Kids Artistic Review

Note: This is definitely the longest of the stories I wrote for this project. I even had to play with the font size to get it to fit on a single page. I ultimately reworked this story into one of my college essays.

The music is so loud you can almost feel the air vibrating. You don’t think you know the song, but you can’t be sure. Both lyrics and melody are lost in the noise. Even if you were to hear it again in an hour you wouldn’t recognize it. Only the beat of the music can be determined, and you feel it more than you hear it. It’s pulsing through your veins, mingling with your blood, assuring you that there is nowhere else you’d rather be.

The air backstage is thick with sweat and hair spray. It clings to your skin, making your back and arms sticky. Your face weighs about five pounds more than usual, due to the heavy make-up you’ve applied. Your hair has been pulled back in a tight ponytail that will probably stay put even after you’ve taken the elastic out.

The other girls backstage look exactly the way you imagine you do, anxious and excited, maybe a little nervous. Their make-up accentuates facial expressions while making them look like clowns; it will look normal on stage though. Everyone is wearing the same blue dance pants, blue and purple leotard, and matching scrunchie in a high ponytail with the bangs slicked back. You wonder how anyone can tell that the twenty of you are all different people, not just clones.

The music ends and a group of drenched girls rush off stage. They’re all wearing black pants with red tops. Most groups are wearing black and red in some combination. It provides a contrast that attracts the eye. But in a sea of red and black, your blue costumes attract more looks.

There is a black out and you file onstage, as quietly as you can in tap shoes. A voice from backstage calls out a single word, “Smile!” but you don’t know who the voice belongs to. You plaster a smile on your face in response, hoping it looks more natural than it feels.

The lights come up and the first note sounds. Immediately you forget everything except the music. Your legs and feet know the dance better than your brain does. Your face relaxes and the smile comes naturally now that the routine has started. All you concentrate on is the music. The beat is pounding through your body, reverberating in your head. It’s all you need.

All too soon it’s over. You hold your final pose as the lights go down then run off stage. You follow the other girls from the studio out to a row of seats in the audience. You watch the other dances, feeling much calmer now that you’ve finished.

Finally, it’s time for the judges to announce the winners. Everyone who has performed returns to the stage and sits in clumps with the other members of their group. People in the audience are talking about “the blue group”. Every time you hear it mentioned, you look at the rest of the “blue group” and everyone smiles widely.

Still, you aren’t prepared when the judges announce that your dance has received first prize. Your teacher goes up to get the trophy and stack of ribbons. It doesn’t matter to you that there were only three other groups competing in the same division as you. One received the grand prize and the other tied with you. All that matters is that this was your first competition ever and you won first place.