\WEDNESDAY/
...
[Ember] \looks at the time\ 3:30pm. Excuse me, do you know where the arts building is at? And what floor is the dance hall?
[Student xyz] Oh, that white building, over there. The Dance hall is first floor. You won't get lost.
[Ember] Thank you!
*She rushes to the arts building, stares at the building and finds four main halls.
*She then searches for the doors, and looks at each one's label.
[Ember] Dance hall.
*Opens the door, it opens, and is shocked.
[Ember] (That's a lot of people.),(Mirrors!)
*She enters, finds an empty spot and sits.
*Tick tock, students flock in, comes and go.
*It's 4pm.
*A senior calls for silence and demands attention.
[Senior A] Hello everyone! First of all, I would like to thank you all for auditioning to our universities dance club!! My name is senior Josh.
[Senior Josh] And I will be explaining the guidelines to all of you. There are 2 parts for this audition, the first part is handled by senior Matt, \gestures to senior Matt, he waves\
[Senior Josh] He will show you a short 1 minute or so, choreography to follow.
[Senior Josh] Senior Matt will also teach you the moves for a session of 50 minutes.
[Senior Josh] After that, we will then split you all into smaller groups for the performance.
[Senior Josh] Note this, however! we may eliminate some of you during tutorial, and practice. Not just after performance.
[Senior Josh] You can also tell us if you got the choreography and would like to perform and be tested early.
[Senior Josh] The 2nd part of the audition is freestyle. We will make you listen to a 1 minute or so, dance track.
[Senior Josh] We're not just looking for technical skill. We're also looking for who you are when the rules are gone.
[Everyone] (Who we are when the rules are gone!?)
[Senior Josh] The floor is yours senior Matt.
[Senior Matt] First, I will show you a simple choreography I made. \points to another senior\ Senior Cat, if you please.
[Senior Cat] \plays the song\
*Senior Matt dances with the confidence of a champion, and the moves to back it up.
[Everyone] (How? is that simple?) *they unanimously thought.
[Ember](Wow. That's hard, a pop, lock, flow fusion hip-hop huh.)
*Senior Matt finishes the dance in a move and stares, the expression daring, like dropping the mic.
*Crowd cheers! with thrill . . . and nerves.
[Senior Matt] Okay, so I'll teach it to you, first step is basics, \a movement with every count\ 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Okay got it? I repeat, 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
[Senior Matt] We will first do it without the music, slow. I repeat. \a movement with every count\ 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
[Senior Matt] Okay! \claps hand once\ you got it? welcome! to hell.
*Senior Matt continues teaching with a structure of a college professor, show, glance, next.
*As everyone follows, some students exits, getting less and less.
*The dance hall echoed the phrases, "from the top", "to the next move", "from the top", "add the next move", and continues until the tutorial ends.
[Ember] \pop, lock, drop, and follow\ ,\sighs\ I'm still slow.
*Upon learning the steps, they're now told to follow with the song.
*Everyone was late. It was indeed too fast.
[Senior Matt] Okay, now I'mma face all of you and finally observe you all.
*Music plays.
*Everyone dances.
*Senior Matt points at some, explaining guidance on what they should do.
[Ember] (Faster.) \pop-lock-drop-follow\
*Finally the time to perform. Each group danced and Ember passed the first test.
[Senior Josh] For part 2! This! is the song you will freestyle to. \hits play\
*The other tryouts take a break, and Ember joins them while they look at others dancing for inspiration.
[Ember] (This beat is not standard. A song that screams choreo.)(And we need to make one.) \breathes in heavily\
[Ember] (This will be difficult.)
*Ember listens intently to the track. It wasn't messy in its construction, it just follows its own composition.
*It was raw, a driving political anthem, heavy, intentional bass and urgent, shouting vocals.
*It demanded anger, resistance, and defiance. Its vibe is something meant to be danced on a protest, in front of the barricades.
*She tried to visualize her structured movements: the slow, deliberate waves, the delicate hand movements from her practice.
*The moves, designed for grace, felt misplaced against the backdrop of a revolution.
*There was no room to flirt, to be gentle, in this sound. The sound was an antithesis of her comfort zone.
*After resting, Ember rises up
*She doesn't want to back down in this challenge, so she decided to use the only thing she knew: flow.
*She puts power in the edges of her techniques.
[Ember] \Tries to do a powerful flow but her innate femme genre nature holds back her dance\
*Aiming for confidence instead of allure. But every controlled, fluid motion felt more like a whisper than a shout.
*Every time she reached a hand out, she realized it looked like a plea for grace where the song demanded a punch, a clenched fist.
*It was awkward, yes. It was a thematic failure, yes, and the seniors looked, yes.
[Ember] (Oh my god, people are staring at me, I'm trying my best okay, stop staring T_T)
*And so the part 2 performance happened.
*Ember didn't stand out; in fact she even thought with conviction:
[Ember] (I'm never! dancing that dance again T_T)
*The seniors huddled up quickly, then they slowly called out the names of those who are accepted.
*. . ."Ember!" She was shocked and relieved, Ember passed.
[Senior Cat] To the students that weren't called, thank you. Please don't let this be the end of your dance journey.
[Senior Cat] We hope to see you all try out again next year. Goodbye, and keep dancing. \fist-bumps the air\.
*The students leave, and those who passed remain. The group gathers.
[Senior Josh] Welcome! to Aureline University Dance Crew!!!
[Senior Cat] Woooohhh!
[Everyone] \glance in unison\, \shouts\ Wooooohhhhh!!!