Never waste a great hair day

This bunhead just went to my first ever hip-hop audition for the dance ensemble of a film musical... I woke up this morning with some wheezing from a lingering lung infection and debated whether I should even go, because

A.  I didn't know if my wheezing would get worse when dancing.  And I didn't know this because...

B.  I hadn't taken any dance class or worked out in two months because of being sick, so I felt very out of shape for me and knew neither my lungs nor the rest of my body would be the same instrument they normally are at auditions, and

C.  All I was told about this audition is that they wanted "versatile" dancers with multiple techniques, and I had no idea what that meant or if it would be my style (if you want modern dance, I am definitely not your girl, and if you want hip-hop, I've taken one hip-hop class ever in my life, and it was a decade ago, and generally ballerinas and hip-hop don't really mix...).

But I went.  Because nothing ever happens if you don't show up.  And because my hair was really curly this morning and I made it into a fabulous and hip hairdo perfect for music video style dance and I couldn't possibly waste such an awesome hair day.

....So of course it turned out to be hip-hop.  I texted my fiancé "Well this will be an experience" with an internal laugh before we started.  I can make all the right shapes for street jazz and hip-hop (except for popping and locking) if the combo is taught very slowly, but when it comes to memorizing it, it's like a foreign language because my body's not familiar with the patterns and shapes and transitions and moves....  So I really had no clue what I was doing and just styled it up and made sure I was generally on the right foot and arm and made my mistakes with conviction and rocked my curly hair and took advantage of the fact that I was the only long-limbed ballet dancer there (not counting the one who walked out) to add my own thing to it.  And I only wheezed once.  And in the freestyle section, I freestyled my heart out and showed my technique and extreme flexibility and got some whoops and cheers from the other girls.  So I figured that was that and at least I'd nailed the freestyle, and I went to my bag as they called out the numbers of the dancers who made it through the cut to the second hip-hop combo....  And then somehow, in the most unexpected audition result ever, they said my number. 

So, the lessons here:

1. I've been pursuing the wrong kind of dance all these years.

2. Work your freestyle section, because that's totally how I made it through.

3. Look the part and pretend you know what you're doing even when you don't.

4. Even when you're not feeling your best, try your best, because you never know.

5. Great hair can get you pretty far. Seriously, the hair did half my work.

6. It turns out you really DO need to go to the correct classes and stay in shape... because if, after the first cut, there's a second hip-hop combo that they teach in seven minutes and has "popping," then you'll basically be freestyling the whole combo and... umm... turns out that DOES get you cut.