Morning Dance Practice

[Kahlen Jeanne Nox]

Kahlen walked out of the main building of the school and down a path towards the gymnasium. She checked a map of the school that she printed off earlier. 'Yep. This seems to be the right building,' she thought.

Kahlen contemplated dancing outside, but the ground didn't seem good enough. The tennis courts wouldn't do either because all she would accomplish would be ripping up her shoes.

She approached the doors of the building and tugged on one. Breathing a sigh of relief that the building was open, Kahlen walked inside. The building was nice and looked new. Kahlen headed towards a set of doors that had a sign reading "Gym Entrance."

She flicked on the lights and set her bag down by a set of bleachers. Kahlen tugged off her jazz shoes and ran a couple of laps around the gym for a warmup. Kahlen went back over to the bleachers and began stretching. This was one of her favorite parts about exercise. Stretching was very relaxing.

After her warmups, Kahlen pulled her shoes back on a went through a dance combination that she learned before coming to the Academy. She had planned on using the routine for a local competition, but her plans had been cancelled.

Dancing was second nature to Kahlen, so she always had time to think while she danced. This morning, her thoughts tended to settle on the Academy. She had planned which classes she was going to take- voice and performance, English, and Latin. Kahlen was obviously excited for the first class. She thought Latin would be a nice new language to learn. Kahlen was already fluent in English, French, and German.

After finishing her dance combination a few more times, Kahlen switched to her tap shoes. Tap was lively and would put her in a good mood for the day.

[Less Than Beta East Tundra]

Less Than Beta watched for a bit from the door before entering. "Kahlen, you mentioned dancing on the bus. What dance is that?" he asked as he examined the bleachers.

[Kahlen Jeanne Nox]

Kahlen jumped and turned at the sound of a voice. She saw Less standing near the door. "Hey! This is tap," she said to him. "Want to try? I think I might have another pair of shoes. You'll have to see if they fit."

Kahlen walked over to her bag and began to rummage through it, finally producing another pair of tap shoes. She held them out to Less.

[Less Than Beta East Tundra]

Less eyes the shoes cautiously before putting them on. However, since he lacked the foresight to put socks on first, his feet will no doubt have blisters before the end of the day. He jerked in surprise after taking a few experimental steps and hearing the distinctive clicks.

[Kahlen Jeanne Nox]

Kahlen grinned at his startled look after hearing the sound the shoes make. "Have you heard of tap before? The point is to make different sounds with the taps- the things on the bottom of the shoes." Kahlen demonstrated a few steps.

"I suppose we'll start with the basics... Lessee, there's the flap..." Kahlen demonstrated a step where she brushed the toe of one shoe forward and slapped in on the ground. "This is a shuffle, sort of like a forwards and backwards flap."

Kahlen thought a moment. "Oh, yes. Sorry, I seem to get ahead of myself. The first step in a flap is called a brush, where you brush the toe across the floor. The stomp-y bit is called a dig." Kahlen scratched her head. "I hope I make some sense. It's a lot easier to learn by watching, don't you think?"

"I'll demonstrate these steps and you can copy, 'kay?" Kahlen asked, launching into the exercise.

[Mellianne Joss]

Mellianne walked into the gym, having slowed down shortly after she got out of her room to save her breath and energy for dancing. After making a quick stop by the locker rooms, she now wore a pair of workout pants. "Hello! Doing tap?"

She placed her swim bag on the bleachers and started doing stretches.

[Kahlen Jeanne Nox]

While showing Less the basic steps, Kahlen saw Mellianne walk in. "Hey! Nice to see you again."

Kahlen noted that Mellianne began to stretch. 'Very good,' she thought.

"I don't have another pair of tap shoes, so you'll have to make do with socks," Kahlen said. "After you've finished stretching you can join in. I'm teaching Less the basic steps."

[Mellianne Joss]

Mellianne nodded and slipped her shoes off. "OK. Though we could probably order a few pairs if we needed them. Or ask the performing teacher if they have any extras. And I've never done this before either." She stood close to Less, but not close enough that they would get into each other's way.

[Kahlen Jeanne Nox]

"Ah, good idea," Kahlen responded to Mellianne's suggestion. "I'll have to get on that."

"Now, I've been telling Less about the flap, shuffle, dig, and brush. We'll practice some of each, then try them out in small combinations."

Kahlen began a flap. "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight..."

[Mellianne Joss]

Mellianne made an affirmative noise. "Well, I can pay for my own shoes if it comes to that." Then she watched Kahlen closely, doing her best to follow the movements. It was a little hard at first, especially with socks on, but she was getting a little better as they went along.

[Less Than Beta East Tundra]

Less carefully mimicked the steps, noting how they became a distinct rhythm. "One, two, three, four..."

[Mellianne Joss]

Mellianne, while trying hard to pay attention the rhythm, was having a bit trouble following. She quickly thought of other things that she did that were had rhythms to them. Swimming, and the rhythm of the strokes came to mind, and she did her best to pretend it was similar to swimming. However, even if she might have been getting the rhythm down, she was still moving slowly.

[Kahlen Jeanne Nox]

Kahlen noticed Less had got the rhythm down fairly well. Mellianne looked to be having a bit of trouble. They'd been practicing for a while now, so Kahlen decided that they should meet later.

"You guys are doing really well," Kahlen told them. "Mellianne, you might want to say the count aloud as you practice- it'll help you keep on beat. Other than that, I think you've got the hang of the steps!"

Kahlen went over to her bag and put on her jazz shoes for the walk back to her room. "If you still want to continue, what times are you available to meet? I think we'll be able to use this room in the mornings around this time."

[Mellianne Joss]

Mellianne blushed. "I'm not used to doing things with a rhythm. I'll try that." She thought for a moment. "Well, on Mondays, Wedensdays, and Fridays, this is probably the best time. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I'm only taking Biology which is at 1:30. So any time on those two days works. On Saturday, I have Forestry at 9, and Survival at 3, so before Forestry, the 3 hrs between the two classes, or after Survival works that day. Then Sunday we don't have any classes. So that's when I have free."

Mellianne did a few streaches to cool down, then took a quick run to the locker room to change back into her jean shorts after she grabbed her bag. When she came back into the gym she toed her shoes back on.