Flying (Fight Song Book 2)

Chapter 27: Bruno

Joe's PoV
Bruno is still yet to arrive at the studio, and I have to admit I'm pretty nervous now. I look around at the other dancers and I can tell they feel the same. There's not much we can do without a studio head to make decisions. Alesha has been teaching us a few combos that we could put into our finals routine, and Dianne and I have rehearsed our duet a few times. Everyone seems to approve of it, which is good. It's one dance down.

"I'm still not sure about Bruno," Dianne says, biting her fingernails. "Like, I know Shirley wouldn't have sent him to us if she thought he was bad, but I'm just not used to having really laid back teachers. I like knowing that my teacher has an actual plan and isn't just making it up as they go along. I also like a teacher who actually tells us when he's going to turn up." She frowned, looking to the floor.

I nod and wrap her in my arms. It's a reasonable opinion. I have to admit, that even worries me. Although I quite like improvising, I'm not entirely sure Nationals is the place to do it.

"He's gonna be fabulous, I can feel it in my bones," Neil smiles, coming over to sit with Dianne and I.

"And how, might I ask, did you reach that conclusion?" I raise my eyebrows at him, still with my arms around Dianne.

"Shirley's friend and he sounds like fun," Neil smiles and shrugs. "Plus, in times of adversity I feel it best to think positive."

"Positive attracts positive," Dianne smiles, sitting up. "The law of attraction. Neil's right, let's think positive."

I smile at her. It's something I've always loved about her, is her ability to just turn a negative mood into a positive one, and try and think of the best case scenario. I personally always thought it's easier to think worst case scenario so you could never be disappointed, but I have to admit that thinking positively makes the present so much more enjoyable.

"DANCERS, I HAVE ARRIVED!" a man suddenly comes in, throwing the doors open and walking to the centre of the floor. He's wearing tight black trousers, a white shirt and the most sparkly silver jacket I've ever seen.
I glance at Dianne and Neil. Dianne looks like she's in a complete state of shock, but Neil looks like he's just won the lottery.

"Bruno! Hi!" Alesha smiles, rushing up to him. She looks equally as taken aback as Dianne.

"Hello, everyone," Bruno smiles and waves at us all. "Now, I understand you're disappointed that Shirley has left, and you're probably thinking I'm not good enough to see you to Internationals, but I can assure you that I am. In actuality, I don't even matter that much. It's YOU that's going to get to Internationals. I am merely here as a mentor, a guide. Ultimately you know what's best, and by being given the creative freedom to create your dances you will go much further than if you were restricted by millions of rules," he waves his hand in the air in dismissal. This was interesting. We aren't used to being given the freedom to create what we want except for duets and solos, and even then they're monitored. Nothing is put on the stage without Shirley's express permission.

"I love this guy," Neil whispers to me. I find myself nodding in agreement.

"Now, just so I know where you're at, why don't we warm up and then show me what you've got," Bruno beams at us all, taking a seat. Everyone nods.

"Warm up!" I shout, nodding at Alesha to put the music on. I lead my team through a warm up and stretching, then we start on the dances.

With everything that's been going on, none of us have seen every dance yet. Obviously we know where we're at with the group dances, and we're aware that the other dances are going on and who's doing them, but we haven't actually seen them. Most of our time in class is spent choreographing and learning the group routines.

"The solos for Nationals are improv," I say to Bruno. "So Chloe and I will be just improvising. Dianne and Neil will also improvise because they're the understudies. Might as well get some practise!"

Bruno nods and gestures to us to proceed.

Chloe dances first, and I just know we have a real shot of winning Miss National Soloist with her improv skills. She's exceptionally talented. I go next, and it pleases me to see the impressed look upon Bruno's face. Then Dianne dances, and she looks beautiful as always. Finally, Neil, who Bruno also looks thrilled with.

"We have some great contenders for the solos!" he claps his hands. "Can I see the duet now?"

Dianne and I stand up and smile. This will be the first time anyone has seen our duet. We know it's good, but we just have to hope the others are just as pleased.
The music starts, and the dance begins. It's amazing how easy it is to dance with Dianne. She makes everything seem so simple and right; her facial expressions are perfect, her technique is flawless. It's magical. There are cheers and claps at the end, and I look over and see Amy crying.

"That was beautiful," she smiles, wiping a tear from her cheek. "That's going to win, undoubtedly."

"Thanks, Amy," Dianne smiles.

"Those lifts!" Bruno looks at us in disbelief. "I've never seen anything quite like it! Phenomenal, fabulous! There are no words."

Dianne and I beam, and I hug her close, placing a kiss upon her forehead.

"Dream team," she smiles up at me.

Next comes the small group, which is actually fantastic. I hadn't realised just how far they've come and how spectacular it looks. The rest of the team agreed. Then it was the group dances, arguably the worst rehearsed of them all.

"So, the group dances need work," Bruno nods. "The concepts are great, and your choreography is wonderful, but we need to go above and beyond. Will these routines win? Probably. But we need to make sure that they're so good, they'll definitely win. Yes?"

We all nod. Bruno is definitely going to be a great teacher. He's giving us creative freedom but also making sure we're going to win. He's actually better than Shirley. I can't quite believe our luck. I feel a lot more confident about Nationals now than I did a week ago.

Sorry this chapter is short and sorry it's taken so long to update, I'm just not with it recently. Hopefully the next one will be better!