Chapter 5
Hannah made sure to get to practice extra early. She wanted to make sure she had time to warm up before everyone else arrived. She was already out on the gym floor, stretching, when the coach walked in.
“Hey there, early bird,” Coach Erica called from the doorway. “How have those practice videos been working out for you?”
“Great!” Hannah said. “They’re really helping. I feel a lot better now.”
“Keep up the good work!” the coach told her. “I can’t wait to see what you’ve learned at practice today.”
The other girls trailed in and took their spots on the floor. Caitlin gave Hannah’s ponytail a friendly tug as she walked over and sat down beside her to stretch.
“Everyone take a seat,” Coach Erica called. “I have a couple of announcements to make before we get started.”
She held up a slip of paper. “Our invitation to the regional competition just came,” she said. “We’re going to spend the next two weeks practicing our routine with rotating positions. At the end of those two weeks, we’ll hold tryouts for three solo spots. That way, you’ll all have a chance to learn all the moves and prepare if you decide to go for a solo. Any questions?”
Hannah raised her hand. “Do we need to come up with a performance for the tryouts?” she asked.
“Good question,” Coach Erica said. “I’ll have you all run through the solo spots for the competition routine. No one needs to come up with anything new. I want everyone to be focused on learning the competition routine.”
There was lots of excited chatter as the coach walked over to her MP3 player and started the music. An upbeat medley of ‘80s music came on.
Coach Erica did a quick run-through of the performance. She started crouched on the ground before slowly rolling her body up to a standing position. When she reached the top, she stuck her left leg out to the side and pirouetted across the gym floor.
She makes it look so easy, Hannah thought as she watched Coach Erica demonstrate the routine.
When the coach was done, the girls took positions and started working. A lot of the steps were harder than the stuff they’d been working on so far.
Hannah could tell that the routine was going to look awesome. But the changes in tempo between the songs were going to take some getting used to.
As they practiced, Hannah looked around at her team members. I wonder who’s thinking of trying out for a solo, she thought. I wonder if I could get one.
Hannah wasn’t sure she could compete with some of the more experienced dancers. Was it worth trying?