When you think of a puzzle, you see many types, sizes, and amounts of pieces needed to be fully complete. When a piece is missing, there is a noticeable difference, which must be adjusted to be complete. The more pieces you have to your puzzle, the more impressive the outcome will be to a person’s eye. In dance, everyone is a piece of the puzzle, including dancers, coaches, family, and spectators. When a piece is missing, you have to restart and adjust the way you put it together to make it look like no mistake happened and complete it the way it should be.

June 13th through 19th, 2022, was one of the most stressful weeks there was in a dancer’s life. Nationals are the ultimate competition to show off your skills and technique to become champions. That year, they selected my studio as one of the best in Minnesota, which became a lot of stress and nerves with all eyes on us. The training and build-up that leads to competition days complete that ultimate puzzle, as each practice day adds up to see the final product, putting it together and showing the puzzle fully completed. The first day of competition was always known as the day for solos, duos, and trios. Senior elite members warmed up for the first round of solos on stage. Soon after, we hear one of our teammates screaming for help, running backstage with the lingering hairspray smell rushing through our bodies; we see her lying on the ground.

“Help, I need ice... I stepped wrong while warming up and completely twisted my ankle.”

She was sitting there distraught, already knowing that she would be unable to do her solo and our group numbers and production. I watched her just sit there in pain, not knowing what to say, as nothing could help or relieve the pain and sadness she was going through. It is one of the worst things that could happen at a dance competition. Having this injury affected not only her, but the team and the entire week.

“Tomorrow, everyone needs to be here extra early to re-block all dances for the rest of the week.”

“I’m sorry, you guys, for this. This was not the week for this to happen.”

We all sit and talk to her, explaining how there is no need to be sorry as there is nothing she can do, nor was she expecting this to happen. The sight of the rest of the team and studio surrounding her to sit and help her calm down was the best thing at that point.

The next day, walking into the event center, all we could hear was the music and the thoughts in our head, thinking, what will we do? We started the morning by re-blocking all of our dances one hour before going on stage. While warming up and re-blocking, we see our] teammate walk in with a boot on her foot. Our hearts dropped into our stomachs. Now, for sure, knowing that she would not be competing for the rest of the week and that a critical piece of the puzzle was missing.

“Girls, we can not let this impact the rest of our week. Yes, it is sad to see, but we need to push through now more than ever and show why we are one of the best teams.”

The puzzle is not fully complete or correct, as a puzzle piece is missing. Solving how to put the piece back in correctly is finding the right moves and formations to fix what is lost and recognizing that each team member must adjust to figuring out how to take that missing piece out and adjust without her.

Walking on stage for our first group dance, we all looked at each other, took a deep breath, and took the stage. We could hear our teammate screaming and cheering for us in the crowd as she sat in the front row, giving us the happiest smile, considering the circumstances.

Walking off that stage with a sigh of relief and a smile on our faces was all we could do as we worked through something difficult and made the best of it.

“Yes, although we were all affected by this situation, we went out there and killed it for the circumstance given.”

As awards were right around the corner, we had a feeling that people would notice our missing piece. But walking onto the stage and seeing her sitting and waiting for us was like our puzzle was complete in some aspects, and the team was fully together.

A dancer will always remember the feeling of the marble floor as they sit on the stage for awards. The bright lights hit our faces, sitting and waiting anxiously for results after being put through a lot in only the first couple of days of competing. It is the best feeling to take off the lipstick that has been on our lips all day, but so is kissing our coach’s cheek after a win, even when missing a critical piece.

Some people who do not know much about dance or the structure of competition may not see this issue as such an enormous deal due to a lack of knowledge on how difficult fixing this could be. Some might think that even with someone injured and out of routine, the dance could still continue as it would have without the missing person. As anyone would think, some would relate it to another sports team, like football or basketball, where they find a replacement to fill that position. However, in dance, a set amount of people learn the dance, assuming they will perform and not have fill-ins. Seeing how others view dance is how I would view another sport without much knowledge by asking these types of questions and assuming what they can do for an easy fix.