Relevé to the Top

Chapter 6. She's A Fighter

"Last month, we were in Providence, Rhode Island, an hour outside of Boston. Some of the most prestigious dance studios in the country were there. Tough schools, tough competitors, and you all really held your own. You won the victory cup; you killed it. I'm very proud of you."

Lexie didn't cheer with the rest of the girls. While the group did well, she still didn't think she deserved to win with her solo.

"Excellent, I'm very proud of every one of you, and you know I don't say that too often," Abby continues. "I'm also very proud that all the moms kept their mouths shut and didn't say anything to me. See how much nicer it is when everything goes so smoothly, it's wonderful. Now let's talk about this weekend's competition." She turns the blackboard around. "We are going to..." she points at the word 'Starpower' written in big letters on the board.

"Starpower!" the girls yell back.

Abby picks up a piece of chalk and starts writing on the board. "It's at Mohegan Sun in Connecticut, and it's a resort; It's all self-contained; we can't forget anything. So we will have a wardrobe for each day we are gonna be there, just like the old school day. Yes? And you will pack here in front of me, so I know that you have everything. Let's talk about the board. First of all, everybody worked together as a team. That teamwork is gonna help you at national; that's what's gonna put you over the top. Teamwork and technique that's what we're gonna work on this week."

Abby looks at the Moms. "Moms, we're doing another new number. One more costume! This week I'm gonna ask you to work harder than you've ever worked before. We need to show up and walk in there like we own the place, and I will give you a pack list for clothes for the trip, and I want them dressed a certain way for every day that we are there. Does everybody understand that? Yes? Moms, thank you very much. Ladies, let's get up, let's go."

The girls got off the floor while the Moms headed to the viewing rooms. Before they started with the routine, Abby had the girls pull the barre's from the walls for their warm-up.

"Stronger arm, stronger arm," Abby walks around, pausing to smack Maddie's arms. She hits Maddie's arm three more times before moving on to Lexie's. "Stronger arms, stronger arms. Good. Passe."

Half an hour later, they finish barre, and after pushing the barres back to the wall, Abby gathers them around her. "Alright, girls, the new number that we're gonna do for this competition is 'Make You Mine.' Can everybody say that?"

"Make You Mine," the girls reiterate.

"I want you to get the older girl chairs," Abby orders.

Lexie grins in excitement before following the rest of the girls out of the room. They never get to use the big girl chairs hence why they're called the big girl chair. It was a sign that Abby thought they were mature enough to handle props.

Once they return with the chairs, Abby begins choreographing the routine. The routine itself is a sassy jazz number, and as fun as it was to use the chair, there's a lot of issues with syncing.

"One, two, three, four, jeté, roll," Abby directs. "Turn that foot out, Nia, arms up straight." She walks behind Nia. "Two arms Nia! Where are these arms supposed to be? Last night at dinner with your Dad, that's where she arms her."

The more mistakes Nia made, the harsher Abby became. "You'll get it. Pop up! I want it strong. This is the third time in twenty minutes that I'm telling you the same thing. You're the last one, and it was a hundred percent, hundred percent, hundred percent, hundred percent, hundred percent, hundred percent, hundred percent, fifty percent. One more time to do it. One, two, three, four, five. It's still not sharp enough; it has to come up. Watch it when the next group does it."