It’s Going Down

As most of my memes are, this one was inspired by a true story…

My daughters’ first year of competitive dance was a successful one; their entire team was brand new, yet they managed to place well and earn all sorts of special awards for their adorable jazz routine.  So we were naturally expecting great things from them again their second year, when their routine, “Little Red Riding Hood,” took the stage.  Once again, we had a super-cute number with a bunch of sweet, bouncy girls, and the energy in the audience went through the roof every time they performed it.

There is only one logical explanation I can think of for what happened later that year:  A woman from another team must have seen them perform at some point, and she decided to record them the next time she saw them.  It sounds strange, I know.  But that is the best theory I’ve got, based on the evidence.

True Story

We were at a Break the Floor event in Pennsylvania, and the venue was pretty packed (obviously, this was pre-COVID).  I was jammed in the back with about three million other parents and family members, straining to get a good view.  When our Petites took the stage, I noticed a woman next to me rise to her feet, take out her cell phone, and push a button to start recording. 

I was shocked; this lady didn’t look at all familiar.  Being fairly new to the team (it was only my second year, and I am TERRIBLE with remembering names and faces), I second-guessed myself and thought maybe she was an aunt, grandmother, or family friend that I had simply not recognized.  But then I glanced down at the chair she was sitting on; there was a jacket from another team draped across the back of it.  It took me a few seconds to process what was happening; a grown woman from another school was recording our routine.

I felt the heat rush up through my neck and flush my face with an anger that I had never known before that moment.  Barely aware that the music had started and the routine had begun, I was debating whether or not to say anything.  It took a few seconds, but my inner Mama Bear eventually broke through (I have to be careful; she’s originally from Jersey City).

Confrontation

“Excuse me?!” I hissed from between clenched teeth.  My inquiry was ignored (which did nothing to abate my anger), so it was time to level up.  

“Excuse me?!” I repeated, this time more forcefully and much less like a whisper.  A few heads in our area whipped around toward our direction.  The Spy (as she will forever be known) jerked her head towards me for a split second, then snapped back to her phone.  

“EXCUSE ME!” I practically yelled; now I had her attention, as well as everyone else in a 10-foot radius.  

“Yeah?” she murmured.

“Why are you recording this routine?” I demanded.

Well, The Spy wouldn’t have been accepted onto any elite espionage team if her next reply would be taken into account during the application process.  She actually had the nerve to respond with “This is my daughter’s team.”  

Um…No

For a moment, I was speechless.  I was absolutely gobsmacked that this woman would be so bold as to spout such an easily-disproved lie.  And for whatever reason, she seemed completely unprepared for my forceful, furious response of “No, you are NOT from our team!  That’s MY daughters’ team, so why are you taping it?!”  

By this point, our little dramatic episode had caught the attention of most of the people in our immediate vicinity.  Facing the stares of curious onlookers and caught red-handed, she hastily threw her phone in her purse, grabbed her belongings off the chair, and dashed out of the ballroom, head down and eyes on the ground (in what I can only hope was in an intense burst of shame).  

Thankfully, I was able to see most of the number, and my blood pressure (eventually) went back to normal.

So things didn’t get quite as down and dirty as we see in the meme picture.  But had she not turned tailed and run like an injured mongrel, it might have.  

Don’t mess with Mama Bear.

Work hard, have fun! – Danielle

For a dance mom on the run, check out Mad Dash!