AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Sasha moves over the wooden boards with lightning speed interspersed with moments of clarity and intentional delay. She’s telling a story, and she’s doing it all with a smile plastered on her face that, in my opinion, juxtaposes what she’s trying to express with her feet. This dance isn’t a happy one. It’s one of frustration and anger. Someone must’ve pissed her off royally to influence her dance this way.
“Can anyone tell me what theyfeltwhen watching me dance just now?” she asks the room. If it sounds like a trick question, that’s probably because it is. She’s trying to catch people out with that same smile plastered on her pretty face. I keep my thoughts to myself though because I’m not as certain of myself in this dance lesson as I am in my others.
“Anyone?” she presses.
“I felt anger,” York finally says, pinning his gaze on Sasha.
“Good.” She nods. “What else?”
“Frustration,” I blurt out, cutting off Clancy before she can say the same. She looks at me and winks.
“Excellent. The expression on my face gave you one picture,” she says, plastering that same pretty smile back on again, “but my steps were telling thetruth. That’s the heart of tap dance. Its truth is always in thesteps.” She points to her feet and does a quick sequence that speaks of joy even though her face is a blank mask. “See, I’mhappyyou got it even when that might not appear to be the case.”
“I like this woman,” Clancy says, leaning in close. “I might have a girl crush.”
Smiling, I look about the room. “Yeah, you and about twenty other people.”
My gaze falls onto York who is looking at Sasha like she’s all his dreams come true. I see the admiration in his eyes and interest that has my heart bottoming out. They look good together, his pale skin against her beautiful, silky chocolate shade. Like Ying and Yang. I’m sure they’d make beautiful babies. Jealousy raises its ugly head and I bite down on the inside of my cheek. It’s one thing giving Clancy his attention when practising their duet, but quite another when he’s looking at Sasha the way he is. I trust Clancy not to overstep, but Sasha has no reason to stay away. York is beautiful, talented, and whilst he might be her student, that won’t prevent him from making a move. York has always been the type of guy to flagrantly ignore rules. He’s also the type of guy to get everyone else to break them too.
“Okay, so this is what we’re going to do. I’m going to play a randomly selected song and then tap one of you on the shoulder. If I’ve picked you, you need to move into the circle and start improvising,” Sasha explains. “I want you to show whatever emotion the song makes you feel in yoursteps, regardless of what mask you wear on your face. Let’s see how well you interpret the music and how well you express those emotions.”
“So we interpret the music with an emotion and funnel that into our steps, but try not to show that on our face?” one of the other students asks, wanting to clarify.
“Exactly that, but to make it more challenging, I’m going to select another person to dance too. That person will need to counter, or complement, whatever emotion is portrayed in your partner’s steps with an interpretation of your own. Once the song is finished, I’ll play another and choose two more people to dance together. We’ll do that until you’ve all had a chance to dance.”
“Kind of like a hip-hop battle?” a guy with short, spiky green hair and a ring in his nose asks. I think his name is Amos, but I can’t be certain.
“Yes, in a way,” Sasha agrees, “But rather than a battle where there can only be one winner, I wantcohesionby the end of the song. Now, let’s see how you fare.”
Sasha pulls out her mobile phone and chooses a song I don’t recognise but has an up-tempo beat. She selects Clancy first who steps into the circle and wows us all with her ridiculous talent. It’s clear that joy is the emotion she’s chosen to express in her dance steps despite the cross look on her face. Her feet move lightly, and her steps are suffused with happiness,bliss. The way she dances reminds me of a kid on Christmas morning. I see the excitement, the wonderment and, of course, joy. When Sasha taps on Amos’s shoulder, he counters Clancy’s steps with deep digs and heavy shuffles of his feet. He stomps over the floor, stepping into her space even though he has a smile plastered to his face. Eventually, the pair start to dance in time together, mashing up the joy Clancy is expert at showing and the misery Amos displays. By the time the song ends they’re both panting with the effort, but grinning widely. We all start clapping. They’re a tough act to follow.
“Excellent work,” Sasha says, beaming.
For the next thirty minutes she moves around the circle pairing up dancers. My heart hammers in my chest with every selection she makes and every time I think she’s going to choose me, she doesn’t. When the penultimate pair have been chosen and begin to dance, I zone out knowing that the only person left for me to be paired up with is York.
“Damn, girl,” Clancy mutters as York’s ice-blue eyes meet mine over the pair dancing in the circle between us. She reaches for me, her fingers wrapping around my wrist in solidarity. I swallow hard. I’m not ready for this.
I’m not fucking ready.
A broad smile pulls across York’s face as Sasha asks him to step into the centre of the circle. That smile doesn’t reach his eyes and is as much of a mask as the one I’m wearing now. When she motions for me to come forward, I do so with heavy steps. Sasha chooses a new song, and asRunning up that Hillby Kate Bush begins to play, York’s smile slips. For the briefest second I see the hate in his eyes before his features fix into a blank mask that matches my own. As the familiar beat begins to play, York starts to dance. It’s blatantly obvious the emotion he’s trying to portray and even if I hadn’t caught the look in his eyes, I would’ve understood him well enough.
