Warm Up

by Sara Leach

  Jasmine tried to ignore them all. As soon as class ended, she grabbed her stuff and bolted for the door.

  At school on Friday, Jasmine dropped into a seat at the lunch table next to her friend Will. She groaned as she bent her sore legs to sit.

  “Another hard class?” Will asked.

  Jasmine nodded. “Killer.”

  Will was also a Moondance student, but he wasn’t on the dance team. He took hip-hop and funk classes from another teacher.

  “Miss Carina still on a tear?” he asked.

  “Oh yeah. Yesterday we worked for half an hour on eight counts of music. It was so painful. She made us do it, like, fifty times, and then, after all that, she changed it! I was so mad.”

  Will shook his head. “Why’d she change it?”

  “Because she said we weren’t doing it right. Maybe she wasn’t teaching it right.”

  Will laughed. “Did you say that to her?”

  “Yeah, right. Can you imagine?”

  Will stood up, blocking the aisle between the lunch tables. He imitated Jasmine. “Miss Carina, we aren’t the problem, you are!” Then he turned around to face the other way. He sucked in his cheeks, stood like he had a pole up his back and turned his feet out.

  Jasmine started to laugh. He was standing exactly like her teacher.

  “Jasmine Natasha Verbenka!” he screeched. Kids at tables all around them were staring, but Will didn’t pay any attention. “Get out in the hallway and give me five hundred stomach crunches. Then you come back in here and kiss my feet until you’ve learned some respect!”

  Jasmine laughed so hard that orange juice sprayed out of her mouth and landed on his shoes.

  “That will be another thousand crunches!”

  As Will sat down, Jasmine tried to mop the orange juice off his shoes with a napkin.

  “Don’t worry—they looked too new anyway.”

  A shadow appeared over them. “You shouldn’t be making fun of Miss Carina like that. She’s a good teacher.”

  Jasmine looked up. It was Melanie, the only other member of the Moondance team who went to her school.

  “Uh, right, Melanie. Because you’ve never complained about her before,” Will said.

  Melanie stood with her arms crossed over her chest, her feet turned out and one leg in fourth position in front of her. She looked exactly like the dancers in a famous Degas painting. Or like Miss Carina. Jasmine wondered if she’d practiced standing like that.

  “She makes us work hard, but she gets results.”

  “We’re just having fun, Melanie. Lighten up,” Jasmine said.

  Melanie sniffed.

  “It’s not like I was imitating you,” Will said. “But I could.”

  Jasmine snorted more orange juice. Melanie stalked off, swishing her blond hair behind her. “No thanks,” she said over her shoulder. “See you later.”

  “What was that all about?” Will asked. “She used to be nice. And I’ve heard her complain about Miss Carina hundreds of times.”

  “I told you, being moved to the front spot has gone right to her head. It’s like Miss Carina told her that she was the star of the team or something.”

  “Maybe she did.”

  Jasmine thought about that. Melanie had known ahead of time that she would be moved, which meant she and Miss Carina had had a one-on-one at some point. Who knew what Miss Carina had said? Maybe Will was right.

  They watched Melanie glide through the lunchroom. Her head barely moved up and down as she walked. She’d definitely been practicing walking like a dancer.

  Jasmine turned to Will. “If Miss Carina meant to make things better by singling out Melanie, she made a big mistake. She’s created a monster, and our team is falling apart. Chelsea and Melanie aren’t speaking to each other. Darveet has joined up with Chelsea. Felicity is siding with Melanie, and Andrea, Shira, Robyn and I are stuck in the middle.”

  “Sounds like a party,” Will said.

  “It’s the worst. Too bad you aren’t on the team. It would be way more fun.”

  “No way,” Will said.

  “Why not? You’re good enough.”

  “I don’t want to be the only boy on a team of girls.” He grinned. “Everybody would start fighting over me, and then you’d be in even worse trouble than before.”

  Jasmine rolled her eyes and swatted him on the arm. “You wish!” But he was probably right. Will was very good-looking, with sandy blond hair, bright green eyes and a wide, mischievous smile. She knew that many of her girlfriends had crushes on him. He might cause some problems if he were on the team. To her though, he’d always just be Will, her friend since grade three.

  “Besides,” he said, “I only like hip-hop.”

  “You haven’t tried anything else!” Jasmine said.

  “Not true. When I first started dancing, my mom put me in tap, ballet and jazz.” He scrunched up his nose and stuck out his tongue. “She keeps a picture of me in a frog costume on her dresser. Don’t make me relive that experience.”

  Jasmine opened her mouth to protest, but the bell rang.

  “Time to go,” Will said, standing up and shoving his water bottle into his backpack. “Another scintillating afternoon of learning awaits us.”

  “Uh-huh,” Jasmine said. “Math and social studies. Yahoo. I’d almost rather be doing stomach crunches.”

  Chapter Five

  At practice on Tuesday, Jasmine’s arms felt slightly less tired when they did their tendus and push-ups. Maybe Miss Carina had been right. Dancing was easier when you were stronger. She was still hot, sweaty and tired by the end of warm-up though.

  Miss Carina began teaching them the next section of the dance, which was almost completely changed from the old version. “This part of the dance is the journey. The music turns dark and forceful. Listen for the cellos that are highlighted in this section. You’re angry at having to leave, and you take it out on the creatures you meet along the way. Watch.” She strode and turned across the room, making complicated moves with her arms and feet. She looked so angry that Jasmine took a step away. Miss Carina stopped and turned off the music. “You’ll be in partners. One person will be the girl, the other a creature of the forest.”

  Jasmine was glad they already had costumes. What if Miss Carina had made half of them wear antlers or fake fur?

  “Shira, Jasmine, Darveet and Chelsea, you will be the girls in this section. The rest of you, go sit down and stretch while I show them what to do,” Miss Carina said.

  The other four girls moved to the back of the room, grabbed their water bottles and sat on the floor.

  “We start at stage left,” Miss Carina said. “It will take sixteen counts to move from here to the other end of the stage.”

  “That should take six or seven classes to teach,” Shira muttered into Jasmine’s ear.

  “Shira, no talking!” Miss Carina snapped. “Listen!”

  Jasmine bit her lip to keep from smiling at Shira’s words.

  “First step is a half turn, then a leap onto your right foot, with your left foot pointed, turned out and six inches off the ground. Bend at the waist, scoop your hands down and out over your leg, then stretch them out straight, reaching beyond your foot. Your head follows your hands. That’s count one.”

  Jasmine’s head swam as she tried to keep up with Miss Carina’s rapid-fire instructions. She watched her teacher do the move twice and then attempted to copy it.

  “Turn your foot out, Jasmine.”

  They did it again.

  “Right, you’ll have time to practice later. We need to keep going. From there, keep your left leg in the air, bend it, and swing it around behind you. Way behind you, into a lunge.”

  Jasmine did as she was told, hopping on her right foot to keep her balance. As she did s
o, she became aware of whispering and giggling behind her. The four girls who were supposed to be stretching were watching them closely. Melanie and Felicity had their heads together.

  Jasmine wondered what they were talking about. Had they noticed that she was having a hard time keeping up with Miss Carina’s instructions? Usually the girls clapped or cheered encouragement when one small group finished a combination of moves. Since the last competition, that didn’t happen anymore.

  “Jasmine, keep up. You missed the arms entirely. They need to swing around your head while your leg swings. And look up, not at the ground.”

  There was another giggle. They were definitely laughing at her.

  “Next step,” Miss Carina said.

  Jasmine sighed. She still didn’t understand the first two moves. At least Chelsea and Shira were in her group. They could help her figure it out later.

  “Here, you’ll be meeting the woodland creatures. First you’re surprised, then you’re angry. You push off your right foot, turn, come to relevé on your left and stop like you are preparing for a pirouette, with your right toe at your knee. Hold it for a count with your arms at your sides. You’ll need to engage your core muscles or you’ll fall out of it. I want to see a look of surprise on your face.” Miss Carina demonstrated, pushing out of her lunge, spinning and coming to a complete stop in the other direction while balancing on the ball of one foot. She made it look easy.

  Jasmine tried and promptly fell too far forward. The next time, she put less force into it and didn’t make it to relevé.

  “Last move for you today,” Miss Carina said. “After you’ve held that for a full count, you’re going to lunge forward onto your right foot, making a straight line from your head to your left foot. Now you’re mad. I want you to look fierce.” She demonstrated, her features so enraged that Jasmine took a step back, and then stood up, her face back to its normal, stern-looking self. “Any questions?”

  Jasmine had about a million, but she didn’t know where to start.

  “Go to the corner of the room and practice while I work with the other group.” She waved to the girls who were supposedly stretching. “Come on, girls, your turn.”

  “I’m so dead!” Jasmine said as they walked to the corner of the studio. “I’ve already forgotten the first step!”

  “We’ll figure it out,” Shira said.

  “Yeah, we’ll help you,” Chelsea said. “I want to show those other girls how good we are.”

  “You mean InMotion?” Jasmine asked.

  Chelsea snorted. “No! I mean them.” She pointed to the girls who were working with Miss Carina. Melanie saw her and smirked.

  “Didn’t you hear them making comments about us the whole time we were dancing?” Darveet asked.

  “Yeah, who do they think they are?” Chelsea said.

  Jasmine bit her lip. “Shouldn’t we be a good example and not worry about them, just focus on ourselves?” She paused, wondering if the other girls would turn on her for what she’d said.

  “That’s what we’re going to do,” Chelsea said. “Focus on ourselves so we can be better.”

  “C’mon,” Shira said. “Let’s get going.”

  They reviewed the steps. Between them, they thought they remembered most of it. They ran through it. Every time they got to the relevé, Jasmine lost her balance in one direction or the other.

  “This move is impossible!” she said.

  “Keep trying,” Darveet said. “You’ll get it. Are you holding in your core muscles?”

  “I think so.” Jasmine didn’t really know.

  “Stop for a sec,” Darveet said.

  Jasmine stopped dancing and faced Darveet.

  “Say ha really forcefully, like you’re in karate.”

  “Ha!” Jasmine shouted. The girls who were working with Miss Carina stopped dancing and turned to look at her.

  Darveet ignored them. “Did you feel how your muscles tightened?”

  Jasmine nodded.

  “Those are the muscles you have to keep tight while going up onto the ball of your foot. Without saying ha, of course.”

  Jasmine tried tightening the muscles without saying ha. She could do it if she thought the word in her head and breathed out a little bit.

  “Thanks, Darveet,” she said. “That works.” Why hadn’t Miss Carina ever shown her that trick?

  “Let’s put it all together,” Miss Carina called out.

  “Oh no,” Jasmine whispered. “I still haven’t got it.”

  “Don’t worry,” Shira said. “It’ll be fine.”

  Miss Carina motioned them over to the far corner of the room. “We’ll be in partners for this move once again. I want Darveet and Robyn at the front of the stage. Darveet, you’ll start right in the corner. Robyn, you’ll be about five steps away from her.” The girls ran to their spots.

  “Chelsea and Melanie, you’ll be the next pair.”

  Someone gasped. There was an awkward silence while everyone waited to see what would happen. But the two girls just glared at each other and took their spots.

  “Shira and Andrea, you’re next, with Jasmine and Felicity at the back.”

  Jasmine thought the back was a good place for her on this sequence. Maybe nobody would notice if she tripped.

  “Creatures, take your positions,” Miss Carina said. The four girls crouched to the ground.

  “And travelers, five, six, seven, eight.”

  Jasmine started her moves with the other three girls. Jump, stretch, lunge, relevé. As she wobbled on her relevé, trying to hold for a count, Felicity did a backward shoulder roll in front of her and came up onto her knees with her arms crossed in front of her forehead. Jasmine had to put her foot down before lunging forward over Felicity.

  “Not bad. Do it again. Remember, travelers, you’re supposed to look surprised when you are on relevé, then angry when you fall into the lunge. I should see the power coming through every pore.”

  They ran it again. Jasmine tried to feel surprised and angry, but mostly she worried about getting the steps right.

  “Take a break,” Miss Carina said. “I want you to watch Melanie and Chelsea. They showed me the emotion I want to see.”

  “No doubt,” whispered Shira.

  The girls sat in front of the mirror and watched Chelsea chase Melanie across the floor. Miss Carina was right. You could see the anger pulsating through Chelsea. Was Melanie supposed to look angry too? She certainly did.

  For the rest of class, Miss Carina taught them the last count of eight for their partner work across the stage. By the end, Jasmine’s head was reeling. She could barely keep the main steps right, let alone all the details for heads and fingers that Miss Carina was telling them.

  As everyone got ready to go, Miss Carina called Jasmine over to her office. “I want to talk with you for a moment.”

  Jasmine walked over with a sinking heart. The muscles in her back squeezed into a giant knot. Would Miss Carina say she wasn’t good enough for the team?

  “Come in,” the teacher said.

  Jasmine looked around the office, at the binders of information about ballet lessons and the schedules posted on every square inch of wall space. Her shoulders had climbed up around her ears. She forced herself to relax her muscles and drop her shoulders.

  “You are a good technical dancer,” Miss Carina said.

  Jasmine’s head snapped to her teacher. That was the last thing she’d expected to hear. “What?”

  “You work hard, you’re flexible, you listen well. I can tell that you’re trying to get the steps exactly as I explain them.”

  Jasmine nodded. Wasn’t that the point?

  “That’s all very important. But there’s one thing that’s missing.”

  Jasmine sighed. “I know. The
emotion.”

  “That’s what makes the difference between a good dancer and a great dancer. Especially in lyrical.”

  Jasmine nodded. “I’m trying, but I don’t know how.”

  “I’m not sure that lyrical is the best type of dance for you.”

  Jasmine gasped. “You mean I’m off the team?”

  Miss Carina shook her head. “Not at all. I couldn’t rechoreograph the whole dance for seven people on such short notice. I mean that maybe next year you should try a different style of dance.”

  Jasmine blinked back tears. Why did her teacher have to start by getting her excited when really she was saying that she wasn’t good enough for the team?

  “In the meantime, keep trying to find the emotion. Dig deep. Draw on your experiences. I know you have that emotion inside you somewhere. Maybe you’ll surprise me—and yourself—and figure out how to show it to the audience before the finals.”

  Jasmine nodded and backed out of the door, not able to say goodbye. She ran downstairs, passing Andrea and Darveet, who were still pulling on their sweaters. She was able to hold back the tears until she was in the street.

  Chapter Six

  Jasmine’s mom was waiting for her in the car outside the studio. “What’s wrong?” she asked as soon as Jasmine climbed into the passenger seat.

  “Nothing.”

  “You’re crying. It can’t be nothing.”

  “I’m not good enough.”

  Her mom backed the car out of the parking spot. “Come on, honey. You’re a great dancer. You wouldn’t have made the team if you weren’t. And you wouldn’t have helped your team make it to the finals.”

  Jasmine sobbed. “Miss Carina told me I don’t express enough emotion. That maybe I should try a different style of dance next year.”

  Her mom was quiet for a few moments. “She said that to you? With two weeks left to go before the competition? That’s unacceptable.”

  Jasmine could hear the anger in her mom’s voice. “She told me I’m a good technical dancer too.” She didn’t know why she felt the need to defend her teacher.