Showstopper (3 page)

When Saturday rolled around, Toni ended acro class fifteen minutes early and asked each of the girls to show her their costume design ideas.

“I like the tutu,” Toni said, examining Anya's sketch. “Let's do matching red pointe shoes with it, and a headpiece with tulle and hearts.”

Anya took notes carefully. “I was thinking maybe some red sequin hearts on the white bodice as well. Or is that too much?”

Toni nodded her approval. “This is Vegas. More is more. It's the one time you girls can go
a bit over-the-top with your costumes and the judges will eat it up.”

That was good news for Bria, who had already stocked up on yards and yards of rhinestone-beaded fringe to sew on her black velvet leotard. “I was thinking these could make a skirt of diamonds,” she explained to Toni.

“My only concern is that all the fringe will tangle and might get in the way of your dancing,” Toni said. “But I love the fascinator hat and long black gloves. See how it feels when you try it on, but I do think it's very Vegas.” She looked around the studio. “Who's next?”

Gracie emptied a large plastic bag at her feet. Scraps of different fabrics, buttons, trim, and assorted pom-poms spilled out. “I was thinking I could stick them here and here,” Gracie explained, holding pom-poms up to her head and shoulder.

Toni looked lost. “I don't understand,” she replied. “Is your costume polka-dotted, or are the pom-poms just trim?”

Gracie considered. “Okay, I could do that.”

“No, Gracie. I don't want to tell you what to do. I want you to make some design decisions. Why don't you give it some more thought.”

Gracie gathered up her costume bits and baubles and shuffled to the back of the room. Scarlett was up next.

“So my king wears a crown—around his waist,” she said, showing Toni a sketch of a gold skirt with a jagged hemline that fanned out to look like a crown. “I could BeDazzle it with different colored jewels.”

“And what about the top?” Toni asked.

“I was thinking maybe a red, long-sleeved leotard topped with a faux fur–trimmed white vest,” Scarlett replied, pointing to the king's outfit on the playing card. “He looks very luxe.”

Toni nodded. “I'd like to see some kind of a headpiece as well. No royal would leave his or her head crownless.”

“Then you'll love my idea!” Liberty suddenly spoke up. She unrolled a large sheet of paper from a cardboard tube. “Ta-da!”

On it was a photo of Queen Elizabeth of England dressed in her finest royal robes. On her head was a huge platinum, diamond, pearl, ruby, and sapphire crown with a puff of purple velvet beneath the open frame. “Behold! The Imperial State Crown!” Liberty said, waving the poster in Toni's face. “It's made of platinum with a 317-carat diamond on the front and the Black Prince's Ruby in the center. It contains more than 3,000 gems, and Queen Elizabeth wore it after her coronation.”

Toni stared. “And do you intend to call Her Majesty up and borrow it for Smooth Moves?” she asked.

Liberty chuckled. “Of course not! I'm going to make my own version—the Imperial Liberty Crown!”

Toni rubbed her temples. “I think it's a stunning crown, but not doable.”

“Well, of course it's doable,” Liberty insisted. “And since the crown I'm making will be so spectacular, I'm going to wear something simple to go with it.”

“Simple? Does Liberty ever wear anything
simple
?” Rochelle whispered to her teammates.

“Okay,” Toni said, nodding her approval. “If you can pull it off, go for it. It'll certainly catch the judges' eyes.”

“Not fair!” Rochelle whispered to Scarlett. “Liberty always gets her way!”

Toni heard her—or just guessed that she would be complaining about Liberty's royal headgear. “If you're so eager to speak out of turn, Rochelle, why don't you come up here and present your design?”

“Rock it, Rock!” Scarlett said, giving her friend a pat on the back.

“Well, my design doesn't have diamonds or jewels or even pom-poms,” Rochelle began saying.

She handed her teacher a drawing she'd made of a black spandex catsuit topped with a vest covered in red, black, and gold zigzag stripes. “I know it's nothing fancy. I thought maybe I could sew a black velvet spade on a red baseball cap and maybe wear it backward. The hat this guy has on doesn't really work for me. It kinda looks like a pineapple upside-down cake.”

She showed Toni her playing card and the jack's flat-topped gold cap adorned with red circles.

“I like it,” Toni replied.

“Really? I gotta wear a cake on my head?”

“No, I like
your
design,” Toni said. “It's colorful and contemporary, and it will be easy to move in. Good job.”

Rochelle waved at Liberty, who was fuming.

Toni picked up her clipboard and checked off “Costume Design” on it. “Aside from Gracie—whom I would like to stay after class today—you can all start sewing.” The girls picked up their bags and sketches and ran out of the studio.

“Remember,” Toni called after them, “when we get back after the break, it will be full steam ahead on our dance numbers. Get some rest—you'll need it.”

Joking Around

Gracie hung back and waited for Miss Toni to stop digging around in the closet and call her over. She was sure her teacher was going to scold her for not doing her design homework like the rest of her teammates. But the truth was, she had lots of ideas for her joker costume—and that was precisely the problem! She couldn't whittle her design down to just one or two things that worked well together—she wanted to use them all. She was great at making costumes for her dolls at home, but when it came to her own outfit, especially one
that was supposed to be both funny
and
fabulous, she had a hard time figuring out where to start and what to edit out.

“Ah! Here it is!” she heard Miss Toni say as she pulled a red garment bag off the rack and laid it down on the floor in front of her. “This is what I was looking for.”

She unzipped the bag to reveal a patchwork dress made of dozens of scraps of different colored and printed fabrics. “This was for a dance I choreographed called ‘Crazy Quilt,'” Toni told her. “See how no two pieces of fabric are the same?”

“Uh-huh,” Gracie replied. “It's pazy.”

Toni smiled. She was slowly learning to pick up on Gracie's lingo. “Definitely pazy—pretty and crazy at the same time. That's what your joker costume should be. Let's have a look at that bag of stuff you brought in.”

Toni also brought out a plain white leotard and leggings. “What if you stitch all these scraps on like this,” she said, placing them this
way and that on the legs. “See? No rhyme or reason to it. No pattern. Just whatever tickles your fancy.”

“But it's not a fancy costume,” Gracie insisted. “Not like Scoot's or Bria's. And I'm not sure I'll be able to dance in something that tickles.”

“‘Whatever tickles your fancy' means whatever you like,” Toni explained.

“Oh!” Gracie replied. She began to piece the scraps together till they formed a colorful collage. “Can I use the pom-poms, too? Maybe on the bottom of the pants so they jiggle when I dance? I think that would be fun.”

Toni nodded. “So do I. Why not add them around the neckline and the wrist cuffs as well? And leave the hat and shoes to me.”

“Really?” Gracie asked. “But you said no helping, and that's helping.”

“It can be our little secret,” Toni said with a wink. “Besides, I said no helping from moms or Lady Gaga's costume team. I never said no helping from your teacher.”

Gracie pretended to lock her mouth and throw away the key. “I won't say anything—not even to Scoot,” she promised.

“Good,” Toni said, handing Gracie the leotard and leggings. “I wouldn't want to ruin my reputation as a tough teacher.”

Gracie shrugged. “I'm not sure what that means, but I don't think you're a tough teacher. I think you're a nice teacher.” She hugged Toni around the waist and dashed out of the studio with her fabric, pom-poms, and a plan in hand. She ran into Anya and dropped all of her materials on the floor.

“What's the rush, Gracie?” Anya asked, helping her clean up the collision.

“I've just gotta get to work on my costume,” Gracie explained. “I have so much to do!”

“Oh, so it's a fashion emergency?” Anya teased her. “Need some help?”

For a moment, Gracie considered. It
was
a ton of scraps to stitch on to the leotard and leggings, and threading a needle could be a
little tricky. Still, she had made a promise to Miss Toni.

“I can't. No help.”

Anya smiled. “Okay. I understand. You want to sew solo.”

“Exactly!” Gracie said, crawling on the floor to salvage a few more buttons that had fallen from her bag.

“Well, what if I just spot you?”

“Like if I was doing a back tuck off the balance beam in gymnastics?” Gracie asked.

“Just like that,” Anya said. “So if you're cutting some fabric or pinning something down, I've got your back. No helping, just spotting.”

To Gracie the gymnast, it sounded perfectly reasonable.

“K-dokey,” the little girl replied. “You can be my official costume spotter.”

They worked together for over an hour—Gracie stitching, Anya threading and cutting—until Scarlett came out of her stretch class to collect her sister.

“Wow, that looks amazing, Gracie,” she said,
admiring the patchwork design. They'd gotten most of the legs and part of the arms covered in fabric squares.

“Anya didn't help—she was just spotting me,” Gracie insisted.

“I knew that,” Scarlett said, smiling. “This costume has Gracie written all over it.”

Gracie held it up to the light. “It does? Where?”

Scarlett chuckled. “I mean, it's got your style and flair.”

“Oh,” Gracie said. “Yeah, it's jokeriffic, don't ya think? The pom-poms were all my idea.”

Anya pretended to bow to Gracie. “I just watched Gracie work her magic.”

“Funny you should say that,” Rochelle said, strolling out of studio 2. “Miss Toni just told me that you and I are doing a magic duet at Smooth Moves.”

“Do you think you'll pull a bunny out of a hat?” Gracie asked Anya.

“Or make Liberty disappear?” Rochelle joked.

Anya wouldn't even hazard a guess. Who knew what trick Miss Toni had up her sleeve this time! She'd just have to wait till after the break to find out.

Santa and Sushi