“Yes way!” Vanessa smiled from ear to ear. “Courtesy of the organizers of our competition, we get to not only visit, but take a class with their star instructors!”

“OMG!” We all shrieked.

“Okay, okay.” Vanessa was smiling, even as she tried to settle us down. “Let’s go in there calm and composed.”

“Yeah, hurry, because more people are coming in behind us and we want to get the best spots!” said Megan’s mom.

Fifteen minutes later, we were front row center in a big dance studio. A bunch of the other teams were there, too. They seemed just as nervous and excited as we were.

Wow. There were about one hundred of us in there. Plus, there was plenty of space for all the chaperones to sit and chill in the back of the room. I’d only ever seen these warehouse-size studios on those super-polished YouTube videos showcasing the latest dance crazes. I wonder if they used this studio in the videos.

I had to ask Lily, who loved those videos as much as I did. She was standing next to me but looked lost in thought.

I leaned an inch over to my left. “Psst! The dance videos we love watching. I bet they’re filmed here!”

Lily broke out of her thoughts and grinned. We grabbed each other’s hands and did one last mini squeal, until one after another, a man and a woman’s voices echoed out.

“Hello, everyone!” said the man.

“Waddup, people!” the woman bellowed.

“Welcome, welcome!”

They were both now standing in front of us, dressed in white tees, joggers, and sneakers. The mirror behind them reflected all our faces. They introduced themselves as Jackie and Miguel.

“Please take a seat for now while we talk your ear off,” Jackie joked.

We all laughed.

“We heard you all have a major event coming up, and we applaud you for making it this far,” shouted Jackie, beaming and throwing her hands in the air.

Everyone erupted into a mini celebration, cheering for ourselves and one another. It felt great to shout extra loud with my dance crew. The Squad and I all high-fived one another.

“Now, we know a thing or two about competition,” said Miguel, “and it can be pretty nerve-wracking. We hope to offer you a fun break from your competition worries—and give you a taste of New York City dance lessons.”

Lily, Riley, Trina, and I stole glances at each other, smiling.

“Okay, guys, let’s go! Warm-up time!” Jackie called out.

We all move to the center of the room, where we go through a series of mini cardio—including lots of sit-ups and push-ups to get the blood pumping.

After we were done, Miguel jumped up and down as if revving up his energy even more. He gestured for us to get up and do the same. “So, let’s pop, rock, and lock when that hip-hop beat drops.”

The music started, and we all got moving in all different types of styles. And then both instructors did their jumping thing again. When the entire studio was jumping too, they started showing us a hip-hop routine that we all followed.