"and I didn't think it would hurt, but it did." "If it helps, I miss it too." "You want to be a hot shot choreographer right this second, but you're not good enough or ready yet." "You're a Karamakov, you understand?" "People will be watching you." "I want you - not Tara or Grace." "This piece needs to be angry and messed up." "No-one does that better." "Why don't you come with me?" "Why don't you compromise?" "'Cause it's important." "Exactly, and I wouldn't ask you to give up something important." "Who's that?" "Kaylah, the one you should be looking out for." "I'm sorry I bailed on you tonight." "I never had a crush on Christian." "He kind of just snuck up on me and then didn't go away." "Sort of like permanent texta." "Even if I was to rub it off, the trace would still be there." "Like he's a part of who I am now." "It just hit me." "I'm in love." "What?" "Oh, that's disgusting." "Get your snot away from me." "Top of the rollercoaster, full on, hopelessly, unequivocally in love." "Crap." "Behold, parentals, a B-minus." "I believe the word is 'unprecedented'." "See how well she's doing?" "Technically, it's still the middle of the bell curve." "What's up?" "I've been invited to Berlin to do The Firebird with your mother as principal." "Wow, congrats, guys, that's exactly two months we've managed to be a normal, stable family." "Which is why we'll make the decision together." "You remember how much you loved Berlin when you were ten." "I was eight and I got adult chicken pox." "The schools there have an outstanding art program." "Oh, wonderful." "Can they papier mache me some new friends?" "It's fine." "Go." "Flit." "I'll stay here with Ethan." "Ah, no." "Not while you're still at school and only 16." "It's Berlin or boarding." "Or I stay here." "I appreciate the attempt at democracy but I think the UN might declare it a sham." "OK, 'crap' isn't a normal reaction - maybe he feels exactly the same way." "Christian?" "Yep?" "What are you thinking about?" "Chicken." "Like on a burger or...?" "Maybe not, doesn't matter." "If I feel it, I have to say it." "Be brave, Tara." "I love..." "I love those sneakers." "The ones I've had for over a year?" "They're really growing on me." "Wimp." "Christian?" "Um..." "Yeah?" "Kaylah!" "Cheddar!" "What are you doing here?" "Didn't you know I'm a student here now?" "Are you serious?" "No, idiot, I'm looking for you." "I've put together a crew for our Showcase." "Cool, some of our friends are entering." "Um..." "Cheds, I'm kinda freaking out, 'cause everyone here is totally professional." "You're gonna kill it." "Don't get a big head or anything, but I was kind of wondering what was missing and I figured it was you." "I could easily teach you the choreography this afternoon." "Well, I'll have to check my schedule, 'cause I'm just jam-packed full of stuff." "Shut up!" "You seriously thought I'd say 'no'?" "Yeah!" "Cheds, I owe you!" "I love you." "What?" "She loves you and she didn't say one word to me." "She doesn't know you." "You guys haven't spent any time together." "So?" "Yeah, it's good." "I was just thinking, though, the music needs to be different, fuller somehow." "I like your music." "Thanks." "But with the right song, maybe some lyrics, it could really be something, you know?" "Then it'd be better than good." "It'd be..." "Perfect." "You guys should call it a day." "You don't want to mess with perfection." "If you're bored, there is the outside world." "It's just as Showcase-crazy out there." "Again?" "Yippee." "When I think 'Showcase', I think of hip-hop and hot girls chanting my name." "I don't think of tap dancing around in bowler hats." "It's steampunk." "Ben, you keep saying that but it doesn't make any sense..." "Oh, it's retro-styling, mostly influenced by the steam-age fashion but with a futuristic twist." "Kind of Sherlock Holmes meets Astro Boy." "I think we've found our damsel in distress." "Mm." "Didn't you hear, Ben?" "We damsels don't do distress anymore." "And that's why we need your input." "I'll try this but not make any promises." "Nice." "Cheds, bringing you in was a stroke of genius." "Calling yourself a genius now?" "Kaylah, he won't tell me." "Why do you call him 'Cheds'?" "Um... it's private." "Good call." "I'm leaving in two weeks." "But I've arranged for the company to keep you on." "You didn't need to do that." "If I need to re-interview on my own merits, I can." "You've moved out." "I think that's enough independence for now." "Your Showcase opposition?" "They're strong." "Yeah, but how many dancers do they need?" "It's a spectacular." "That's what turns heads at Showcase." "Everyone does hip-hop." "I'm going a different way." "I can't wait to see it." "You're coming?" "Why?" "So you can gloat if we get laughed off stage?" "You think you'll get laughed off the stage?" "You should've waited before debuting your choreography." "Yeah, yeah, yeah." "To protect the Karamakov brand." "But you didn't - you took the risk." "Let's see if it pays off." "Seriously?" "Hip-hop?" "I need to be more street." "Oh." "T, you're country lane, winding road at best." "Street?" "Never." "Well, Kaylah's street." "Christian's Kaylah?" "You have nothing to be worried about there." "I'm not." "It's just she knows him." "She knew his mum, his brother." "That stuff counts." "Well, she's probably just jealous." "She has the history but you have the present and the future." "Now can we discuss important issues like what we're doing for my sleepover tonight?" "You're sleeping over?" "!" "Hooray!" "Oh, that was super uncool." "Yeah, drop the 'hooray'?" "Maybe just in front of Kaylah." "Mm." "Wicked." "Wicked!" "Wicked!" "Wicked?" "Um, we'll work on it." "Where were you last night?" "What did I say about leaving your phone on?" "You know, you'd be completely justified in asking that if you weren't packing for overseas." "Kind of undermines the whole nurturing mother thing." "These aren't going overseas." "'m putting them in storage." "I've decided to retire before the offers start drying up." "There'll be others, Mum." "At my age, once you turn something down, people start smelling blood." "Besides, it's time." "You need four encores and a bouquet before you leave the stage." "Natasha Willis doesn't retire." "It happens to every dancer." "I'm lucky I've held it off this long." "Now stop trying to change my mind." "I..." "I wasn't." "Good." "Because I have a new role I'm committed to." "I'm staying here with you." "Now, let's get on with it." "Found it." "You know I don't believe in fate but this song's meant to be." "Thanks, Abigail." "Now, listen..." "What's this?" "Well, this morning I realised that with you the piece is fine, but with five dancers..." "it's going to be spectacular, right?" "There's no time to change it." "Everyone's picking it up quickly." "Yay, everyone." "You can help show them the chory." "So I'm a massive hypocrite." "Sorry?" "You know, running down Showcase then 'single white femaling' you when your back's turned." "Not at all." "The more the merrier." "That's great, everyone." "Uh, Abigail, just loosen up a little bit... you've gone a bit stiff." "Check out how Grace does it." "Guys, can you get serious?" "Come on." "OK, hold it there everyone." "Take five." "Abigail." "Hey." "What's wrong?" "You had it perfectly yesterday." "Well, yesterday I didn't have to worry about them." "Don't think about them." "Which one is it, Ethan?" "Dance perfectly in sync or don't think about them?" "Don't obsess." "I can see those cogs turning again." "Maybe that's the way I dance." "It's my fault." "She's making space for me." "Um, well, let's just go from the top." "Everyone?" "Great." "We're on tomorrow and we look like idiots." "It'll be sweet." "Let's just go again." "There's no point - we can't do it." "The transition's too fast." "Maybe if you held it for a couple of extra beats it'd be easier." "She borrows a hoodie and all of a sudden, she's the expert." "Get it together, guys." "Running it from the top." "Tara." "Wait!" "Where are you going?" "I don't want to be in the way." "Things were just getting tense." "I'm just trying to lighten up the mood." "By... by putting me down." "This is a huge thing for Kaylah." "Opportunities don't just fall in her lap." "It's not about Kaylah." "It's you who doesn't want me there." "Yeah, you're right." "You know, I didn't understand why you rocked up today." "So what if you don't fit in?" "Those people up there, they're important to me and I'm not just gonna give them up." "I'm not asking you to." "Thanks." "Tomorrow's headlines..." "'Selfish daughter steals beloved ballerina from world stage'." "I think I just bought a ticket for the world's longest guilt trip." "So you're nervous about tomorrow?" "Well, I wasn't until Abigail decided to go into meltdown." "She was perfect and then all I did was add a couple of dancers, barely touched the chory." "I don't know what happened." "Oh, here, let me jog your memory." "I said..." "are... you... ready?" "!" "Yeah!" "So, dance freaks, welcome to Showcase." "The best choreographers, the baddest dancers." "It's a huge program, so let's get into it." "Give it up for Deluge!" "Hey." "You're here." "Just for Sammy and Kat." "I don't want to get in your way." "Good luck." "I have to say, I'm really digging the moustache." "Don't try and grow one, Samuel." "Imagine the humiliation." "You guys are gonna rock." "Ah, it's steampunk." "We don't rock - we thrill and cavort." "One second..." "I'm not sure how to pronounce this next act, but a big load of noise for The Adventures of Herono-iminus Maple..." "Hieronymus Maple." "And the Lady Raygun!" "Hey." "Where's Grace and the others?" "They're not coming." "What?" "I told them not to." "Look, I'm an idiot, OK?" "I'm competitive and paranoid and I panicked." "Nothing wrong with what we had." "You, by yourself... that's spectacular." "You decide this now?" "It's better as a solo, right?" "Yeah, it was, until you made me rehearse it differently." "How can I do it alone when the choreographer doesn't know what he's doing?" "But you're still going to dance, right?" "I'm using your music." "So now we're going to change the mood." "Give it up..." "Darling, you were wonderful." "Oh, it was a bit wonderful, wasn't it?" "Oh, I'd forgotten what that was like." "You have to go to Berlin." "No, we've been over this." "No." "Performing is who you are, Mum." "You'd miss it way too much." "Plus, a million ballet freaks will blame me for your disappearance." "What about you?" "Well, boarding school's not that bad... and so what if we're not a normal family?" "You shouldn't give up what you love most for me." "Dancing has never been what I love the most, Katrina." "Maybe you could stay with Ethan." "Seriously?" "If you keep up this fabulous display of maturity." "Sorry to interrupt, but I loved what you did out there, and look, I'm always looking for versatile commercial dancers, so why don't you give me a call?" "No, I'm really not a dancer." "Can I disagree with you on that?" "Yes, you may." "Tara." "Kaylah's in there." "OK." "She won't come out." "She's been in there for ages." "Aren't you guys on soon?" "Yeah, like, two minutes." "Kaylah?" "You know..." "last year I refused to go on stage because someone stole my costume." "There was a spare but it wasn't my lucky one... so I held the performance up for ten minutes." "Wow, we have so much in common." "I'm serious." "Whenever I have to go on, I'm a wreck." "I'm convinced that everything is going to fall apart." "How'd you get over it?" "Trust that I know it." "And try not to think so much about it." "And they teach you that stuff at the academy?" "Sort of." "See, that's why I wanted Christian's help." "I mean, ever since he's been here, with you, he's so much better than he used to be." "I guess I thought some of that would rub off." "You don't need it." "Even without him, you're amazing." "Says the hip-hop expert." "Hey, I've got the hoodie to prove it." "So are you going out there?" "That's it!" "Yeah!" "Next up, we have the kids from the hood, the Commish Crew!" "Hey, I'm looking for Abigail." "Check out the back." "Natasha's moving to Berlin and I'm moving in with you." "Well, I hope you like fold-out couches." "Family... gotta love 'em." "Hey." "Hey." "Ethan said you were freaking out." "I'm not freaking out." "Why would I be?" "I'm not." "Breathe." "Look, I know you hate losing control, so if you need someone to dance with, I can." "I've got my costume here." "We're on in 30 seconds." "OK, I'll get dressed." "No." "This one's mine." "I can't believe I did that." "You were amazing." "I loved it." "I love you." "Sometimes the moment where you can speak what's in your heart arrives without warning." "I love you too." "And something you've been hiding is finally out there for everyone to see." "And it's more than OK." "It's perfect."