Lights, Camera, Dance! Read online

  About the Book

  Four friends. One dance school. A whole lot of drama.

  Ash is a true hip hop girl, but it seems a reggae-inspired dance style may have stolen her heart!

  When an agent comes to Silver Shoes looking for the best junior dancers, everyone wants to strut their stuff. Although Ash acts like the class clown, she is desperate to get an interview. Luckily, her smooth dancehall moves grab the agent’s attention, and faster than Ash can ‘butterfly’ she has a shot at dancing in the coolest hip hop star’s new music video. But while Ash normally brings the attitude, on set her old Dance Art enemies are putting her off her game. Will Ash find her ‘flava’, or will dancehall be her downfall?

  Contents

  About the Book

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  So You Think You Know Dancehall?

  Glossary

  About the Author

  Silver Shoes 7 advert

  Silver Shoes 8 advert

  Collect them all!

  Copyright Notice

  For Dyl and Cam – take it to the floor, man.

  Chapter One

  The centre of the living room was my stage.

  I cranked up the volume, and clicked replay on the YouTube video I’d just been watching on the computer.

  Tinashe’s latest song poured out of the speakers and as soon as it hit the chorus I followed along with her dance moves.

  It was some of the best choreography I’d ever seen, and I really wanted to learn it. So far I’d got the first verse down and made up my own chori when the camera cut away from her dancing.

  I wondered if my best friends Riley, Ellie and Paige, would agree to make our own music video. Ellie was really good at the parts where you just had to sing to the camera. That must be her musical theatre jazz background.

  I’m a hip hop girl, so I’m more about the moves, but I can bring attitude if I need to!

  We all go to Silver Shoes, the best dance school in town. Riley is the ballerina of the group, and Paige does ballroom, but we all do jazz. Jazz class is where we met and became friends (after a bit of a rocky start!).

  The chorus finished and I crashed down onto the computer seat, panting. I took a big swig of apple juice while I watched the choreography for the second verse.

  ‘ASHLEY!’

  There were three loud bangs on the living room door. I nearly fell off the chair.

  ‘WHAT?’ I yelled to my big sister, Bridget.

  ‘Get off! I need to use the internet for my homework!’

  ‘It’s my turn!’ I yelled back. ‘I’m doing homework! Go use your phone!’

  ‘I went over my plan!’ Bridget huffed.

  ‘Then stop texting Brimax all the time,’ I called, finally pausing the video. Brimax is her boyfriend, and she is totally gooey over him.

  ‘Ash!’ Bridget burst through the door like a dog at dinnertime. ‘You’ve been in here for two hours! Stop being a hog.’ She peered over at the screen. Her eyes, already made huge by the lashings of eyeliner she wore, boggled. ‘You’re on YouTube again? If you’ve used up all the data with these stupid videos …’

  ‘They aren’t stupid,’ I argued. ‘And you’re the one who uses up the data with all your Facebook messaging.’

  ‘Facebook hardly uses any data,’ Bridget said, trying to grab the mouse off me. ‘Ashley Adele!’

  ‘Ooh,’ I joked. ‘My full name. It must be serious.’

  ‘Ashley,’ said Bridget again. ‘I’m looking after you today so you have to do what I say. Now get off.’

  ‘Bridget,’ I said back. ‘You’ve spent the last two hours snuggling up to Brimax and grooming him like a monkey. Now you suddenly want to look after me?’

  ‘Don’t be cheeky, Ashley,’ Bridget snapped, her temper flaring up, along with her nostrils. ‘You wouldn’t be like this with Mum …’

  Suddenly a big hulking frame filled the doorway. It was Brimax. He had our home phone in his hand.

  ‘Ladies,’ he said, smirking, ‘while you two have been in here getting on so famously, you seem to have missed the phone ringing. I, very graciously, answered it for you. We have a Miss Eleanor Irvin on the phone for Miss Ashley.’

  ‘Great.’ Bridget rolled her eyes. ‘Now you’re going to take over the phone as well.’ She swooped in onto the computer seat.

  ‘Don’t get out of YouTube,’ I said, heading for the door.

  ‘Don’t get out of YouTube,’ she mimicked, in the worst imitation of my voice ever.

  ‘Thanks, Brimax,’ I said, as I reached for the phone. ‘Hello?’

  Geez. Me and Bridget’s shouting had nothing on what I heard next.

  ‘Oh my gosh, Ash!’ Ellie screeched. The birds sitting on the telephone line outside probably shot up at the vibration her voice made.

  ‘What?’ I asked, holding the phone away from my ear.

  ‘An agent is coming to Silver Shoes tomorrow! She’s looking for the next big star!’

  Chapter Two

  Turns out the agent wasn’t coming just to find ‘the next big star’.

  She was looking to sign up new junior dancers. She would watch a few classes and then invite some of the students to come in for an interview at the agency.

  It was like circus time at Silver Shoes when I came in for jazz class. There was definitely a bit of competition hype in the air.

  I walked into the change room and Ellie was over at the mirror, tracing her lips with bright pink lipstick. I saw that she’d also put eyeliner and mascara on. Her strawberry blonde hair was in a high, bouncy ponytail.

  ‘Hey,’ I said, dropping my Danceworks backpack on the bench next to her. ‘I didn’t know we had a date tonight. Where are you taking me?’

  ‘Haha, Ash,’ said Ellie. She puckered her lips in the mirror, tilting her head at different angles. ‘I need to look my best for the agent. I’m lucky I even found out she was coming. Cadence only told me at our Mary Poppins rehearsal, because her mum is best friends with the agent. She represents Cadence as well.’

  Cadence is Ellie’s new best friend outside of Silver Shoes. They both got into a musical, and at the moment are in the middle of rehearsals for the show.

  Ellie stepped back from the mirror. ‘Do I look okay?’ She held her arms out and gave me a twirl.

  She looked as cute as a button. Ellie was wearing her favourite metallic pink racerback with the silver hearts, and the latest sparkly green Lycra dance shorts from Danceworks. They made her big green eyes pop.

  ‘I wish we were going on a date,’ I teased her. ‘I’d have the belle of the ball on my arm.’

  ‘Oh darling, you always say the nicest things,’ said Ellie in a posh British accent. Then she looked at me. ‘I, er, brought some other crop tops if you want to wear them,’ she said. ‘Just in case you want to, you know, change it up.’

  I take it my black shorties and white t-shirt didn’t quite make the Ellie fashion grade.

  Paige and Riley stumbled into the room then and I was saved from having to say that I didn’t think Ellie’s pink ruffles were quite my style.

  ‘Oh no!’ said Ellie, whirling around. ‘She’s already here?’

  ‘No,’ said Riley. ‘But the beauty salo
n called. They want their test subject back.’

  Ellie tossed her curls but Riley laughed. ‘Kidding, Ellie,’ she said. ‘You look very eye-catching.’

  ‘You look really pretty, Ellie,’ said Paige. ‘But class is about to start. We came to get you.’

  ‘Excellent,’ said Ellie. She gathered us into a huddle and walked us out like we were part of some big plan. ‘Now remember, girls, we should stand in the front so we get noticed. Not at the back and definitely not in the middle.’

  ‘Can I stand at the back anyway?’ asked Paige. ‘I already have an agent. My mum.’

  ‘And I don’t really want an agent,’ said Riley. ‘Can I stand at the back too?’

  Ellie dropped her arms from our shoulders and swung round to face us.

  ‘And what about you, Ash?’ she huffed. ‘I suppose you don’t want an agent either, so you’re all just going to leave me up there to face it on my own.’

  ‘I haven’t really thought about it,’ I admitted. ‘Yeah, it would be cool, I guess. What do they do? Like, get you jobs and stuff?’

  Secretly, I thought it might be good to earn a bit of my own pocket money so I wouldn’t have to ask Mum and Dad every time I needed something. Asking them for money was like having teeth pulled out!

  ‘It’s the best contact to have in the industry,’ said Ellie. ‘And this particular agent is amazing. Cadence is off at singing jobs all the time. She sang on an ad for Bubble Beads last week.’

  ‘Yes,’ I agreed. ‘My life goal has always been to be the voice of Bubble Beads.’

  ‘I’m more of an Eternity Earrings kinda gal,’ Riley said.

  ‘Anyway,’ Ellie continued, ignoring us, ‘you all have to stand up at the front with me. That way there’ll be less room for Jasmine to suck up.’

  Jasmine is Ellie’s number one dance frenemy. They’ve had this competition between them since they were small. I actually think they kind of admire each other, although both of them would rather eat sweaty ballet tights than admit it!

  Jasmine was one step ahead of us, because she and her best friend, Tove, were dead front and centre when we walked into the studio.

  It didn’t bother Ellie. She went and stood right next to Jasmine, while I took my place beside her. Riley and Paige got away with filing in behind us.

  ‘Whoops,’ said Jasmine, taking in Ellie’s make-up. ‘The circus auditions are in the other studio.’

  ‘Ohhhh,’ Riley spoke up. ‘That’s where I saw you coming from before.’

  ‘It’s a shame they only let you audition for the role of the monkey,’ Ellie added.

  ‘Who needs a circus with all this free entertainment?’ I said, swapping glances with Paige and Tove. Even though Tove is Jasmine’s sidekick, she’s kind of my friend. We’ve been in a hip hop crew together.

  Our teacher, Miss Caroline, walked in, with a neat and tidy lady next to her. The lady was wearing a tight black skirt and a silk blouse, and she looked younger than I’d expected. She also seemed much friendlier and nicer than the Cruella de Vil character I’d been imagining.

  ‘Hello class,’ said Miss Caroline. ‘How are we feeling?’

  ‘Well, Miss Caroline,’ everyone chorused.

  ‘How lovely,’ she said, smiling and stopping at the sound system. ‘And I hope you will all be just as lovely to my friend here, Brittany Clover.’

  ‘Hello,’ Brittany said cheerily, waving a hand.

  ‘Brittany works for the Dream Big Agency,’ Miss Caroline said. ‘She’ll be watching in on a few classes throughout the next couple of days. If you catch her eye, you may be invited to audition for her agency. I believe they are looking for some snazzy young dancers to join their books.’

  ‘That’s right,’ Brittany said. ‘Please, don’t be scared. I’m probably more nervous than you! Just have fun and do what you normally do. I’m looking not only for natural talent but big personalities!’

  I looked across at Ellie, and Jasmine next to her. If she wanted big personalities, she’d come to the right place!

  But as we settled into warm-up, I began to wonder if she might be into tomboy hip hop class clown personalities, too.

  Chapter Three

  ‘And then what happened?’ my friend Benji asked me.

  I’d spent the last half an hour sorting out new dance posters to put up to replace the old shabby ones around Silver Shoes. Miss Caroline and I have an agreement that if I help out with odd jobs around the studio when she needs it, I can get my hip hop classes at a discount rate.

  But now it was the start of hip hop class and our teacher, Jay, was finding his music. Today Benji had tried to channel Jay’s shaggy side-swept surfer cut, although with his glossy, thick, dark hair, I don’t think Benji had quite nailed it.

  Benji has been my friend since we danced in a hip hop crew together for a fundraiser event. After that I got him to join the Silver Shoes hip hop class. He’s also Paige’s ballroom partner – and secret crush – but both of them will study their shoes very hard if you mention it.

  ‘Nothing really happened,’ I said. ‘The agent just sat there all through class and watched. It was like a normal lesson, except Miss Caroline chose a more hip-hoppy song for the choreography at the end. She called it “commercial jazz”.’

  ‘What’s that?’ asked Benji.

  ‘Kind of like a mix between jazz and hip hop and musical theatre,’ I said. ‘Less technical and more about being showy and performing.’

  ‘Right up Ellie’s alley.’ Benji smiled.

  ‘It was heaps fun, actually,’ I said. ‘Sometimes it’s good just to let loose and not worry about whether your attitude back turns are at the right angle.’

  ‘Got it!’ Jay yelled suddenly. He waved his arms at us. ‘Who wants a little bit of old-school Sean Paul remix in their lives? Come show me the love, kids.’

  As soon as the beats came over the speaker I was in my happy place. Jay had picked the ‘Get Busy’ remix by Sean Paul and Fatman Scoop. It was a perfect blend of hard-hitting hip hop and smooth, groovy dancehall-reggae style that you knew your feet and hips were going to go crazy for.

  ‘Dancehall is very uptempo,’ Jay explained. ‘The steps are fast, rhythmic, and the body is elastic – it never stops moving. You can go smooth to slow slide to bang bang bang, where my hips at? Who’s seen African dance? Dancehall has roots in that. The body never stops, the ’tude gets bigger and bigger. Lemme show you the basics.’

  The moves he showed us had very funny names, like ‘whining’ and ‘pon di river’ and ‘to di world’ and ‘frog back’. They were steps where having the groove was important, but when they were all joined together, it felt like a big celebration. It was a very happy style of dancing.

  It was while we were learning how to ‘butterfly’ – a move where your knees rolled in and out, kind of making a shape like a butterfly – that Brittany Clover walked in. This time she was wearing a cream smock dress and grey scarf.

  Jay didn’t stop our choreography but I heard her say to Jay as she passed him, ‘Sorry, I’m late.’ Then she went and sat down in the corner.

  A few people shot her curious glances, but suddenly my heart was beating faster than the rhythm of the dancehall music (and that was fast!).

  Because I realised just how much I wanted to impress her. Last night (while Bridget was out with Brimax and couldn’t tell me off) I’d done some googling on what an agent does.

  If you were a dancer they got you auditions to music videos, dance projects, TV shows, awards nights and musicals. I certainly didn’t have Ellie-large dreams of being famous, but having an agent would help me get the exposure I needed to take my love of hip hop to even bigger places.

  Plus, I liked the idea of making my own money and being self-sufficient – something Mum tells me I need to work on because she and Dad are always trying to earn enough money to keep our family going. That’s also why I do some work at Silver Shoes – so it isn’t as hard on Mum and Dad’s wallets to get me here!

 
‘Benji,’ I wheezed, during a break in the music. ‘That’s the agent.’

  ‘Huh?’ he said.

  ‘The agent.’ I nodded at Brittany. ‘That’s her. She must be watching this class too. So dance your best!’

  Benji shrugged and made a face like it didn’t bother him, although I noticed he suddenly got a lot more animated, like I’d just pushed his ‘on’ button.

  ‘I like this,’ Jay enthused, clapping his hands with the rhythm as we finished another round of choreography. ‘I might keep this for one of our competitions. What’s coming up next?’

  ‘Urban Idol,’ Tove panted.

  ‘Urban Idol, it is,’ Jay said. He turned his cap backwards, which he always does when he starts to get excited.

  ‘Ash and Benji, come up here. You’re both butterflying so hard you’re gonna give birth to caterpillars. Now, the rest of you …’

  Benji and I swapped glances as we moved up. No matter how many times it happens, getting put in the front row is one of the best feelings.

  Benji stood there, trying to look like a cool kid who got singled out all the time. I teased him while Jay got everyone else into position.

  We weren’t there for long though because class ended soon after that. I went to get my bag from the change room, but as I walked out I saw Jay wave at me from round the door of the studio.

  ‘Ashfunk,’ he said. ‘Over here.’

  I grinned at him. ‘Why? You want to steal my moves?’

  ‘Better,’ said Jay. ‘Come on.’

  And he did have something better in store:

  Brittany Clover, with Benji standing beside her.