Acting

Matthew Jones

I love to dance.

To me, dance is much more than a body movement. It needs dedication, feeling. It's putting what you feel without saying a single word, just using gestures. But if I were to say that I always had the dream of becoming a professional dancer, I would definitely be lying.

It all started with some dance championships at school – something very amateur and without compromise – and with so many compliments from my teachers, I began to reflect. I really enjoyed it and was good at it. There was no one who could beat me in a competition. So I decided to take a risk and went in search of my dream.

I was very young and knew almost nothing of the world when I left Minnesota and came to Sturgis. I looked like a scary dog, but when it comes to dancing, I don't know what happens, I just change. And that's how I met the boys at the dance club.

I remember, like it was yesterday, Johnny’s face after he was beaten by me. I would say that he wasn’t angry, but surprised. After all, we’re almost the same age. It’s a difference of a few months, but at the time, he looked much older than me because he was already working out. Johnny was so excited that he dragged me to the table where he was sitting, we discussed some ideas and decided to create a group. It was as simple as that. I think we were driven by adrenaline – and alcohol.

Our goal in the beginning was just to have fun. We just wanted to get together and do what we wanted, but the opportunities started to come, and soon the responsibilities of the championship came too. Even my sister joined us, and I must admit it was crazy.

Sometimes I miss that time…

I pushed open the front door and dragged my body into the room at the end of the hall. Last night was a bad night for me, because I simply couldn’t sleep. Usually I wake up very early to start a training routine where I exercise, jump rope, go for a run around the block and come back for breakfast. After, I go to the dance academy, but today that didn’t happen. I think it would have been impossible for me to be here now if I had done all that.

I had barely entered the practice room and could already hear the chaos in there. Not only that, but I knew this was going to happen, but blessed was the time I decided to talk to Johnny on Friday and agree to participate in the championship again.

To start with, I only accepted because I know how important dancing is to him, so I didn’t think it was fair to force him to leave his dream aside just because mine is too. The only upside is that Johnny has agreed to take me out of the spotlight, which means I’ll be more of a backup dancer than anything, so for me, as long as they’re happy, it’s fine.

“Matt.”

As soon as I heard my name, I automatically snapped out of my daydream and started to stare at the people in the room. They were gathered in a circle, probably discussing something to do with choreography.

“What?” I asked, getting everyone’s attention.

“We’re deciding on our roles.” Kaleb explained.

I nodded, entering the room.

“Wait. What do you mean ‘roles’?” I frowned and stopped in the same place, confused.

I stared at them, waiting for answers, but all they just look away and busy themselves with something else. The only person who maintained eye contact was Steph, who crossed her arms below her breasts and sighed deeply when she saw that it was left to her to give the justification.

“We changed the choreography.” She said simply. “We’ll do an acting.”

“An acting?” I raised my eyebrows. “For the championship? You’re kidding, right?” I laughed in mockery. “Whose idea was this bullshit?”

“Mine.” I heard a female voice behind me, and as soon as I turned to see who it was, I ran into Anastasia. She was leaning against the wall, cell phone in hand, and walked slowly to the middle of the room where we were standing. “Was there a problem?”

“Of course it was your idea.” I shook my head negatively. “Do you even know how important this championship is?” I raised my eyebrow, but didn’t wait for her to answer. It was obvious that she didn’t know. “If we win, do you know what the prizes are?”

“I’m not interested, thank you.” She forced a smile. “But you should know that the choreography was incomplete. I’m just correcting.”

“And who are you to say that?” I clench my fists, feeling my blood boil. “Does ballet have any expertise in this?” I narrowed my eyes.

She opened her mouth to argue, but was interrupted.

“Actually, it was clear, Matt.” I heard Johnny say, so I turned to him, gradually relaxing my muscles. “The people gave up, so they opened gaps in the choreography.”

“Yeah, we are filling in the holes.” Steph nodded.

I blinked a few times, still a little perplexed by the situation. If Johnny said it and Steph confirmed it, then it’s probably true. Since we’re short on time, I doubt Johnny would agree to change what’s already done just to please this girl.

Or would he?

I looked at Anastasia, who was smiling and talking to Johnny. She had her brown hair in a high ponytail, and I only just noticed that she looks much younger than she probably is. Her skin is as white as my shirt, and thanks to the sunlight coming into the room through the windows, her cheeks are turning slightly red.

“What do you think, Matt?” Scott asked, making me to stare at him.

“About what?” I blinked a few times, still a little lost.

“Our dance.” He said like it was obvious.

I opened my mouth a few times, but said absolutely nothing. I got distracted and didn’t hear a word Scott said, so I have no idea what this dance is. Since I didn’t want to tell the truth, I just made something up.

“Why don’t we first analyze the whole choreography with the acting?” I suggested. “Who knows, maybe we’ll have another idea or even add some new steps?”

“Cool.” He nodded, satisfied, giving me a relieved sigh.

I thought that going back to the championship dance with a few people would be easier, but it’s still as tiring as before. Not to mention the fact that I feel scared by the idea that other people are choreographing. I want to help and fix everything every two minutes, but I know that they’re only doing what would normally be my job, because I said I didn’t want to. I can’t just take on this responsibility now and end up leaving them.

“Okay, guys, that’s it. You’ll dance in groups, then I will be in the center, dancing ballet, to give you time to fit in with Johnny’s steps.” Anastasia smiled as she looked at him. “Steph and I’ll see if we can remix the songs tonight, so don’t worry about fitting the steps in. We’ll rehearse a lot until the day of the championship.”

Hearing her talk like this, with such determination and attitude, surprised me a bit. She sounds as if she has been leading the group for years. I smiled as I wondered if this was real. I looked around and decided to have a little fun.

“How are you going to fit ballet into the middle of hip-hop?” I asked, crossing my arms. “Don’t you think it’ll end up becoming noise pollution?”

“As far as I know, hip-hop beats have high and low parts.” She said with a sigh. “Ballet isn’t different either, so…” She shrugged. “Not to mention that, with the acting, everything is chaotic by itself. But it’s a chaos that brings some adrenaline. Especially those who are watching. In other words, it’s a positive point.”

“I get it. And how will this act be?” I narrowed my eyes, analyzing his face.

Anastasia stared at me for a moment and smiled.

“I already explained. Didn’t you pay attention to what I said?” She raised one eyebrow and crossed her arms under her breasts.

“No.” I shrugged.

Actually, I did. I paid attention to every dot, comma, and even counted how many sighs you gave, but I feel like testing you. Anastasia laughed nasally and walked towards me. As she stopped in front of me, she rested her right hand on my shoulder and said in a lower tone, but in a way that everyone could hear:

“Good luck finding out, then.” She said, and walked away to the stereo. “Okay. Let’s practice one more time.” She clapped her hands to get everyone’s attention. “Those of you who arrived later, stay in the back of the room so as not to disturb the others.” She said, looking directly at me; after all, I was the only one that arrived late.

I stared at her and laughed heartily, but obeyed. I leaned back against the wall and crossed my arms, watching everyone else getting into position to start the dance.

It feels like this is going to give me a lot of headaches yet…