The youngest dancers were all seated on the floor of studio four when Miss Andrea and Mr. Minnelli walked in. The ballet mistress, Miss Noreen, was taking attendance.
“I need Olivia, Julia, Alexa, Madison, and Gracie over here,” she said, pointing to the center of the floor. “Please stand in first position.”
The girls all stood up and took a spot in front of the mirrors. Gracie skipped over and waved to Mr. Minnelli.
“I’m going to teach you a little combination,” Miss Noreen explained. “Everyone watch, because you’ll have to do it, too,” she instructed the other children gathered on both sides of the room.
The routine was fairly simple: balancé, a pirouette, and a grand plié.
While the others struggled, Gracie mastered it in minutes.
“Nice, Gracie.” Miss Noreen wrote on her clipboard. “You pick choreography up quickly.”
“It’s easy-peasy.” Gracie smiled. Mr. Minnelli couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Do you want to try something that’s not so easy-peasy?” he asked her.
“Sure!” Gracie beamed. “Bring it on!”
He nodded at Miss Noreen, who asked the rest of the group to take a seat while she taught Gracie a combination.
“Now take it slow,” she instructed her. “It’s very complicated.” She did the step alongside her as she called out, “En face ballonné devant, step left, coupé derrière sauté, step right, coupé derrière sauté!”
The other kids scratched their heads, but Gracie mimicked her perfectly. At the end, she gave a graceful curtsy. “How was that?” she asked Mr. Minnelli.
“Fine. Fine indeed!” he said, impressed. “Where do you study?”
“In my bedroom mostly—sometimes on the couch but my mom says I shouldn’t do my homework while watching TV ’cause then I don’t pay attention and I get the answers wrong.”
Miss Andrea and Miss Noreen both giggled. Mr. Minnelli cleared his throat. “No, dear, I mean where do you study dance?”
“Oh! Why didn’t you say so?” Gracie replied. “At Dance Divas. My teacher is Miss Toni and she’s fantabulously talented and really pretty and she let me join the team with my sister, Scoot.”
Mr. Minnelli raised an eyebrow. “You have a sister named Scoot?”
“Well, I call her Scoot, but it’s really Scarlett. Scoot’s funner, don’t you think?”
“I do.” Mr. Minnelli nodded. “And I think you may just be the funnest audition I have seen so far today.”
Gracie smiled wide. “Can I have some candy now?”
Meanwhile, in studio one, Liberty and Anya were waiting for their turn to dance.
“Look at her posture.” Liberty pointed out a girl who scrunched her shoulders up as she did sixteen changements in a row. “Hideous!”
A tall man with wavy dark hair and steel-blue eyes came in and sat on a stool in front of the room.
“Do you think that’s …,” Anya asked.
“Miss Toni’s old boyfriend?” Liberty finished her sentence. “Only one way to find out!”
Liberty raised her hand. “Excuse me,” she said sweetly. “We’re from the Dance Divas Studio in Scotch Plains, New Jersey, and Miss Antoinette Moore told us to tell you hi.”
The man looked up from his notebook. “You study with Toni?” he asked, surprised.
Liberty smirked and elbowed Anya. “Mission accomplished. That is definitely Marcus Sanzobar.”
Marcus rose from his stool. “Well, I would expect Toni’s dancers to be the very best …,” he began.
Liberty smiled. “Of course we are. At least I am.”
Marcus’s face got suddenly stern. “And I’d also expect them to be a little more respectful and modest.”
He turned to face the rest of the dancers. “And now if there are no more interruptions, I’d like to get on with the auditions.”
Anya gulped. “Nice job, Liberty. He hates us already.”
In studio two, things weren’t going much better for Scarlett, Rochelle, and Hayden. Miss Andrea walked in and immediately began putting them through their paces.
“Relax those hands. Keep that head tall,” Miss Andrea reminded Rochelle. “You!” she pointed at Scarlett. “You were wobbly on that piqué en dedans! Strong legs!”
Hayden’s tour chaînés looked great—until another dancer accidentally spun into him and knocked him over. “Watch where you’re going!” the boy yelled at him.
“Me? I’m not the klutz! Why don’t you look where you’re going—and stay off my feet!” Hayden replied.
Miss Andrea sighed. “I have to say I was hoping for more from the elite Dance Divas competitive team,” she said.
Scarlett shot Rochelle a worried look. Miss Toni expected all of them to get leads in The Nutcracker. Scarlett wondered if any of them would even make it into the cast!
Bria was doing her best in studio three to follow the intricate tendu and pirouette combination that Miss Becky, another one of the Dances Minnelli ballet mistresses, had demonstrated for them. But she couldn’t remember if the count started on six or on five, and if she should start with her right or left. She chose wrong.
“Why are you going left when everyone else is going right?” Miss Becky asked her. “You’re a beat behind.”
“I’m sorry. Could you just go over it one more time?”
Bria wished that at least one of her Diva teammates could be in the studio with her. She could always look over to Scarlett or Rock and they’d help her get back in sync with the routine. Here, she felt like the odd dancer out. None of the other girls were going to offer her any hints or help—not when there were principal roles at stake.
“One more time from the top,” Miss Becky said. “And anyone who doesn’t get it this time, please take a seat. We can’t waste time on people who can’t keep up.”
Bria’s eyes grew wide.
She knew Miss Becky meant her.