Melody Ziegler ➼ Dance Moms

It All Ends Here

Here we are! Nationals 2011. This season I feel has went by so fast. We are in Lake Tahoe to do our second to last competition. Our official last one is going to be in Hollywood next week. I love Lake Tahoe it is absolutely beautiful here. We all walk into the dance studio for this week.

"Hello, ladies. Come on in." Abby waved. Everybody got settled in for pyramid.

"Here we are in another studio, another week. We need to learn a new group routine. This is tough. We have to do it today, and there's props. Now, I want to reflect on the past two weeks. I keep telling you guys, you have been given an amazing opportunity. You've been hand-selected to go across the country and learn a new number each week and do these competitions. And you are not stepping up to the plate." Abby explained.

"I want to see energy, enthusiasm, fun. If you don't want to do it, there's probably a hundred other kids that would love to be in your shoes right now. So, I need to see motivation. I want you to want to win. This is my reputation on the line, it's my name. But by now, it's also your names. So, I'm gonna start with Paige. You pulled your solo. Not much more to say. Next, Melody. You didn't dance last week. Moving on, Mackenzie. You also didn't dance last week. Nia. You were fun, you were entertaining, but you didn't place. Next we have Chloe. You did your solo well and it was cute, but it also didn't place. Brooke. You got third place in the teen category with a hurt shoulder. And back on top, we have Maddie. Maddie, I gave you the week off, you stepped up your technique in the group dance, and you did well at Dance Educators." Abby quickly went through pyramid. No dramatic reveals or anything.

Maddie

Brooke Chloe

Nia Mackenzie Melody Paige

"Maddie, you are doing your solo and a duet with Chloe. Chloe, you will also be doing your solo. Paige and Brooke, I'm giving you a duet. I want you to work together as friends. I do not want you fighting as sisters. If you waste time and energy bickering back and forth, you're never gonna get it finished. Everybody is in the group number this week– even Mackenzie and Melody." Abby revealed. The two of us gave each other a high-five. It's been a while since we have gotten to dance– especially in the group routine.

"Every single one of you are an important part of this puzzle. And in a group routine, everybody needs to pull their weight. And I'm telling you what: we need to win. All right, let's get to rehearsing, let's get moving." Abby finished. We took our dance bags to the back of the room and changed, so we could start rehearsal. Before we started working on the group, Abby called everybody over.

"Okay, ladies, the piece is called 'Beautiful.' And what it's about is not how pretty you're gonna be in your costumes, not how pretty your hair is, but what's on the inside. And it's about taking a good look in the mirror– not at what you see, but like the internal mirror. Are you getting any of this, Mackenze, Melody? Yeah. It's a little deep. Hold the mirror and cover your face." Abby instructed. We finally started on the group choreography. After working on the group routine, Chloe started working on her solo. Chloe definitely seemed a lot different while working on her solo.

*Four Days Until Nationals*

"Hey, moms? Come on in here. I want to talk to you." Abby said. They were rhinestoning this weeks costumes. The four moms walked into the other studio room. The rest of us girls were just hanging out playing uno since this was our break to get off filming. Suddenly, Kelly came back into the room and looked very flustered.

*Two Days Until Nationals*

"Come on, guys. Let's go. Everybody brought a towel?" Abby said. Today Abby is taking us out of the dance studio and on a little field trip to the lake.