beautiful without it.
She walks over to the two gigantic speakers in the room and connects her iPhone to them. Music blasts out and she walks around the room.
"For this lesson, I want you to listen to different kinds of music and move the way the music tells you." She yells over the loud music.
At the moment, the music is pop.
I do a few dance moves I used to practice at school and take it away from there. It comes naturally and I'm laughing while I'm dancing.
Dancing was always my way out.
Whenever something bad happened (which was everyday) I would lock myself in my room and just dance. Sometimes if I turned the music up loud enough, it would drain out the noise of my dad banging his fist on my strong door.
The music changes into a slow moving song. I slow down my movements and put my arms above my head. I curl my hands around and rock my hips slowly with the method.
The music stops completely and Katie is standing in the middle of the room.
"You can all sit down and relax." She says.
Everyone around me sits on the wooden floors and I do the same, folding my legs.
"So, I am going to get each of you to do an individual dance on the spot in front of everyone with music of my choice." Everyone around me looks like they've seen a ghost.
"Easy." A girl sitting in the back of the room with other girls around her sniggers.
"Well if you think so, you can go first." Katie smirks and walks over to her iPhone connected to the stereo.
The girls stands up and the song One Dance comes on. The girl starts popping her shoulders with her hips and does some random dance moves. She's not that bad of a dancer.
After she's finished dancing Katie tells her to sit down and she gets some other people to get up and dance.
Suddenly I hear her say the name Ellie and a few people look in my direction.
"Ellie, earth to Ellie. Which one of you is Ellie?" She asks.
"That's me." I raise my hand and stand up.
"Well jeez, what too, you so long."
"I'm just so used to everyone calling me grace. It's my middle name and I preferred to be called by that." I explain.
"Ok, Grace, your turn." She says.
I walk towards the front and nerves trickle down my spine. I look at everyone staring at me and never new how nerve racking this could be. I've performed in front of bigger crowds than this but I have to see these people almost everyday and I don't want them to judge me on my dancing skills compared to theirs.
Katie presses play on her little remote and the song I'm Only Human by Christina perri starts to play. I sit down on the ground for the start and slowly make my way up through slow movements as the song gets faster. Eventually when I am fully up I kick my leg up near my head and curl my arm around. The song finishes and I sit back down to wait for the next person to be called.

After everyone has danced, Katie sits the remote down and walks out in front of us.
"Well, you guys seem to be a pretty good group. Which is why I have decided to give you your first assignment today." People start muttering things. "I know I know, it's weird to get an assignment on the first day of semester one, but tough titties. This is what dancing is all about. Expecting the unexpected and working hard. So, saying that, your assignment will be to find a partner, I don't care if it's someone in this room, one of your friends or a complete stranger you find roaming the streets. Find someone and create a dance with them from a famous movie. I don't care what movie and what dance, just pick one. You have three weeks, start now." She explains. As soon as she finishes the room bursts into conversations and phone calls. Before I know it most people have left and the people who are still here are on their phones talking to their partners. I guess I'll have to find my own. Somehow.
Maybe I can ask Erin if she's had any experience with dancing. She has the body for it.
I grab my bag and head for the cafe.