Audition
The huge double glass doors stood opened in front of him, either welcoming or menacing, unsure Noah faltered in his step for a moment. Then taking a deep breath for courage, he stepped through the door to his awaiting future.
He had come alone, because he preferred it that way. He was 20, and independent. He would no longer let his parents take control of his life. It was his life and he would live it as he wanted. He would strive for the Dream he had created in his mind.
He would give himself a few years, and if after that time he hadn’t put himself on the path he wanted he would go to plan B.
Inside the studios were chaotic. Dancers milling about, chatting, stretching. Lining up for sign-in. Then pinning on their numbers.
Noah joined the throng, pulling his audition form and head shot from his duffel, then adding himself to the end of the Que.
When he was handed NO.78, he felt some nerves kicking in. Really? And there was still a line up behind him almost to the door.
He forced himself to calm and went to find a clear bit of floorspace to stretch.
Pulse n Pointe Studios was the place to be. Two Humongous floors of Dance space and meeting rooms. All of the biggest Dance stars had started there. In central Sydney City, it boasted the best Teachers and the most outstanding training all wrapped up in state-of-the-art facilities.
Today’s audition was a big thing for Noah. For someone who had come from a small country rural town, he was aiming high.
Looking around he wondered who else might be trying for a scholarship?
They had all gathered together in a mass at first, while the Director introduced himself. But Noah already knew who he was. Anthony Black, a famous performer and Choreographer, who had retired from injury. Now he was happily training new up and coming young dancers.
‘Just call me Tony, or Ant!’
Some Dancers giggled at that.
‘Shake off those nerves and give it your all!’
‘Wow there are a lot of you!’ - Ant grinned.
‘We will be offering 3 full tuition scholarships, and a total of 40 places!’
‘Our judges will be looking for students with the most potential. Some criteria being, technical proficiency in Ballet, artistry, versatility and performance quality. You will be judged on Choreography recall, improvisation, and working well with other dancers and instructors. We will look at rhythm and timing, and your energy levels!’
‘OK, now if you are all ready, and stretched, we will get started!’
Noah joined in the applause.
The first round of exercises went smoothly. The second round of combinations, Noah excelled in, the judges nodding and smiling in his direction.
Then some eliminations started, Dancers dropping by a handful each time.
Noah’s confidence was buoyed as he remained after third and fourth rounds of eliminations.
Student Choreography was next, they needed to find a partner to work with.
Most of the pairs chose each other, being friends or at least known to each other. It had been simple for them.
But Noah knew no one here.
Well, that was a bit of a lie really, because he did know the guy who was walking over to him now. But the memory was a bit foggy, and that was mostly due to the fact that he had chosen to forget. It had been so long ago, and Noah couldn’t say he had ever been a friend. Truthfully the memories of that guy were tainted with a feeling of hurt and unhappiness.
Looking around, Noah quickly realized he was out of options.
Leo strode toward Noah quickly; he didn’t want to give the guy any chance to back out.
His main objective was to get Noah accepted. If he partnered up with Noah, they would both have the upper hand. He knew Noah had talent, whether he was still as good as he was all of those years ago, remained to be seen. But he had been watching Noah throughout the Audition and the look of determination in Noah’s face and demeanour had given Leo a burst of confidence.
Reaching his target, Leo gave a stunned Noah a quick hug. He knew they were being observed, by other dancers and most probably the judges as well. Hugs were common among dancers, a simple expression of comradely friendship. Best to show a confident connection from the start.
Why would Noah look as shocked as he did? Was that hug too much? No! It was fine, they were after all, just putting on a show.
Putting a hand on Noah’s shoulder he grinned and spoke in low tones. - ‘I’m Leo!’- and - ‘You’re Noah, right?’
Noah nodded.
‘It’s great we are pairing up!’- enthusiastically Leo bobbed around.
Staring for a moment in stunned silence, it occurred to Noah, just what Leo was doing, and he felt foolish. Was this behaviour expected? It felt false and staged, but it was the norm in this situation. And so, he followed Leo’s lead, forcing a smile.
The grin that flashed from Noah’s face was sudden, taking Leo by surprise. His heart stuttered.
Noah grabbed Leo’s arm, and jostled it around, bounced a couple of times and exclaimed in overly exaggerated joyfulness - ‘I’m so excited!’
He was catching on! Leo grinned at Noah, and they both laughed. This time it was genuine, the ice broken, and they both fell into conspiratorial banter.
‘We’ve got this!’
‘You, bet yah!’
They thumped each other on the back, building each other up.
The next hour flew by, as they worked on choreography together to a set piece of Music. Both sharing their knowledge and experience, what they performed wasn’t perfect but showed their skill and technique to advantage.
Whispers echoed across the Dance floor as they finished and moved to the side of the room for a rest.
They were both on a high, adrenalin and confidence in their performance bolstering them.
‘You were amazing!’ - Leo smiled through, deep intakes of breath.
Noah returned a heartfelt smile - ‘You Too! Thank you, I couldn’t have done it without you!’ - And he knew it was true.
Leo grinned - ‘We make a great team!’
