The Next Step for Lost and Found

Nothing to Fear

After a successful dress rehearsal, everyone was gathered on stage, in front of Mr T, Emily, Michelle, and Noah. Each of the leaders were taking turns to give notes on the performances they'd seen, while the dancers sipped on their drinks and relaxed a little. Everyone had performed to the best of their ability, as though it were the actual performance. The only notes that Mr T, Emily, Michelle, and Noah had, were based on the logistics of the performances, regarding little changes that needed to be made, such as facial expressions and stage exits.

The Next Step's A Troupe were all sat together, ready to go off and get something to eat as soon as they were done receiving feedback. Piper was smiling contently, after a super confident performance with Clara. Prior to going on stage, they had both given each other a pep talk about personal development and this being their chance to prove themselves. The only notes they'd been given by the studio heads, were that they should give each other more eye contact and show their connection, s it didn't look like two separate acts on stage. 

Richelle was also a lot happier than she previously had been, after also having, a very successful performance. Having already danced full out prior to the dress rehearsal, she had a lot more confidence and was able to dance with her head held high. Mary had put her all into the collaboration too, and had moved Michelle to tears with her emotive song. Emily hadn't seen Richelle emote as much as she had on stage, since regionals. Mr T had taken the time to actually listen to Mary's song. He hadn't written a single note. He'd rested his head on his hands, leant forward, and watched the performance, taking in Mary's raw talent, for the first time in a while. Noah had watched them closely also, but instead of leaning forward, had leant back in his seat. When she finished dancing and looked out at the imaginary audience, he'd broken out of his trance watching her, and looked from side to side. Michelle caught his teary eye and they'd both smiled with pride.

As Emily gave Jacquie her feedback, Noah smiled at her. It was all positive comments of course, with just a few small things for her and Maggie to work on. Noah loved seeing how much more confident in her ability, Jacquie had become. Actually, she'd always been confident, but she just wasn't as arrogant now. She was honestly confident, and didn't feel the desire to pretend she was more self-assured than she actually was. Once Emily had finished, Jacquie looked up at Noah, who gave her a nod of approval with how good her feedback had been. She smiled and held back a chuckle.

"Lastly, I just want to apologise for the lack of costumes. We thought they'd have been here in time for the dress run, but they arrived halfway through!" Emily looked at Michelle, who recognised the signal and went to the side of the room, where there were two large cardboard boxes. She lifted them, and even though Noah began walking over to assist, she insisted she was fine. Emily continued, pulling back everyone's attention, "So even though only J Troupe had costumes to practise in, we will all be ready for tonight."

Michelle dropped the boxes by Emily's feet and crouched down as she opened them up. She grunted as she ripped off the Sellotape, "Everyone's going to look amazing." Michelle pulled out the first package, which had 'female red sparkle two piece' written on the label. She smiled and pointed at Piper, "Piper!"

Piper beamed and reached over for the costume. She thanked Michelle and took it, showing Clara the gorgeous colour through the plastic wrap. Michelle tied her hair up on the top of her head, so she could rummage through the box. She looked over in Piper's direction, "Clara, is your red dress the same colour as Piper's costume?"

Clara inspected the costume again quickly, but then nodded at Michelle, "Yeah it is. We'll match."

Emily continued talking about the plans for that evening, while Michelle handed out the costumes that were in the box. There was a deep blue, short dress, for Richelle, and a yellow dress for Jacquie. They were both the same in style, but the colours gave very different moods to the performances. Jacquie's seemed a lot happier and optimistic when it came to love, while Richelle's was a lot sadder. Kenzie, Kingston, Henry, Ozzy and Finn, all had matching outfits, and Summer and Amy were wearing the outfits that Richelle, Summer and Jacquie had worn, for their trio at the regional's convention.