McKinna Maryen Ziegler had lived in the shadows for most of her life, letting her sister have the spotlight. Until an opportunity for a chance to be on a reality TV show sent her into a spiral of fame, friendship and favoritism.
People can only be t...
"We are going to Starpower, it's at the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut." Miss Abby announces, "And it's a resort. It's all self-containe, we can't forget anything, so we will have a wardrobe fro each day that they are going to be there. Just like the old school Days. Yes? And you will pack here in front of me so that I know that you have everything." Cathy looked grim as of course she wanted Vivi to stand out with her exclusive costumes. I hope Vivi knows her mom needs to get over herself.
"Let's talk about the board. First of all, everybody worked together as a team. That teamwork is gonna help you at Nationals. That's what's going to put you over the top." Miss Abby tells us all, giving us a stern look. "Teamwork and technique, those are the two things that we're gonna concentrate on this week. Moms- we're doing another new number. This week, I'm gonna ask you to work harder than you've ever worked before. We need to show up and walk in there like we own the place. I will give a pack list for clothes for the trip. And I want them dressed a certain way every single day that we are there. Does everyone understand that? Yes?"
After the moms head back up to Dance Jail, we do a barre warm-up, with Vivi and Kenzie stuck in a corner, just as always. Next year they would probably have more luck. If Vivi and Cathy even lasted that long. Miss Abby told us after the stretch that everyone had a solo, except for the youngies and me.
"McKinna, I'm dissapointed in you. You from a straight winning streak with nearly perfect scores to losing to your sister by a margin. So until you can prove to me you deserve a solo to prove you should get one at Nationals, no more solos until next season." everyone gasped and I slumped. No more solos? This was horrible. "I expect you to help Mackenzie and Vivi-Anne with their duet as well as helping the other girls." Turns out we are also doing 'Where Have All the Children Gone'.
So bored for the rest of the day, I watched Maddie practise her solo, 'Angel', a lyrical routine, and helped Kenzie and Vivi-Anne, because they were both struggling and Abby said I had to. Not that she had to tell me that. Then Gia called me away for a private and we went over the 'Skin' routine, in case one of the other girls couldn't perform. As much as I loved the routine and how it was contemporary, I just don't believe it was ever designed to be a winning routine, like 'Cry' or 'Dandelions'.
I guess I finally understand what it is like to be Paige or Nia.
-Three Days To Competition-
Miss Abby had given us the list of clothing and other items required for the trip. With all the free time I now have, I helped her make it but I still wasn't happy that I had to wear pink or vintage floral. The list was: red and black travelling, think pink, animal print/safari, black and white nightmare, cocktail dress, vintage floral, odds and ends, bathing suits, cover ups, red and black sweat suits, new pink cover ups toiletries, night clothes and shoes. Plus the big reminder down the bottom, 'and remember, you bring it, you carry it!'.
Turns out Brooke's solo was already finished and just needed polishing, so we practised an old acrobatic jazz routine we used to do all the time. But then James called her into a senior class and I was stuck back to scrolling on Instagram. Why did I not bring my Nintendo, of all the days? At least both Paige and Nia had solos with good choreography.
Abby yelled for us all to come in and practise the group dance. It is super fun, it is called 'Make You Mine' and it is a jazz routine.
ALDC life can be pretty boring sometimes.
Especially when your mom realizes you aren't doinga nything and yells at you to get some homework done.
-Two Days To Competition-
"I have the costumes." Abby starts to sing as she enters the Dancer's Den, just after Gia ran us through the group dance. Maddie and I look at each other excitedly. Costumes is one of the best parts of dance! "Alright, Nia, you're going to put this one on first, sweetie." Miss Abby shows Nia how to put the costume on, before handing all the girls either their solo or duet costumes. For me, I just get to do the full look for the group dance costume.
I love Chloe's costume though and Brooke's is really cool. The group dance costume is black and shiny, just like my personality. Just kidding, but that is probably what Maddie would say.
"Guys, Kinna's costume matches her personality." my twin laughs as she sees me in it, obviously thinking she is hilarious. Everyone chuckles while I roll my eyes. Twin sense, am I right? Brooke comes back in from her show to the parents saying Abby thought her costume wasn't too bad. "But seriously, the full group dance costume is crazy cool." I do a little runway walk for them and Paige wolf-whistles.
"McKinna, come on in, I want to see what the group costume looks like." Abby calls me in. The moms compliment the costume as I do a little turn and headshot pose. "I like it, very professional and it suits you well McKinna, so that means it will suit at least two out of six." Guess Abby gets benefits out of having a set of identical twins. "Alright, girls, I want to work with the clothes from the list and then we can go over the solos."
That was basically how the rest of my day went, showing Abby the clothes and trying different hairstyles for her so she could pick the ones for each day.
Welcome to life at the Abby Lee Dance Company. -One Day To Competition/Travel Day-
After enjoying a good night's sleep, my eyes were just starting to open when the sensation of cold water flew over me and I screamed. Maddie and Kenzie stood evilly over me as mom flew in to see the drama.
"Madison Nicole Ziegler and Mackenzie Frances Ziegler!" I yell as mom tries to contain her laughter as I jump out of bed and start chasing them around. Until mom told us we had fifteen minutes and we started to panic because nothing was done. Dirty liar, my mom is, we had an hour.
Maddie chose to wear some shorts and a beigey cropped top with sandals, Kenzie chose to wear some random clothes and I decided to go with my ALDC jacket, a white cropped top and some shorts with dandelions embroided on them. Just as a tribute to my first solo of the season.
"This is going to be the best vacation ever!" Mads exclaims, and Brooke, who is in the seat in front of us, turns around.
"It is still a competition though." she says thoughtfully and I look at her confused.
"Isn't that the reason why it is going to be the best vacation ever?" I ask and everyone erupts into laughter. Grinning, I pull up my school work and play Spotify through my headphones while Maddie watches through some old videos and dance masterclasses. I'm not going to point out that she's missed three assessments and has about six math projects over due as well as an art piece she didn't hand in last year.
Sometimes my sister can be, slightly, ah, dance crazy.
When we arrive, we check into the hotel and Maddie, Kenzie and I squeal when we realize that we get our own room because mom was sharing with Holly (Nia was sharing with Brooke and Vivi).
Zieglers for the win!
-Competition Day-
Today's theme was something pink, so I chose pink ballet flats, grey tracksuit pants and a pink off the shoulder top, all light colours. Mads put my hair up into a high ponytail and I did hers into the bun for the group dance, making sure I used every last drop of hairspray I could.
"Come on, you're late!" Abby yells at us as we get down stairs, everyone waiting. I give a look at Kenzie, who had decided that for fully pink day she wanted to go fully pink and dye her hair pink. But without mom's help. There was still some little green bits underneath, nothing too bad but still not ideal. I whisper to Chloe, Paige, Brooke and Nia the morning's situation and they struggle to keep their laughter in.
First up was the group dance, the new one for this week, one of two dances I was in. The dressing room was hectic, with Cathy being a usual pain and us running slightly behind and Abby nearly crying with Kenzie's hair. We had less stretching time then normal too, so it wasn't ideal conditions for a competition we were supposed to own.
"Please help me welcome, 'Make You Mine', number 128." the announcer says and we go out on stage, the costumes shimmering.
