Dancing has always been something I enjoy doing. A couple of years ago at one of my dance competitions, in front of hundreds of people sitting in the auditorium, an unusual mistake took place that left a friend and I in complete embarrassment. The aftermath turned out worse than expected: I was injured.
It was the day my dance studio has been waiting for, the dance competition was finally here and we were going to show everyone how hard work pays off. That day I would have been performing in ten dance numbers for the competition, all different styles of dance: small group numbers, large group numbers, duets, and a solo.
We were waiting backstage for our large group production tap number, with our costumes on, hair pulled back with so many bobby pins, hair that felt like plaster from the hairspray, our make-up caked on, everyone looking “perfect” and alike and ready to get this dance over with. The whole team was feeling “butterflies” in their stomachs, pressure to do good, so we can win top awards.
As the announcer called our number, my teammates and I stepped onto the stage to take our spots. The music started blaring in the speakers, and we took off tapping away to the music. Everything was going great until…while doing this really hard turn sequence my best friend and I collided and tripped over each other, falling flat on our face, right in front of the judges. My friend stood up right away, I just sat on the stage in pain, holding my ankle. After a few seconds, I looked up out at the crowd and I quickly realized the dance was still going on, so I stood up as quickly as I could and joined in with the rest of the group. We were in the front row, smack dab in the middle. The audience you could tell had mixed emotions. I remember at first they were laughing at us, but then after when some girls in our group stopped to see if we were ok, they quickly responded differently. We stood up right after that incident and tried to join back in quickly as possible to finish the dance. By the end of the dance, I was in tears because I ended up spraining my right ankle.
As we took our bows and left the stage, I looked over at my friend. She was crying too, but not because she was hurt, but on account of embarrassment. The whole way back to the dressing room, we cried. I was in so much pain, my dance teacher called for the paramedics to come and check out my ankle. I was taken to the emergency room for x-rays of my ankle. It ended up that when we collided, somehow I twisted my right ankle, and fell on it wrong. We tripped over each other’s shoes. It also does not help that I was wearing high heels. I was told I could not dance the rest of the day. I was devastated. I still had dances left to perform and I did not want to give up.
Hours after being in the ER, my parents came and took me back to the competition to watch and cheer on the rest of the team. While I sat back in the seats and watched my dances go on without me, it felt awkward. Before the dances would go on my dance teachers would quickly try to change the formations and try to drill it in the dancers’ heads. When they got on stage, it was a disaster! The dancers’ adrenalines were kicking in; you could see them forget the dance and the new formations. Some dancers’ would completely stop dancing, look around at others then try to join back in. The studio did not do so well at that competition.
I was on crutches for about two weeks, and was not allowed to dance for a month. It was hard, to sit back and watch my friends dance, and I could not be with them. Even at my dance studio, I would have to watch all the classes take place and take notes.
I could not stand it! My feelings were indescribable. I felt so weird to me to not be dancing. I wanted to just cry. It also did not help that my sister was making fun of me! She would constantly remind me that I was on crutches, calling me names and tearing me apart. She would say before leaving to go on stage, “ come on Heather let’s get ready to go back stage, oh yeah, you can’t dance!” I am used to dancing every night for hours and all I could do is sit.
It was just embarrassing at the time; imagine yourself falling in front of an audience. Looking back at it all now, I think it is funny! Still this day my friend and I laugh at this. We watch the tape, replaying the same spot over and over, laughing. It was not my fault at all; she is the one that collided into me. At least we continue to dance and we never gave up. Thankfully neither of us was seriously injured. Maybe a couple of bruises and a sprained ankle, but we stuck through and helped each other through the rough times. Even though that competition was one of the biggest competitions of the year, everything in the end worked out!
