doing a group routine.
You're in Colorado.
You're on a mountain.
The air gets thinner and thinner.
You're going to be gasping.
People start to drop.
You know, the moms have just not stopped
talking about their daughters dancing with the little ones.
Don't they realize with those little kids,
they can compete in the junior division?
When you dance in the teen division, the level of talent
is so much greater.
Everybody is advanced.
If we're going to stand a chance of winning this weekend,
we need to pull our age down.
Simple as that.
[dramatic music playing]
I need a pen.
Walk back.
OK, Nia?
You're going to step on this when we set it down.
Now we need a tape for the line of where
everybody is to stand on.
Oh, it's never like this when it's just the big kids.
I'm sorry.
Every time she tries to incorporate the age groups,
we end up with this hot mess number
that's not ready by Friday.
And so it's like, why keep shooting yourself in the foot?
I think she's trying to put a round peg in a square hole.
It doesn't fit.
It doesn't work.
You guys are going to be to blame if we don't come
out with a 300 perfect score.
[dramatic music playing]
There is a reason why that yellow piece of tape
is in that room.
It's because they couldn't get in a straight line.
It's just a piece of tape on the floor.
But to me, that line symbolizes the disintegration
of standards of the ALDC.
Feet together. Stand up straight.
Shoulders back.
Your chin has always down.
You're like this.
We've been doing this line now for a half an hour.
So-- so this is where we're at, like,
three weeks from nationals.
We are not the reigning champs.
Cathy is. We're screwed.
We're screwed.
[dramatic music playing]
Let's get to work.
5, 6, 7, 8.
[heavy breathing]
Change, change, change.
It's messing with your brain.
Can you guys see what's going on in there?
I see a lot of chaos.
And Kendall is leaping over Macey.
Their timing has to be, like, perfect,
or she's going to squish the life out of her.
Oh God, they're going to step on Ellie.
I don't like it.
Boy, this is fun.
All the other moms are constantly complaining,
but I am the one who should be truly upset at this point.
Here we are, going to my hometown,
and I see Eliana dying off a quarter into the dance.
It is so unfair.
First, she doesn't get a solo.
Now she's in the group piece.
But she's barely dancing at all.
This is a huge embarrassment for Eliana.
Ellie, you never made it to this line.
It's fluorescent chartreuse, and you can't see it.
Lily?
On your tummy, reach.
Reach like you're gasping.
Back, down, flip, down, [grunts] Right.
We want the idea that you could stay there forever.
Like--
Lily seems like she has like another solo in this.
Why can't she have a solo part of a couple counts of eight?
She just did really great the last two weeks.
Why can't she have a moment in this dance?
Lily is doing four eight counts more.
So you are sitting in a much better position than Ellie
in our hometown with hundreds of people coming,
and they're going to see her lay on the ground
while Lily is doing essentially a solo up front.
Did you say hundreds of people coming?
A lot of people are coming, yeah.
Are you liking that in your city?
I'm just wondering.
I did not feel sorry for Yolanda one bit.
We get on a plane at 7:00 AM.
Here's the problem, Yolanda.
You're sitting here complaining about it.
But really, the only person that can control anything is Abby.
So you haven't even addressed it with Abby.
You think at this point that if I walked in there
and complained, she'd take her out--
At this point, no. You've lost your window.
No, but at the beginning of the week--
You've lost your window of opportunity.
How could I know that she just going to go ahead and die off
and that Lilly was going to be up there in the front doing,
like, another solo?
I'm done.
I hate it here.
It's like an embarrassment going to Colorado
and seeing her on the floor at the time.
And she's just in the shadow of somebody else.
Where's Abby?
Who is in charge of Abby?
I know.
OK, so, Elle, you have to really prove
that you have earned a spot not only on this team,
but you're going to be able to hold your own dancing
with your girls and that you're not
going to bring them down because they really feel
that having, like, the minis--
Minis in it.
--they're going to lose, yeah.
She's just an instigator.
She's constantly instigating.
Hello.
Be careful, there's a big garbage can right here.
I thought we lost you.
We were just talking about you.
Oh, I was picking up a young guy.
What do you think I was doing?
The performance value in this competition
has to be over the top.
So I have an idea.
I want these kids to breathe, and it looks like they're
way up in the mountains.
And there's snow covering everything,
and it's freezing cold outside.
I want to see that breath of life escaping
from them when they exhale.
This is Jet.
Everybody say hello. - Jet!
Hi, Jet.
- Hey, can I come watch you? - Sure.
Yeah, go up and see, guys.
So, liquid nitrogen is pretty cool
because it looks like water.
And nitrogen is 70% of the atmosphere.
So as I'm using these, the cold gas
is getting condensed and sticking inside of the Cheetos.
So when you eat it, you'll have this really fun
fogging effect when you eat it.
Ah!
It's just kind of fun.
Although I give Abby a lot of credit
for thinking outside of the box, there's just a lot
going on with this dance.
You know, everybody's got different parts,
and the minis can't even get on their line.
And now they're eating frozen Cheetos during the dance.
Crazy.
All right, come on, girls. Let's go.
Front and center.
Come on, come on, come on.
We are going for our fifth win.
So get out there and compete.
Legs straight, feet pointed.
Timing, timing, timing, timing.
All right, let's rock.
Here, we're in this high altitude.
The girls are dancing.
They have to breathe, and it's a cheese puff.
Those things are, like, dry and crusty.
They could breathe in and choke on that on stage.
This could be a recipe for disaster.
[dramatic music playing]
Let's welcome entry number 92--
"The Thinner the Air, the Harder to Breathe."
[music playing]
Woo!
[cheering, applause]
Are we ready for some awards?
[cheering]
Next, we have overall high score for group lines and production.
Can we get a drum roll?
I'm so fed up with these elite moms.
They don't want to give our girls a chance.
And so this piece has to win to prove them wrong.
And honestly, Eliana wants to show
her hometown that there's a reason
why she is dancing with Abby.
So overall high score for group lines and production
goes to enter number 92, "The Thinner Air, the Harder
to Breathe."
Woo!
[cheering]
We did get a win, but we do not look like a cohesive team.
We look like a fragmented group of dancers
that were thrown together.
Is that the team you expect to bring home a win at nationals?
Yay!
Woo!
[celebrating]
Congratulations, girls!
Congratulations, Ms. Kalani.
Overall high score.
In the group dance, I saw some snafus.
But I thought the routine was good.
Well, I'm just speaking from on, like, my behalf and us.
We won, but we don't feel like it was our best.
Well, and it's not even that, Kendall.
It's the sizes of the kids.
You know, I'm so sick and tired of this,
saying it doesn't work with the minis.
It doesn't work with the minis.
This team will never work with the minis.
It doesn't work with the minis.
Make it work!
It's an honor to be in this group.
We have three weeks until nationals.
You need to make it work.