turned the iPod on and jammed along to all my new songs while I was cleaning out the costume room at Silver Shoes. It was shaping up well, and I was getting a nice little pile of outfits for my shoot. On top of that, I couldnât believe I was up to my third hip hop class already!
Jay made us stretch a lot. It wasnât like jazz, though, where you spend a lot of time doing one stretch, and you switch cleanly from one to the other. Jayâs style was really fluid. It reminded me of yoga, which Iâd seen Bridget doing in her bedroom (when she thought no one was watching).
ââCause we gotta get limber,â Jay said, as we did side lunges, bam, bam, bam, left to right with barely a pause. Then we did ten minutes just on abs. I was used to that, because we did a lot of core work in jazz, but my abs were grumbling at me by the end.
I looked over at Tove, and she pulled a face like she felt my pain. It made me laugh, which made my abs hurt more.
As soon as we got up to dance, my shoe decided to fall apart. The whole sole of my left Chucks began to peel away, and a big split appeared on the side. I tried to keep dancing with it, but Jayâs eyes were as sharp as his moves.
âLose the shoes, Ash,â he said to me while the others were getting a drink. âYou look like a seagull flapping about.â
Of course once the shoes were gone and I got over the embarrassment of being barefoot (no one noticed anyway), I found myself hitting everything that Jay showed us. I was getting familiar with my own hip hop style and the moves came out the way my body told them to, instead of me trying to mimic everyone else.
There was even partner work in the sequence that Jay taught us.
Guess who my partner was.
Guess.
Tove.
I thought she would drop me, because she had to catch my hands and help flip me over so I did a mini somersault in the air. Then we both did a front aerial.
It sounded scary but we practised on the mats first, and having someone elseâs hands supporting me and holding me up meant it was unlikely Iâd go splat on the floor.
Plus Iâd done gymnastics for a few years when I was younger, so I was pretty good at tricks or anything acro.
Tove and I kept hitting it, over and over again, and eventually Tove was flipping me over so fast and we were doing our aerials insync that Jay started hollering, âLook at Cirque du Soleil over here!â
You know what? I started to feel like Tove and I could be friends. I guess having someone stop you from face-planting into the floor makes you start liking them a bit.
Jay called us over after class. âGirls, girls!â he said. âKilling it! Those flips! You come straight from the Olympics or what?â
âIâm an undercover gymnast,â I said.
âIâm just naturally good,â said Tove, but she was joking. Who knew she had a sense of humour hidden under that Jasmine-inspired scowl!
âSo Iâve got a proposition for you,â said Jay.
âA what?â said Tove.
âI wanna make you an offer,â Jay said.
âTen million bucks,â I said.
âKeep dreaming,â said Jay. âIâll give you ten dollars.â
âThis better be good then,â I joked.
âYouâll love it!â said Jay. âListen up. Thereâs a hip hop festival coming up in about a month.â
âI know!â I said. âI went to the fundraiser night for it. It looks awesome!â
âLook at you, all down with the battles,â said Jay.
âIâm G,â I said, which was something Iâd heard them say in one of the dance movies Iâd watched.
Jay laughed. âYouâre not G, but you both know how to hit it. So I want you to be in the junior crew Iâm putting together. I got asked to choreograph something for the final showcase. You in?â
âIâll have to ask my mum,â said Tove, âbut IÂ think it will be
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Master of The Highland (html)
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