Lights, Camera, Dance! Read online

  The director told us Fine China wanted to make a video that was fun, funky and fresh. He also said that Fine China wanted to use kids as his dancers because he knew how much opportunities like this meant to him when he was young.

  As if I wasn’t in love with him enough already!

  Our first shoot was the sea creature dance sequence on the beach. After that we had to go to a large indoor tank, where we’d shoot some underwater scenes as the creatures. Tomorrow we would shoot the dance scenes at the party.

  First we all had to go to the make-up trailer and get our underwater creature faces painted on. Benji was next to me, squinting at his reflection in the mirror.

  ‘It’s too early to be a sea monster,’ he grumbled.

  ‘Well, I won’t need to do much work: you look like a monster already with that face,’ the make-up artist told him. ‘Sit up straight.’ She gave me a wink and I started to giggle before being quickly told by my own make-up artist to keep my face still or I would end up with eyes the size of a raccoon.

  ‘Personally, I’ve always been a bigger fan of the panda look,’ I joked.

  ‘Your costume for this scene is in the next trailer,’ she said, after I’d sat there for what felt like hours. ‘It will be hanging up in a plastic bag with your name on it.’

  I checked out my reflection: I had scales painted on my arms, neck and face, my hair was pulled back into six tight braids, and I had enormous fluttery blue and silver fake eyelashes on my lids. They touched my cheek every time I blinked.

  Benji’s hair was done up in a giant mohawk with blue tips (it must have been held there by an entire tub of gel). He had gills painted on his cheekbones, and his lips were blue too.

  ‘Aw, you look almost as pretty as Paige,’ I teased him. I then dashed out the door to go get my costume, in case he actually thought of a clever reply.

  My costume was this ace blue crop top with ripped tangles that looked like seaweed, and a pair of tight Lycra leggings. They were metallic and looked like a purple and silver fish tail. It was the funkiest outfit a dancing fish-girl could hope for!

  It was much later in the morning by the time we actually got round to shooting the dance sequence on the beach.

  Let me tell you – it really wasn’t as glamorous as you might think. There was a LOT of waiting around for the cameraman and the sound guy, and about a million takes and angles to shoot from and lights to adjust.

  In between all this, we had to constantly get our make-up and hair touched up – Benji’s mohawk started to droop, and someone got sand stuck to their painted-on fish lips.

  And me, especially – I had more than my fair share of touch-ups. Indianna and Chanel made sure I did. They used every chance they got to flick sand at me while we were dancing, one time so bad that it got into my eyes. I rubbed so hard to get the sand out that I destroyed my eye make-up and ripped off a false eyelash.

  I wish Riley had been there. I knew she would have thrown the sand back.

  When that wasn’t taking their fancy, they took turns in pretending to fall over in the sand and blaming it on me, saying I had ‘stumbled’ into them, or was doing the wrong steps. One time Chanel even held up her arm with a ripped chiffon fin. ‘Ashley! Look what you did!’

  ‘I saw you rip that yourself,’ Benji hissed at her. ‘Stop getting Ash in trouble.’

  Chanel made a face at him but she put her arm down. I smiled at Benji gratefully. It was good to know he had my back.

  By noon I was exhausted! And we still had the underwater scenes to shoot in the tank. But it was my mind that had the biggest case of the yawns. It was tough having to always be thinking one step ahead of Indianna and Chanel. Even though I didn’t want them to, they were wearing down my spirit. There was a niggling little voice in my head asking if I deserved to be here – had I only got this far because of luck?

  What I didn’t know was that their meanest trick was still to come.

  Chapter Fifteen

  All of us kids spent the afternoon in a tank that had been set up with fake shipwrecks, weedy plants and creepy dark cliff props.

  For about three hours we took turns pretending to be sea creatures doing crazy underwater dances to the hallucinating Fine China. There were three cameras for each take – one on us, one on Fine China, and one set up at a distance.

  Some of the kids (ahem, like Chanel) complained that they were cold and they’d come here to dance, not act as slimy sea creatures. It was annoying to listen to, but at least it took their attention away from me!

  I fell into bed that night and dropped straight off to sleep. I wanted to have heaps of energy because tomorrow was the day we shot the big dance party scene. That was what I’d been most looking forward to, and I was determined that Indianna and Chanel wouldn’t ruin it for me.

  So the next day I was feeling very positive when I walked into the costume trailer to get my second outfit for the party scene.

  It was a big billowy blue and green t-shirt with rolled-up sleeves and metallic purple squares sewn into it. Then I had denim shorts with a yellow sash. It was super comfy and very Ashley, and it made me feel like a dancehall queen.

  I pulled down my costume bag from the rack and unzipped the plastic. I reached for my funky shirt – and gasped.

  Because someone had cut it right down the middle. They’d also shredded the neckline and the back of the shirt so it was a big ripped mess.

  There was no way I could wear it.

  I knelt down on the floor with the t-shirt in my hands. I knew who’d done it, of course. Indianna and Chanel. But this wasn’t like the other times. I’d thought I could put up with their mean little tricks and quips because it would be worth it when I got to actually dance with my favourite hip hop star. But now it was ruined. I didn’t even have a costume to dance in.

  All the little stresses of the past few weeks welled up in my chest. No jokes could save me now. They’d beat me. I was just unwanted and untalented Ashley.

  I knew I was about to cry.

  Benji chose that moment to walk in. Gee, for a dancer, he sure had bad timing!

  ‘Hey, Ash,’ he began, ‘I saw …’ He stopped in the doorway. ‘Um, are you okay?’

  ‘I’m fine,’ I said, quickly wiping my eyes. ‘Just getting my costume.’

  Benji shuffled from foot to foot in his awkward boy way. He looked from me to the torn shirt in my hands. He sighed. ‘It was them, wasn’t it?’

  I nodded and forced back more tears.

  Benji rushed over. ‘Listen, Ash,’ he said. ‘They’re not worth it. You’re better than the snobby things they say. All these amazing things happen to you ’cause you’re a talented dancer and you work really hard and don’t let anything set you back.’ He gave a shrug. ‘And you’re funny and cool. And brave. For a girl.’

  I looked up at him with half a smile. ‘Is this something you prepared earlier?’

  He knelt down next to me, took the shirt and waved it in my face. ‘You don’t fool me by acting tough. I know those Dance Art girls get to you. But they’ve been trying to bring you down since you left Dance Art – they’re jealous ’cause as soon as you left, all these opportunities opened up to you and they’re still standing at the barre and looking up at their golden Dance Art walls and doing the same thing they’ve been doing since they were five.’

  ‘You don’t think I’m arrogant?’ I whispered.

  Benji grinned. ‘You’re annoying but not arrogant.’

  I gave a small giggle. ‘Thanks, Benji,’ I said.

  ‘Yeah, don’t mention it.’ He swiped his hair out of his eyes. ‘Really, don’t – I’ll lose all my street cred.’

  ‘You didn’t have any to begin with,’ I teased. Then I took a big breath and looked at the shirt. ‘What am I going to do about that?’

  Benji shook it out. ‘Well,’ he said, ‘I’m no fashion expert. But what if you, like, put some safety pins in this torn bit here –’ he grabbed some pins from the nearby desk – ‘and like, I dunno, tie
it up in a knot at the side and this part of the ripped neckline, and wear it off your shoulder.’ He held the t-shirt against me. ‘Yeah,’ he said. ‘And then, like –’ He looked around the trailer and pinched a piece of yellow mesh from a box under a table. ‘No one’s using this. Wear it underneath, like one of those tube top things.’

  ‘Are you sure you haven’t done this before?’ I asked him, but I followed his advice anyway.

  ‘No, don’t tie it like that, tie it like this,’ Benji said, taking the cloth from my hands and fixing it at my side. ‘See?’ He turned me around to face the mirror. ‘You look awesome.’

  ‘Wow, Benji,’ I said. ‘If dancing doesn’t work out for you, you might have a future in fashion design.’

  Because, on his advice, I had an outfit that was almost better than before! The shirt looked totally dancehall – knotted up and wearing it off the shoulder was very cool. Underneath all the rips you could see the yellow mesh, and it looked great against the metallic purple squares.

  ‘My work here is done,’ Benji said. He held out his hand. ‘Give me some skin for that effort, Ash.’

  I gave him a hearty high five but he grabbed my hand at the last minute and looked at me.

  ‘Really, Ash,’ he said. ‘Don’t let those stupid girls get you down. You’ve got this. You deserve it.’

  Much to his embarrassment, I gave Benji a big hug. He really was part of my Silver Shoes family. And if I couldn’t have my girls here with me, I was glad I had him.

  Chapter Sixteen

  I walked out of the trailer a new Ashley.

  Nothing was going to stop me now.

  And to make that loud and clear, I marched right over to where Indianna and Chanel were leaning against the breakfast table, picking at an orange.

  I saw them take in my new outfit, and I saw Chanel’s face fall. Indianna kept her cool, though. Nothing could have sweetened up her face!

  ‘Hi girls,’ I said. ‘Just letting you know, you can stop trying to get me off the video clip now. I got my place here fair and square, same as you. I also want to say I’m sorry for leaving Dance Art and coming to Silver Shoes, because it’s obvious you miss me and just can’t leave me alone.’

  Indianna’s mouth dropped. ‘That’s not why we … we didn’t do those things because we miss you … we don’t care …’

  ‘Well, you just admitted that you’ve been trying to sabotage me,’ I cut in. ‘I’m not going to go tell Fine China and the director. We both know that you’re the ones who will get kicked off the clip.’

  Indianna pouted and looked away. ‘Whatever,’ she said. ‘Why are you even talking to us? Don’t you think you’re some kind of hip hop celebrity?’

  ‘I’ve never thought I’m better than anyone,’ I said. ‘Why do you think I was so happy to leave Dance Art? I didn’t fit in there. Everyone there wants to compete and be the best. I just want to dance. That’s why Silver Shoes is the perfect fit.’

  ‘Blah, blah, blah, Silver Shoes,’ Chanel muttered. But Indianna just looked at me.

  ‘Listen,’ I said to her. ‘If you don’t like it there, you can leave too. You just have to find where you’re happy. I have, and I would appreciate it now if you could just leave me alone. I don’t hate Dance Art. But I’m just happier at Silver Shoes. Why ruin it for me?’

  Then I walked away and I was done with them. From here on out, all that was on my mind was how much funk I could bring to the choreography. And how I could show Fine China that choosing me for his video clip was one of the best things he’d ever done.

  I’ll tell you what, if the ten of us didn’t know the routine at the start, there was no way we could mess it up by the end. We did it a million times. But Fine China was at the head of the group, and his energy never lagged: he was always smiling and cracking jokes and busting out random moves and making silly faces at us.

  ‘You all having a good time?’ he kept asking.

  He was as cool as I always imagined he would be. It made everyone put in 110 per cent effort so we wouldn’t let him down.

  So we swung around the fake palm trees, and we grooved across the bamboo floor, and when the camera came in for close-ups we mugged and smiled and looked like we were having a ball.

  Which, even though we were all exhausted, wasn’t exactly hard. You can’t not have fun when dancehall rhythms are tickling the ends of your toes and you’re dancing to the song of your favourite hip hop artist.

  ‘Okay, okay,’ Bliss said to us at the end of the shoot, coming up and slinging an arm around Fine China. ‘Now we want some freestyle. We’ll put on the song and roam around with the cameras. We want you all to just move. Do whatever, pretend you’re at a party, just bring the dancehall vibe. Own it. Fine China will be dancing around too. You got it?’

  Well, some of us did.

  When the music came on and the cameras were rolling, I noticed Indianna and Chanel were very stiff indeed. They stood off to one side and made an attempt to dance but they looked awkward and self-conscious with no choreography to follow.

  Me and Benji, though, we ripped it up. We were such great friends and we loved dancing together, so we played off, fake battled and tried to outdo each other with the craziest dancehall move we could think of.

  And then the best thing happened.

  Something that made my recent troubles seem like nothing.

  Because suddenly Fine China was dancing with me and Benji, freestyling with us and laughing and cheering us on.

  And I forgot about the cameras.

  I forgot about Indianna and Chanel.

  I forgot about my tired eyes and aching feet, and all my worries.

  I was just dancing, dancing, dancing, with my best mate and my hip hop idol, and the dancehall beats moving so happily through my body.

  And I knew I’d had the ‘flava’ all along.

  Chapter Seventeen

  The video clip premiered on YouTube a few weeks later.

  I can’t tell you how weird it was, after hours and hours of YouTubing, to suddenly be watching myself!

  Fine China and Bliss held a party at Bliss’ house, so all of us dancers could watch the clip together. We were allowed to bring our friends, so of course Ellie, Riley and Paige came along. It’s always fun to do dance things outside of Silver Shoes, but nothing makes me happier than being with my friends at the studio.

  Jay was there, too, because he was part of Bliss’ crew. Somehow Brimax invited himself along as well, with Bridget on his arm. The only people missing were my parents (they were working), but I felt happy because I knew they would finally be able to see me dancing, even if it was on a screen. I had a feeling I wouldn’t be the only one running up the internet bill with my YouTubing.

  Bliss had linked up his computer to his flat screen, and we were all gathered round, waiting to watch the clip. It was very crowded in Bliss’ living room!

  Paige was sitting next to me, holding my hand. I couldn’t see properly, but it looked like her other hand was hovering suspiciously close to Benji’s.

  Riley was sitting behind me, leaning close, resting her chin on my shoulder. I could hear her crunching popcorn in my ear.

  Ellie was on my other side, sipping a soda and glancing flirtatiously at Fine China out the corner of her eye. When she saw me looking, she gave me a big grin and her green eyes sparkled with excitement.

  Then Bliss put the clip on.

  It was one of the most amazing things I’d seen. I couldn’t believe I was actually a part of it!

  But my favourite bit came at the end. The choreography at the party – just watching it straight out was amazing, but when it was played with all the camera angles and zooming in and out, and cuts, it went to another level.

  ‘Aah!’ I covered my eyes with my free hand when the camera zoomed in on me laughing as I did a nuh linga, and I watched from between my fingers as it then panned to Benji, who was lost in a sequence of chest pops and body rolls. Paige gave a high little giggle.

  Then the s
ong came to our ‘freestyle’. And the best thing happened. I’d like to say it was when the camera panned across Indianna and Daisy standing to the side of the dance floor, scowling and with their arms crossed. But even that wasn’t the best! Because then the camera cut out to Fine China, Benji and me doing our freestyle together, and it stayed on us for, like, fifteen seconds! Everyone was cheering and dancing all around us on screen, and everyone was doing the same on the floor of Bliss’ living room. I darted a quick look at Benji and saw that he felt the same as me – totally overwhelmed! It made me feel so special I wanted to cry.

  Me, Ashley Jenkyns, with my own spotlight in the music video of a famous star!

  I looked up at Fine China and he gave me a grin and a nod, like he’d made sure that our bit had made it into the video clip. Next to him Jay gave me a thumbs up.

  ‘That’s my sister,’ I heard Bridget say, as if she took all credit for my dancing ability.

  ‘Oh my gosh, Ash, you’re a star!’ Ellie screamed in my ear.

  Even Indianna and Daisy gave me a small smile as my eyes passed over them.

  I wondered if one day some girl like me would play the clip over and over on YouTube, trying to learn my moves.

  The thought made me want to throw myself even further into the dancing world.

  I couldn’t wait for my next adventure to begin!

  So You Think You Know Dancehall?

  Fun facts about dancehall:

  Dancehall is also known as ‘reggae’ or ‘ska’. It first gained popularity in Jamaica in the late 1970s. Originally it made great use of drum and bass guitar rhythms, but in the ’80s a more electronic/digital sound was introduced, making the faster style of dancehall we know today.