- I start to freak out.
I'm like, "This is so wrong.
"What is she doing?"
(slow music)
- Hey, I'm Lena,
I have been training in all styles of dance
since I was about four years old.
The style nearest and dearest to my heart,
that has really shaped who I am
as a person today is Ballet.
- Hey I'm Rebecca, I'm a dancer.
I've been dancing for over 15 years.
- When I was younger,
my dance company did a series of pieces from Swan Lake.
There's a really iconic ensemble piece,
where there are a few girls
and our arms are intertwined,
and we're doing the choreography kind of as one.
It's called the dance of the little swan.
It's really, really important
that the choreography is exactly the same,
and we're all on point literally.
At the same time, moving the same way.
If you are behind,
it's a ripple effect.
So, when we're in our peak performance season,
we usually go through like two pairs of pointe shoes a week.
Usually when I tie my pointe shoes,
there's the elastic that gives you the ankle support,
and then there's the two long ribbons
that wrap around your ankle for more support,
but also like it just looks really pretty.
They were new shoes,
and I usually tie them like two times knot,
tuck it in, hairspray.
Like it's not gonna go anywhere.
So we get on stage,
and we started the piece,
and I kind of felt like this ankle was secure it was there.
And this one was a little bit like lose?
But I'm thinking like, "Okay choreography."
We're doing the dance,
and then I start noticing
that my ribbon is coming untied.
If you've ever been a dancer,
like there's no microphone no nothing,
like the audience is so far away.
So, we'll literally be talking to each other.
To the girl next to me I'm like, "Girl, my ribbon
"is coming untied."
"I don't know what to do, it's gonna fall.
"Like I'm gonna trip, all four of us are gonna go down."
Like I was just freaking out.
I couldn't stop and fix it obviously,
it's a performance.
So, I just kind of let it become untied.
The most important thing I was trying to focus on,
was not tripping over it with my other foot.
I started having to like kick my leg a lot higher,
so that the ribbon wouldn't be dangling on the floor.
The other three girls are doing their
pretty little tendu's,
and I'm like kicking it all the way,
trying to get it out of the way.
I just could not fall,
because if I fell,
the whole thing was gonna be (beep).
They were probably like, "Why is she doing this?"
I made it through the whole piece,
didn't trip or anything.
It was like to this day,
one of the most stressful, malfunctions I've ever had.
- So I was at a dance competition,
and this dance competition
was one of the ones that I
had been preparing for for months in advance.
It took place at Disneyland.
In the dance number that we were competing with,
I was dancing with all these little girls
that were around six years old.
In the dance number,
I had to pick them up and throw them around.
We were all in these beautiful pink dresses,
and in the number we were throwing pillows
to one another.
It was kind of like a glamorous pillow fight.
We had to get very close with one another,
hug one another,
and just pretend like we were all sisters having fun.
So I'm dancing, and I'm really looking forward
to this one part where all of the girls
one by one come up to me.
I pick them up,
I spin them around,
they throw their arms out.
It's such a beautiful visual.
I hold them, I spin them,
and I bring them up to me
and give them a huge hug,
like I'm their big sister.
And one by one the girls were coming up to me,
I'm having the time of my life,
I can tell that the audience is really loving it,
the judges were smiling.
And so I have a great feeling about this.
And then I'm picking up the last girl,
I bring her up to me,
I spin her around,
and as we're spinning,
I see the look on her face.
Now, going upside down isn't the most comfortable thing.
So obviously we have to put fake smiles on
while we're upside down.
But, she didn't have a smile on her face.
She looked sick.
So I picked her back up,
and I give her a huge hug.
Then when I let go of her,
she's still in my arms,
and she goes, "Achoo."
All of this green gunk comes out of her nose,
and it gets all over my costume.
And I'm so freaked out.
And I'm like, "Oh."
And then big smiles again.
Because the judges are right in front of me.
I'm thinking in my mind like, "Oh my God,
"I hope they don't mark us down for this."
Because judges will mark you down for lots of things.
I had to keep dancing,
so I kind of pushed that girl
to continue her choreography.
I'm like, I'm just gonna try to get over this.
But, I felt so bad for all the little girls
I was dancing with.
Because, I had to hug them and pick them up,
and I knew that the snot on my dress,
was getting on their costumes too.
Now we were a huge snot fest.
It was ruined in my mind.
I could tell all the judges
were seeing that our costumes now had these
awkward marks on them.
But, we ended up finishing the number.
We didn't get first place,
but we ended up placing which was good.
I definitely learn from that experience.
Anytime a girl was sick,
I tell her like, "Don't get on stage,
"just have your understudy go onstage instead.
"It's totally not worth it."
- I was doing a performance when I was training
at Joffrey Ballet School in New York.
We were getting ready to do
our end of the summer course performance.
My partner and I,
we were like bonding all summer long.
We were having a great time,
and he was such a great partner.
And we rehearsed this one lift
that we were doing in the piece so many times.
It's a fish.
So basically the man is holding you up,
and you have the one leg in the arabesque,
and then the other one is tucked like this.
It's very pretty, it's a classic lift,
but it's not really hard or technical.
We had rehearsed it so many times,
and we were just kind of like, "We got it, so easy."
It kind of had gotten to the point in our brains
where it was muscle memory.
We were ready to nail it.
My dad came out,
he flew out to come watch me,
I was so excited for the show.
And we get there on stage,
and we're doing the piece, everything's great.
And then I'm in the lift,
and I'm kind of realizing like,
something feels a little bit off.
In ballet, a lot of people think
that the lifting is just the man,
and you just look cute on top.
But, it's really not.
There's a lot of work involved
in the partner on top.
You have to be so stiff.
Because, if any part of you is wiggling or lose,
or not tight and connected to your center,
you will fall.
So I was up there.
You know when you're just like,
you know you're falling,
and the more you try to overcompensate,
the worst it is?
That's kind of what was happening where I was up there,
and I just knew I was going down.
At that point,
I was just having to plan how I was gonna land
to avoid it hurting and being loud.
I was hoping that he wasn't gonna try to catch me
on the way down,
because that could just make it way worst.
You know, just let me go.
I fell, and I kind of made it
to where I landed on the side of my hip,
so that it wouldn't really hit like the bones.
So I landed, kind of like my legs were like this
on the floor.
And it hurt so bad.
I am on stage right now,
there are hundreds of people in the audience,
and I'm on the floor.
Just the reality of that
was taking my mind over,
the fact that I had just fallen like seven feet.
So I was down there and I was like you know what like,
my dad did not come out here to see my cry on stage.
And I was like all right,
we're gonna improvise,
this was part of the choreography.
Like, this is contemporary ballet.
It wasn't.
In the end we just got off stage,
and we were just dying laughing.
Because, we're like,
"Cannot believe that happened."
We were so confident that it was gonna be perfect.
I asked my dad after I was like,
"What, how did that look?"
And he was like, "It was pretty clear that you fell,
"but it was great.
"You didn't cry, it was awesome."
In the end I made him proud,
and that's all I really wanted to do.
- So, my dance company was performing
The Nutcracker one year.
And this is a ballet classic,
so we had to get it right.
And I was playing the Nutcracker.
We're a girl group,
so sometimes us girls have to play male roles.
And I was totally fine with that,
because this was the lead,
and this was my moment to shine.
I was so excited.
My grandma was in the audience.
I'm on stage dancing,
and we're at the climax of the show.
This is the big battle between the Nutcracker
and the Mouse King.
And I'm waiting on stage,
I'm doing my choreography,
I'm ready to get into this really heated dance number.
And I hear the cue in the music
for the Mouse King to come on.
And I'm waiting,
and nobody's coming on stage.
So, I have to start improvising,
because the music is going on,
and I can tell the audience is quiet.
They're waiting to see what happens.
And suddenly I see the girl
who's supposed to come on get on stage.
But, she's not dressed as the Mouse King,
she's dressed in a beautiful fairy costume.
I start to freak out in my head.
I'm like, "This is so wrong.
"What is she doing?"
She dances next to me,
she starts doing the choreography
that we're supposed to do.
Which is super violent.
And I whisper to her really quickly.
I'm like, "What are you doing?
"Why are you wearing this?"
And she whispers back to me,
"I couldn't find my costume."
Oh, I was so tough.
In that moment I was like,
"Shoot, my favorite dance number,
"of the whole performance
"is now gonna be the most awkward battle,
"between a fairy and the Nutcracker,
"that everybody knows is not supposed to happen."
Because, the Nutcracker's a good guy.
He's not gonna be battling a fairy.
So we have to do the choreography as it's planned.
So I had my fake sword in my hand,
and I had to slice this fairy.
I had to engage in this really heated battle with her.
I was really worried I would get my sword caught
in her dress.
And I feel bad for the audience,
because that's one of most people's favorite dance numbers.
And we did it wrong.
But, we finished the show,
we bowed at the end,
we got lots of applause.
So, I'm happy with it,
it's in the past.
- I was in a competition studio,
and every studio has their favorite star dancer
that's always like kind of geared to win everything,
and is always front and center in all the pieces.
And that wasn't me,
it was this other girl.
She was a great dancer though,
but we just kind of knew that she had
a little bit of like special treatment happening.
There was one year that we were in
the same age category,
and our solos were gonna be competing
against each other that year.
Either the regional competitions,
I was used to placing one place below her.
She would get first,
I would get second,
or she would get second,
I would get third.
I would always be right after her.
And I was fine with it,
like she was really talented and she was great.
This one competition though,
I happened to place higher than she did.
And so afterwards in the dressing room,
you know our moms are back there.
She's taking my hair out of the bun,
we're all getting undressed after awards.
And my mom is like really happy
and surprised that I won.
And she was like, "I'm so proud of you."
You know, gassing me up in the dressing room.
Like two feet away,
the girl and her mom are like so quiet, like nothing.
And the mom goes to her daughter like in a whisper,
but like I'm trying to hear you
catch this shade whisper,
"It's okay honey,
"the judges clearly messed up the scores."
And I was just like, "Oh my God,
"I cannot believe that she said that."
And my mom who is like the most elegant,
classy put together woman.
Never said a bad word,
or I had never heard her say one until this moment.
She looks over and she's like, "(beep), what did you say?"
I cannot believe that my mom
was about to throw down over my score right now.
It was such an iconic moment,
because I was like.
And the other girl was like.
The dancers are like we're happy we won,
and we're happy we're dancing.
And the moms are like,
"I don't care the scores wrong.
"I cannot believe you would say that.
"My daughter works hard."
You know, they were just going off.
To this day I'm like, "Mom, remember when you said that?"
It was like the best thing she's ever done.
A lot of people asked me
when the show Dance Moms was really popular they're like,
"That's not really how it is.
"Are they really that (beep)?"
I'm like, "Yes."
This is the story that I tell every time
when people ask me that question.
(slow music)