Jeté to Stardom

9. Cathy Brings It On

Why does Abby have a whistle? Nova thinks as she wearily steps into the studio. It was weird. After last week she didn't think Abby would be as chipper as she seems.

"Let's go! Come on!" Abby blows on the whistle. "No time to waste!"

Nova winces, rubbing her ears. That's what the whistles for.

"Ladies, here we are in Los Angeles, California, for the iHollywood Nationals finals, and you are in the city of dreams! There are going to be children that you recognize. The kids that are in the movies, the kids that are on television. These kids here in Los Angeles audition on a weekly basis. They are 'pros.' Maddie, your Mom, is not here; we all make choices. She chose to be away instead of being here with you. So the two of you are gonna be with us this week. And you may get to do things that not everybody else gets to do. I'm gonna move on to our lovely pyramid and the bottom row, and I have..."

Abby rips the paper off Paige and Brooke's headshots in a quick sequence.

"Paige and Brooke, you will not be doing solos; you will be in the group number. Now I've had it out with your Mom. She has told me she can find better choreographers. I'm sure she could. This is Los Angeles, not Pittsburgh. But please understand if you go as an independent, you're out, you're finished. Next, I have Nia Mackenzie duet. So, Chloe, you're going to be doing a solo as well as the group routine.

"Lux and Nova, you will also be doing solos. And no surprise, Maddie, you're gonna be doing a solo this weekend. Now, remember you are undefeated. People are out to get you. You're the one to beat. Does everybody understand how big of an opportunity this is? Those judges at iHollywood are going to be people that are in a capacity to hire you. They are the people that choreograph for television and for film. So it's very important that you step on stage like pros. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Lux nods, along with the rest of the girls.

Nova wasn't so sure about this group routine; they're doing another jazz routine, and she didn't know why when the last jazz routine they did, they placed second. With this being the last competition before their final nationals, she really wanted to win.

An hour into rehearsal, Abby pauses the music and calls them over. "Alright, girls, gather around. Girls, I have a big surprise for you. I have a victory coming to see us, and she knows everything about working that stage. Let's all welcome... Laquifa!"

Nova jumps slightly when the door flings open. Her mouth drops when 'Laquifa' struts into the room. Her mouth counited to stay open even as the other girls let piercing screams. She watches in awe as Shangela owns the small room, ending the performance in a death drop.

"Whooo!" she claps as Laquifa gets up.

Shangela wiggles her fingers at them in greeting. "Well, hello, everyone, my name is Shangela. Today Ms. Abby invited me over so I could teach you about performance art, about being sickening, and about really working it when you're out there. Maybe I can even teach you the death drop."

In response, the girls cheered. From there, Shangela ran the routine with them.

"The death drop really is safe; you're not falling on your back," she explains. "Okay? Here we go. My pumps dah-dah-dah my pumps," she easily falls into the death drop. The girls clap for her as she gets back up. "So Nia, at the ending, we're gonna put that there and let me tell you something, the crowd is going to go wow. You're gonna come up and go-- do your hip, hip, hip, hip and then wipe and then death drop pow."

Nia wavers before falling into the death drop, it wasn't as slick as Shangela's, but it was still awesome. At last, Nova thought so.

"Yes! But instead of stopping halfway down and then laying, try releasing going straight back. They're gonna say, oh my lord, what did she do? You feel good? You ready? I know you ready," Shangela high-fives Nia.