Look Out Cali, Here I Come! (Maddie Ziegler)

Chapter 1: The Audition

"Mommy, Maddie's biting her nails, again!" Said my little sister, Mackenzie. I quickly pull my finger out of my teeth, but it's too late.
"Maddie honey, this habit needs to stop!"
"But Mom, I can't just, 'Make it stop' it's difficult! Most of the time I don't even realize I'm doing it,"
"But you know it drives both me and your sister nuts!"
"Mom, for the last time, it's 'your sister and I,' not, 'me and your sister!'"
"Okay, grammar police!" Mackenzie teased.

We were in the lobby of my hopeful new dance studio, waiting for my audition. I just moved to L.A from Pittsburgh, and I'm auditioning for the Creative Dreams Dance Company. The founder died a while ago though, and it's now run by a woman named Julie. I've heard Julie's really nice, but my old dance teacher, Dolly, was such a gem! Oh yeah, I'm pretty smart too, and I love using vocabulary words rather than basic words and phrases like, "I've heard she's nice, but my other teacher was really nice." That just doesn't give enough detail for my taste. Who's "she?" Who's your other teacher? What's her name? Define, "nice" for me.

"Madison Ziegler?" A lady called out. I breathed a heavy breath, and my Mom gave me a thumbs up while Kenzie jumped up and down. I smiled and followed her into Studio G. Creative Dreams actually had twenty-six studios, Studios' A-Z.

"Alright Honey, stretch in here until our other hopeful's done with her audition. You have about half an hour."
"Alright, thank you," I politely said. She smiled and walked off. I started by doing some neck rolls, then it went into lunges, then splits, and the stretches only got harder from there. Then finally, after what seemed like days, they called me into Studio H.

I see a tall, skinny blonde walking out, and flashing me a smile. I smile back. She must be the other hopeful.
"How was it Chlo?" Asks a blonde woman, who I think is her Mom.
"It went great!" She turns back to me, "Good luck!"
"Thanks," I say whilst smiling. I see another blonde walking into Studio G to stretch. Jeez, all these, "Blonde Blondes" are making me feel like a brunette with my dirty blonde hair.

I head into Studio H, extremely nervous and anxious. I pray to God, and then continue.
"Hi there!" A women with a red bob-cut says.
"Hi!" I say, kind of giggly.
"So you're Madison?"
"Yes, but I like to go by Maddie if that's okay,"
"Of course it's okay sweetheart!" A tall man says.

"You'll do great. Oh, I'm Julie, the current owner, and this is Ellison, my assistant, and Dave, one of our main choreographers," says Julie. She has wavy blonde blonde hair, that's half up-half down, and a really pretty face.

"So first, we would like to see some ballet," Ellison says, "do as many fouttés as you can."
I do my prep, and release from my pleà, right into my turns! I do eight, before I gracefully come out of it.
"Wow," I see Dave mouth, as he writes a note on his paper, and I'm guessing it says, Good turner, or something like that.
I do get a lot of compliments for my turns, probably as they're one of my strengths.
"And now, some piqueé turns?" Julie says.
I do some piqueés as well.
"And of course, your grandè jetès," Dave says. I run, run, run... and LEAP!

"Alright we're moving onto tap," Julie says, and I get my tap shoes on.
"Do sixteen counts of tap improv, and go!" Ellison yells. Improv's one of my favorite things about dance, being able to show what you can do, and just thinking on your feet, whoo, does it give me a rush!
"Alright, next can we see six time-steps and two breaks, starting on the right?" Julie asks.
"Yes ma'am," I say. I do the six time-steps, and the two breaks, and look up at the table. The teachers aren't letting their opinions and their expressions mix, as I have absolutely no clue what they might be thinking.
"Alright, now Ellison-who, take note, is the main tap choreographer-will teach you a routine, and you have to perform it to the best of your ability," Julie says as Ellison rises from her seat, and makes her way over to the center of the studio. Ellison teaches me the combo' and it's challenging, but nothing I can't handle. I perform for them, and they then say it's time for contemporary.

I run over to my bag and slip on my half-soles. I make my way to center.
"We are going to make you improv to the entire song, human by Christina Perri, really use your emotion, and add in some challenging moves and tricks," Dave says, getting his notepad ready. Oh, I'm ready. I do some leg holds, some a la secondés, add in my strong tricks, but not too many as I'm not a big tumbler. Once the music finishes, I walk off to the right side of the studio, making sure my toes are turned out, a tip I learned from Dolly.
"Good, now may we please see your illusion?" Dave asks. I nod and do four illusions, two on the right, two on the left.

"Good, hip-hop time," Dave says, rubbing his hands together. I gulp, I hate hip-hop. I get changed into my sneakers, and walk back to where I was. They teach me a combination, that was quite difficult for me, because, like I said, I'm a weak-link in hip-hop.

They continue to challenge me on my jazz, musical theater, lyrical, and tumbling, and they release me, saying the results will be out tonight. I smile, thank them, grab my bag, and walk out.

There's that girl I saw earlier, getting ready for her audition.
"Break a leg!" I say to her.
"Thanks uh-"
"Madison Ziegler."
"Paige Hyland."

"You ready?" Mom asks me.
"Yeah, I am," I say.
"Was it fun?" Kenzie asks.
"Yeah, you excited for your classes?"
"Yeah!"

Kenzie had already auditioned as mini auditions were a week ago, and she was selected for the Mini Advanced Competition Team, and her schedule was as follows:

Important Notices: All classes on Mackenzie Ziegler's list are ages 6-9, other than Tuesday, as Tuesday is the day we focus on our dancers weaknesses, and she will be with all ages. Thank you, happy dancing!
Monday: Jazz Advanced, Tumbling Advanced Intermediate
Tuesday: Technique Focus, Turning Focus, Improv Focus, Tap Focus, Lyrical Focus
Wednesday: Competition Rehearsal
Thursday: Helping With Tots' Tumbling, Ballet Intermediate
Friday: Pre-Pointe, Contemporary Intermediate Beginning, Musical Theater Advanced Intermediate
Saturday: Tap Intermediate Beginning, Lyrical Intermediate Beginning, Hip-Hop Intermediate
Yeah, she got a good schedule, so I really hope mine's good too.

***

"Yeah, I just finished auditions for the studio. How's practice going?" I was on the phone with Millie, my friend from Pittsburgh, who was in a play.
"It's called rehearsal, and it's going well."
"Jeez Mills, I never thought you would be correcting me on a word!"
"Well there's a first time for everything."

All the sudden my computer screen lights up, with an email from Creative Dreams. It practically makes me jump.
"Uh, Mills, I gotta' to. Talk to you later," and I hang up without any explanation. Taking a deep breath, I open the email, and...