Giselle’s meltdown is something Blitz and I don’t talk about much. Despite our difficulties with her, neither of us like how things ended. We speculate that maybe she thought she was going to get special treatment due to her relationship with a producer, or maybe it was even promised.
But we don’t know. Even Blitz isn’t privy to that level of internal deception if it were true.
The last week of rehearsals is very different from the others. Twenty former Dance Blitz contestants return, including the finalists from season one, when Blitz refused to accept any of them.
There are only five dressing rooms other than Blitz’s, so we all end up sharing. Three girls from season two come to mine, and immediately they laugh when they see I’ve covered up the mirror.
“I did that too!” exclaims a friendly Hispanic girl with a wild curly mane of hair. “But you missed this one!” She tugs on the baseplate below one of the mirror lights and it swings open. Another camera points at the door.
“Oh!” I say. “Is that all?”
“That’s all we knew about,” she says, and introduces herself as Amelia. “One of our girls was so paranoid she draped all the walls with sheets.”
“And you came back for more this week,” I say.
“You bet we did!” Amelia says, turning to the mirror to pick out some of her curls. “There is no better exposure for getting new work than to go on one of these reality shows. I’ve been trying to get on Dancing with the Stars as a trainer partner for a year!”
One of the crew girls pops her head in. “Dance rehearsal onstage in five,” she says.
We head out into the hall to go to the main stage. This last episode is just for fun until the winner is announced, as the votes were already tallied the previous week. So there will be upbeat numbers, clips from both seasons, and interviews to close out the show.
Blitz is already onstage when we get there, and he gets caught up in the sea of girls who want to hug him or just get close. I hang back, and I catch Mariah doing the same. She seems particularly interested in watching some of the other second-season girls and how they interact with him.
I wonder what she thinks will happen even if she wins. He’s just going to do his final dance with her, say good-bye to everyone, and move on.
Amara claps her hands to quiet everyone. “All right, girls, we have four instructors here to help you all. This number is designed to spotlight each of you for a few seconds. About halfway in, Blitz will arrive, then near the end, Mariah and Livia. Let’s get everyone in a starting position.”
The rehearsal is way more lively than anything we’ve done before. None of the practice studios will hold us all, so we stay on the stage much of the day.
In addition to the big opening scene, some of the girls have their own numbers with guest dancers to fill out the male roles. Blitz will only dance onstage in the opener, then two spotlights on me and Mariah.
For our last dance, Blitz and I are doing aerial silks. It was a natural fit after all the talk about them. It has a circus feel, a little on the silly side, and we’ll do some fun drops that will make the audience gasp. They look way harder than they are.
While the main girls work out their parts, Blitz, Mariah, and I sit out in the audience. Blitz tells me about some of the girls, and he and Mariah particularly enjoy sharing stories about some of the recent ones.
I’m already feeling nostalgic by the time the day ends. There’s only three days left of rehearsals with everyone, and the show.
Then it will be over.