Showtime! by Sheryl Berk

Author:Sheryl Berk
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2013-12-26T16:00:00+00:00

Over the next few days, the Divas spent hours in the studio, learning the intricate choreography Miss Toni had created to crush their competition. She rolled in a TV on a table with a DVD player.

“Cool! Are we gonna watch a movie?” Gracie chirped.

“Is there popcorn?” Liberty asked.

Miss Toni clapped her hands. “Enough,” she said. “This isn’t movie night. We’re going to study the competition. I want to show you why City Feet won last week—and why they’re going to continue to win unless we do something about it.”

She hit Play, and last week’s dance routine popped onto the screen. “See how perfectly in sync they all are?” Toni pointed to the screen. “Phoebe has flawless technique—look at that intensity and confidence.”

“I have intensity and confidence,” Liberty piped up.

“You can say that again,” Rochelle muttered.

“But you don’t have that natural turnout,” Toni pointed out. “Or that effortless grand jeté.”

Scarlett had to admit: they were pretty amazing. Next to City Feet, Dance Divas looked like a big hot mess.

“Mandy is a powerhouse,” Miss Toni continued. “She’s young, but she goes for it, a hundred and ten percent.” She looked over at Rochelle. “I don’t see that from all of you.”

After an hour of analyzing City Feet’s performance, Miss Toni was pretty fired up.

“Everyone, on your feet!” she said.

Rochelle groaned. “It’s going to be a long night. I can feel it.”

They ran their routine over and over, trying to get the moves smooth and in sync. But that wasn’t all. Thanks to the DVD, Miss Toni now wanted to see “projection.”

“How do I project being a candy bar?” Rochelle complained.

“That should be easy for you . . . You’re nuts!” Liberty smirked. “Get it? A candy bar with nuts?”

“Then clearly you should be a sour candy,” Rochelle tossed back. “That’s not a stretch.”

“Guys, cool it. Miss Toni . . . ,” Scarlett whispered.

But Miss Toni was way too busy picking apart the team’s technique to pay attention to any squabbles between the girls. “I want to see razor-sharp kicks—no bent knees!” she screamed over the music. “Push! Push! Push!”

The number, “Sweet Revenge,” was an acro dance filled with tricks and splits, set to a rapid-tempo disco tune. In the center of the stage would be Gracie, catapulting herself into a succession of flips. “Let me see that cartwheel,” Miss Toni instructed her. “Now back handspring!”

“I can do a lot of them!” Gracie obliged, cartwheeling across the entire studio floor.

“Not bad, not bad,” her coach replied. “But, Gracie, you have to control your energy and your movements. You have to focus them so they’re precise and contained. Got it?”

Scarlett chuckled. If Toni thought she could control Gracie’s energy, good luck! Her mom always said that trying to make Gracie sit still was like trying to hold a wet bar of soap in your hands. It always slipped out from between your fingers.

“Do you think we’ll win this weekend?” Gracie asked Scarlett.

Honestly, Scarlett didn’t know. City Feet was a force to be reckoned with, and she wasn’t quite sure the Divas were ready to take them on again.

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