Silver Shoes 2 (7 page)

As soon as I heard the first lines of the song come over the speakers, and the drumbeats start, I felt like all my blood, bones and muscles had suddenly come to life.

Us girls began the dance, sitting around on couches and chairs, doing these popping, locking and isolation moves like we were rich and bored with nothing much to do. It was like we were in a trance.

Then we hit a sequence, dancing with our heads down, so our faces were shadowed by the huge hats we wore. This was meant to show that we were ‘faceless', with no identity, but also to stop the audience from seeing the monster make-up we had on underneath.

Then Tove had to pretend she heard something (which was the boys trying to break in) and the pace sped up and we got more crazy.

Right at the end, we all threw our hats off, showing our monstrous faces to the audience, and dashed off stage.

It was panic round the back as shirts and hats went flying everywhere. The boys had 32 counts to do their sequence, and then the girls had another 32 counts to slowly creep on stage and start scaring them.

32 counts sounds like a lot, right? It isn't!

But we got there. We looked so awesome creeping onto the stage in our scary outfits.

I could see everyone out the corner of my eye. It must have looked so cool from the audience too, because the girls were in these brilliant colours swarming onto the stage and surrounding the boys, who were in their black and white outfits.

Then it got really funky. We all started dancing to the same choreography. We worked right into the ground, with our feet doing lots of jerking, walk-it-outs and smooth kick steps while our arms went crazy. Jay had us weaving in and out of patterns and formations all over the stage.

You know the thing I really love about hip hop? It comes back to Jay's favourite thing: hitting it.

Hitting the beat, hitting the move, hitting the feeling, hitting the choreography. When your move matches perfectly with whatever has just happened in the music, it feels like
BAM, got it! Your body brings the music to life.

When I began to do my partner work with Benji I could tell that he felt it too.

Don't get me wrong, I don't mind doing solos, but group dances are extra special. I guess it's kind of like watching art on the stage, because the choreographer has designed everything to look a certain way. And the energy on the stage is such a rush.

I've never had that much fun dancing, ever.

When the dance ended the boys finished up in a heap on the floor while we girls stood around them in a circle, laughing and jeering. Then Janet Jackson sang, ‘
I'm gone
,' and we spun on our heels and stalked off, leaving the boys in a muddled mess.

The applause started before we'd even left the stage.

After the performance we were allowed to go  out and say hello to everybody who'd come to watch us. I love that moment after the dance, because often when people see you it's like they're looking at you in a whole new light.

It's a really nice feeling knowing you've done something that has wowed someone else.

‘Ash, Ash, over here! Ashley!'

Ellie, Riley and Paige were standing off to the side, waving at me. When I got closer, Ellie ran up and gave me a huge hug.

‘That was so cool, Ash!' she said. ‘Oh my god, when you came on, it was so scary. You were great! And who would've thought Tove was into hip hop! Look, Jasmine, Daisy and Indianna are over there. I was spying on them during the performance. They looked super impressed.'

‘I'd call it super jealous,' said Riley with a grin. ‘You really showed them why you're the face of Freestyle. Leaving Dance Art was the best thing you ever did!'

They walked by then. Jasmine, Indianna and Daisy were all over Tove, telling her they ‘knew she was a great hip hop dancer all along'. Tove turned round a little, rolled her eyes at me and then gave me a wave.
I waved back. I was glad she'd done something different from her friends and shone all on her own.

Ellie and Riley kept hugging me and wanting to know about the dance. Paige seemed a little distracted. She was looking over to where Benji was talking to his parents. It must have been strange to see him dance hip hop when she was so used to him acting all proper in ballroom! Finally she gave a little start and looked at me.

‘That looked like heaps more fun than my last ballroom competition.' Paige grinned.

‘You'll have to ask Benji about that,' I said. Paige blushed and looked down.

I thought maybe she had a little crush.

I spotted Bridget and Brimax near the back of the crowd and began leading the girls over to them.

‘So, what next?' Ellie asked. ‘Are you gonna be in video clips and stuff? Maybe you should learn to breakdance? I heard you get really bad back injuries, though.'

‘AshFunk!' Brimax yelled when he saw me. ‘There she is! What a performance!' He swept me up in a big hug. ‘Man, I knew my boy Jay would get it out of you! And what about those kicks!'

‘I think they helped a lot,' I said, smiling at Bridget.

‘The shoes look great,' she said, giving me a kiss. ‘So did you. Well done, Ash, I'm so proud. I didn't know my little sis could move like that!'

‘Taught her everything she knows,' said Brimax.

‘You did not,' said Bridget.

‘Well, I was an inspiration, at least.'

Bridget went to play-hit him but he grabbed her and they started being all gross and lovey-dovey, so I looked away.

And I saw Mum and Dad.

They seemed a bit out of place, and they were still in their work clothes, but they were there, standing only a few metres away.

So they'd finally made it to one of my performances. They couldn't have picked a better one!

‘You were beautiful, Ash,' said Mum. ‘Or funky. Or … what's the right word? Whatever it is. You were perfect.'

‘Totally cool,' said Dad, doing a move that was exactly the opposite.

I reached forward to give them a hug before I died of embarrassment.

But I wasn't really embarrassed. I was a big, fat, excited ball of happy.

I had a pair of the most amazing, delicious purple, silver and gold high tops, great new friends and was in my own dance crew.

And none of it would have ever been possible, unless I'd come to Silver Shoes!

 

Full name:
Ashley Adele Jenkyns

Nicknames:
Ash, AshFunK

Age:
10

Favourite dance styles:
Hip hop & funk

Best friend:
Riley

Family:
Mum, Dad, and my 18-year-old sister, Bridget

Favourite colour:
Purple

Favourite food:
Peanut butter sandwiches and jelly snakes

Favourite school subject:
Science

Hobbies:
Dancing, being in a dance crew, watching YouTube, playing practical jokes,
volunteering with Coastwatch, swimming, snorkelling (in summer!)

What I want to be when I grow up:
A dancer. Or a marine biologist.

Best dancing moment:
When I finally tried hip hop and our crew performed at the festival

Things I Iove:
Hanging out with Bridget and Brimax, big family dinners, watching hip hop battles and seeing all the different styles, making people laugh, sea animals (turtles are the best!), the beach, helping Dad in the garden and, of course, dancing!

A front aerial is an acrobatic move, often found in hip hop dancing, in which a person performs a complete revolution of the body without touching the ground. Follow the movements in the illustration below for a front aerial that is both smooth and strong.

Tips

• Practise doing front walkovers and one-armed walkovers before you try to do a front aerial.
  
• Push up off the ground on your leading leg rather than out or forward. This will help you achieve the upward momentum you need.
  
• Don't forget to stand up straight at the end!
  

Hey guys! I've made a list of some of the terms and moves that we use in hip hop class. There are a few acro terms here too, because Jay loves to put tricks into his choreography! Always use mats if you're trying anything new or hard, and remember that the move isn't always the most important thing, it's the ‘flava' you put into your dancing. Have fun ‘hitting it'!

Love, Ash

 

aerial
a front walkover performed without any hands on the floor

b-boys/b-girls
what you call dancers who breakdance

body roll
when your whole body moves in a wave-like motion, most often starting with your head

boogaloo
the aim is to dance so you look like you have no bones; it's a very loose movement that involves mostly rolling your hips, knees and legs

breaking
breaking/breakdancing tends to be made up on the spot; you perform the moves at different levels, switching from uprock (performed while standing), to downrock (performed close to the floor), from power moves and acrobatics to freezes

choreographer
the ‘designer' of a dance routine. Choreography is all the moves, sequences, patterns and form that make up a dance.

cranking
a crisscrossing bounce/jump travelling step, where your arms come up like you're riding a motorcycle

elbow stand
this is like doing a handstand, but on your elbows, and usually one leg will be bent while the other is extended over your head

float
a foot movement where you switch between putting weight on the toe and the heel so smoothly it looks like you are floating or gliding across the floor

floor sweep
to sweep the floor in a circular motion with your foot and then move backwards on the other one

isolation
moving one part of your body while you keep the rest still

jerking
a movement where you bounce from one side to the other using your knees, keeping low to the ground, a ‘groove'

kick step
a low kick to the front followed by the opposite leg stepping out to the side

locking
a series of locking movements where you perform a quick movement, lock into another position and then hold the last position for a beat. Usually your bottom half is relaxed while your top half does all the work!

popping
this is quickly contracting and relaxing your muscles so it causes a jerk in your body. You usually perform it with other moves or poses.

reebok
a travelling groove step where you rock from side to side using your feet, and your arms follow your body round

running man
where one knee bends up to the front while the other shuffles back; you should stay in the one spot

side somersault
a cartwheel performed with out any hands on the floor

walk-it-out
sitting low and keeping your knees bent, your legs twist from side to side while moving forward

wave
where your body stays still while you hold your arms out so it looks like a wave is moving fluidly from one hand to the other

wop
a bouncing groove where your knees bounce with the emphasis on the upbeat, and your arms and head swing left to right