LotD: 1st dance: HUFFLEPUFF GROUP 1

::As the audience enters the Hufflepuff dance auditorium, they see a large Hogwarts Curtain framing the doorway. As they push it aside, the see the auditorium lavishly covered with decorations. From red, blue, and green chairs to large banners of their own house. Real fireworks of emerald snakes, sapphire ravens, and ruby lions dance over their heads. Yet mysteriously enough there was not a single badger in sight. As the audience took their seats they wondered about this. Suddenly the lights went out and a single slow ballet filled the room. A soft blue spotlight appeared on the center of the stage.::

http://h1.badwaresite.www/jenniferwilliams/BreakingFree.m3u

::In time with the music, Ginny, Flisan, and Candy appeared out of the shadows on the far edges of the stage. The soft blue glow of the center stage light hitting their faces, giving them a mysterious and magical look. The three stood next to each other and formed a sort of triangular circle. Their left feet moved toward the circle as one with their arms bent up towards the blue light. Very gracefully, their hands swept to the left towards the outside of their circle and each of them twirled as one into perfect pirouettes. As they ended this delicate dance, their right hands were lifted to outside of the circle, and the singing commenced in the song. Their faces, as well as their actions, mirrored each others. They looked off into the distance, appearing ethereal in that blue glow.::

*From my PoV*
::As Ginny danced, she felt her heart kicking instead her chest with the beat. She was just exhilarted to be onstage, and had some difficulty to keep from smiling. Although she was nervous, her growing anticipation worked as a calming effect on her. Apprehensively, she waited for the next part of their dance.::

((Below we have Jenn and Erin modeling the outfits that all the badgers are wearing right now))

::As the stage seemed to warm up with light, the audience’s attention turned to where the dancers in the circle was gesturing. Jen nervously bit her lip and breathe slowly to calm herself down. Everyone practiced long and hard in the commonroom to be flexible enough for this moment. Movement appeared in the two corners and front center. Jen, in the center, held onto her wand with her right hand and spun in tight, deliberate circles. The other two girls followed her example and rose while still spinning. Jen, Eirbear, and Trixie waved their wands, which emitted silver sparks, creating the illusion of having silver rings surrounding them. Eirbear and Trixie waved their wands toward the Jen. Jen twirled to the back and together they started lowered their bodies to the ground once more.::

::Candy twirled toward her partner Trixie and helped her up. They both travel up the stage and did an assemble. Their left foot kicks out to the front in a slight leap and their right foot meets the left midjump. Once in the air, they preformed a fouette, which was a spin that include precise movement of the hips and torso. They both land with their feet together on the ground once more. In the background, the other pairs perform the same move.::

::At the start of the chorus, everybody stripped off their Hogwarts robes, leapt to two straight lines, and tossed their outfits aside. They revealed their true Hufflepuff sides that were not going to stand in the shadows any longer. Each member performed a back somersault with a twist of their legs and turned to face their partners. Ginny, Flisan, and Candy ran toward their partners and jumped up high with their arms straight down on their sides.::

::Jen, Eirbear, and Candy also ran toward their partners, but slid onto the ground with their arms outstretched over their heads just like an upbeat chasse move. Eirbear and Flisan’s hands met and Eirbear guided Flisan smoothly over her head. Everyone then did a quick effortless split and pointed into the audience. With a loud bang and splash of golden sparkles, All the other houses decorations disappeared and large, shimmering Hufflepuff banners appeared. All the firework animals disappeared and tiny golden Badgers flew around the room which gave the room an inner glow.::

~From my POV~
::Eirbear nervously glanced out into the crowd and took a deep breath, begging the nerves to finally subside. And, finally, she forced herself to concentrate more on the dance, which allowed her to forget the nerves.::

::Ginny, Flissy, and Candy stayed in their splits, and raised their hands up in the air. Jenn, Trixie, and Erin jump up, and raise their hands to the ceiling. Slowly, they began spinning around, and unfurl the scarves around their necks, and on the final spin (they do three), they stop, facing the audience, and throw the scarves down onto the screaming crowd. Then, they take a step backwards as Ginny, Flissy, and Candy get up, do switch kicks, and land on their feet with their backs facing the audience. ::

~From my PoV~
::Ginny breathed in deeply, a huge smile slowly working its way across her face. She felt much more free now that she was out of the stuffier Hufflepuff robes and her hair was out of its tight bun and was streaming down to her shoulders. The red head look to the left and right of her, wondering how Candy and Flissy were handling the dance.::


((AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND here are the shmexy Hufflepuff outfits :D))

::In the middle of the kick they throw their hats up into the air and a beat after they land, the hats settle on top of their heads. All of them turn their heads back to the audience, and wink. As if to redirect their attention to the dance, their partners grab them by the shoulders and spin them around so that they’re facing the audience once more. Ginny front flips towards the audience, and Flissy and Candy do cartwheels to the outside parts of the stage. When they land, they throw their hands up above them tightly together, as if to catch something.::

::Jenn, Trixie, and Erin line up behind their partners. Then they point their wands to the ground and slowly raise them up to themselves, muttering, “Wingardium Leviosa”. Each of them begin levitating gradually over until they are directly over their partners head. When the lyric “ocean” plays, they stop the levitation, and their partners hold them up by their feet for a moment. Then at “control”, using all of their strength, Ginny, Flissy, and Candy spin their partners by their feet, and catch them in their arms at “feeling”::

::Ginny, Flissy, and Candy put their partners down. Then, they form two staggered lines, so that all of them are visible. Then, at “very soul” they cross their right arms over their chests, and on the echo they cross their left, so that they were hugging themselves. Jenn, Trixie, and Erin move in front of Ginny, Flissy, and Candy. The latter three are then raised up on platforms for “lifts us up” while the other trio does a split and then does a front ward spring-Trixie and Erin face the outside of the stage and spring forward that way. ::

~From my POV~
::From the top of the platform, Ginny felt a momentary spell of dizziness, but, thankfully it soon passed. She bit her lip, and took a nervous deep breath. When she let it out, she looked out at the crowd and smiled just before she began to dance again::

::Ginny, Flissy, and Candy all do back flips, tucking themselves into tight balls. At the last moment, they sprung outwards and grabbed onto their partners hands. Using their momentum, they flip their partners in front of them. Ginny, Flissy, and Candy land and then immediately drop down to one knee to avoid fouettés being done by Jenn, Trixie, and Erin. After the latter trio do two fouettés to the word “soaring”, they then drop down on their knees so Ginny, Flissy, and Candy can perform two more fouettés.

Ginny, Flissy, and Candy slide behind their partners and they and their partner sway their arms like the Hindu goddess Lakshmi. Their arms change position at “there’s not”, “a star”, “in heaven”. At “that we can’t reach”, Ginny, Flissy, and Candy spin while kicking their left foot outward slightly, and stop in front of Jenn, Trixie, and Erin. When “If we’re trying” plays, Ginny leaps forward, and Flissy and Candy leap to the outer parts of the stage. Jenn and Trixie gesture to the audience with their right arms, and Erin gestured with her left.::

::All six put their arms together and move then in a circle in front of their faces. They separate their arms at “breaking free”, first the right arm, and then the left. Ginny, Flissy, and Candy raise hands slightly over their heads, elbows bent, and flick their hands towards the right, on the words “flying”. On “climbing” Jenn, Trixie, and Erin repeat, only they flick their hands to the left. Then, they separate into their original two groups. Flissy and Candy launch Ginny into the air while Trixie and Erin launch Jenn, then catch them like cheerleaders and place them on the ground.::

~From my PoV~
::She fought the urge to scream as she was thrown into the air, but managed to boil it down to a slight laugh. Upon landing on the ground, however, the red head felt slightly disoriented, and had to take a moment to catch her breath again. When she had, Ginny threw herself into the dance with even more passion then she had before.::

::During “now the time”, all wave right arm outwards, and then their left arms on “so we’re breaking free”. On “more than hope” Trixie and Erin cross their right feet over their left, then step to the left, and swing their right arm outward, making both of their arms form an “L”. Flissy and Candy do the same, only starting with their left arms and during the “more than faith” lyric. Ginny and Jen spin outward with their hands on their head as the words “this is love” and then flick their hands slightly outward to “this is faith”. ::

::Everyone puts their arm around their partner, and sweeps their right leg out, and then the left leg. For “more than you”, Ginny, Flissy, and Candy flick their hips to the left and put their hands on their hips. Jen, Trixie, and Erin do the same thing to the right for “more than me”. Then all of them do a sort of a curtsey. With their arms down-put apart from their sides, they do a small sweep right their right leg, and then step over it with their left. They all do quick step with the right foot and then everyone does a small sweep with their left legs, finally stepping over their left leg with their right.::

::Ginny and Jenn swing their right arms towards themselves while spinning, then then swing left arm inwards. When they stop spinning, at the word “soaring” they end with their hands resting on their thighs. At “flying” Flissy, Candy, Trixie, and Erin do leaps to the outside of the stage. Flissy and Candy to the left, Trixie and Erin to the right. Then, Flissy and Candy run to their partners and everyone spins each other around in a circle. After they all let go, everyone jumps into a toe-touch. Upon landing, they wiggle their butts downward to “breaking free” then run and slide to the audience. Ginny and Jenn have their legs stretched outward and slightly bent, Flissy and Erin’s legs are to the left and Candy and Trixie’s are to the right. They then get up and hold their hands outward at waist height. Ginny and Jenn step forward, and others step to the outside. For the words “climbing” they raise their hands upwards and spin.::

~From my PoV~

::Ginny saw face after face come into her sight line as she spun, faster and faster. The faster she spun, the farther away everything seemed. Her red hair began to whip into her face, but she kept her posture perfect. Nothing could stop her from spinning, and as she closed her brown eyes she thought. And nothing is going to stop me from making sure Hufflepuff wins this::

::Everyone turns their bodies so that instead of facing the audience, they are all facing the stage left. They wave their right arms to the audience, and then raise their right knee. After holding that for a half beat, everyone drops their knee, raises their left arm slightly and lowers their right arms a little. Their feet do a skip hop, and they turn their bodies so that they’re facing stage right, while lowering their left arm and then raising their right. Finally, they hold their hand that is closer to the outer side of the stage next to their shoulder like a tea pot spout. Then they cross their outer legs over their inner and spin towards the inside of the circle to the words “now the time”::

::Everyone kicks their feet up to their butts to “we’re breaking free”. Then while spinning, they raise their arms and end in another mini curtsey. Forming their original groups, they join hands and slowly skip (seven beats) to the outside of the stage. Then, letting go of each other’s hands, they sink to the ground. The hand closer to center stage covers their face at “are” they remove their hand and gesture to center stage.

Then as the music ends, the stage slowly fills up with yellow smoke. When it finally is all cleared away, all glittering badgers are gone and all that's left is an empty stage...::