What became clear on the first day was that Sarah was the only person who actually knew how to cheerlead, the other girls were at best doing an impression of what they thought cheerleading was, and it was not always a good impression. Karyn lacked coordination, Miranda couldn't get a handle on the stunts and her enthusiasm felt faked, Nadine had a moral objection to one of the cheers which she felt was "too violent" and also once said the whole cheer in french. It was clear if they were to be a team they were going to need a lot of help, one on one, with the best. Which is why they were there in the first place.
For Miranda there was Kelly Chip, a great coach and former olympic gymnast, who spent time with her helping her to find her feet. Miranda was at first turned off to the idea of help, but when she found out who she was dealing with she was overcome with interest about what it was like to compete on the world stage. It became her determination to nail her landings, she wanted to spend all her time working on flips and kicks and cartwheels. One night she wasn't in the hotel room because she heard they offered Yoga and hoped that might help her with flexibility. By the end of the week, Miranda wasn't just flipping, she was dancing, she hadn't just learned how to spin and kick and jump, but how to walk, and saunter. The way she moved had changed, she became a creature of grace, she tried to slump but found that she couldn't, she tried to stomp, but found herself gliding. Her hips now moved as if to a beat when she walked and she turned like a model on a run way.
For Karyn there was Helen Troy, former Miss America, and once a Cheerleader herself. She helped Karyn get out of her head, to move with the music, and when the time came how to command the crowd, how to draw them in with a word and a smile. The smile was essential, they spent a whole day on that. If you want an expert on smiling go to a Miss America, its more than half of what they do, and that paid off. Karyn used to smile with her mouth closed, like a smirk, sarcastic, she learned to use her teeth, her cheeks and her eyes in her smile, making her look like a whole other person, someone capable of much more than the old Karyn was. She sent a selfie back home of her new smile and people didn't recognize her, and this made her happy. From there they worked on posture, on timing, on volume and tone and by the end of the week Karyn was leading Cheers like a pro. She never smiled with her old smile again.
For Nadine there was Ms Holloway herself, for she sensed something was amiss with the girl, she sensed...something else was at work that just a new found love of the french. She was right.....
