A Peak At An Alternate 2021 Timeline
by Norm Ramil, 8CA main person and dance team fan
1/14/21 7:20pm
I’m a little torn as I write this. How do I reminisce about what the dance community usually does in January without making everyone depressed about missing it?
K, I’ll give it a shot. But I’ll have to use that plot device that lazy TV script writers sometimes shamelessly go to: the alternate timeline.
Yup, you’ve seen this on Friends. And fans of Family Guy and American Dad definitely know what I’m talking about. It’s kind of cheating to paint another reality that’s running parallel to our own right now, but hang with me for the next few paragraphs!
So on another timeline, January 2021 is like any other early winter. No pandemic, no meltdown of political and social decency. It’s a typical first half of January, with an endless parade of cloudy days, snow on the ground in many parts of our state, and the glow of winter break wearing off far too quickly.
Picture this on our alternate timeline. It’s Monday, and dancers around Illinois nurse their sore muscles, tiny and nagging injuries, and shake off the mental fatigue after a weekend of hardcore competing.
Maybe your were at one of the early January competitions, like Argo, Belleville East, Villa Grove, and Maine East. Or the ones that run on the following weekend, when teams hit the floor at Palatine, Marion, Charleston, Lockport, Huntley, and Mahomet-Seymour. You ran your dances, collected a score and comments, see where you stand versus other routines, and maybe even hoisted a trophy at the end.
But it’s the other moments of comp day that stand out. All the selfies, the TikTok-worthy moments, maybe the occasional Snap. Dad’s like, “It’d be so much easier for us parents if you’d just use Facebook!” Doesn’t matter. You’ve documented all the good stuff, the moments that have zero to do with scores or execution or synchronization. Maybe a teammate was just being extra in your classroom, or it could be that you videoed a random mom in the bleachers who was way too into “Wobble.”
And then there are those moments when you’re phone-less and you just have to soak it all in the natural way. That last warm up and stretch and run-through. Waiting in the ready line. The long pause between their routine and yours. Spotting your fans in the crowd. Captains and seniors dish out their last reminders and tips to the rest of the team.
The walk-on. The two minutes (or so) of stating your case. The breathless walk-off. Getting to water. Looking for the very first bit of feedback from the coaches and alternates. “Was it good?”
You join hands in your circle formation, pray for the placement you want, and then send the right dancers up to get that award. Whether or not your team’s actually taking home hardware, your team arranges itself artfully for the photo-op. You count down as your fans have just a couple seconds to get a picture. Oh, and your mom definitely wants a pic of you and your bestie. And it’s pretty easy to spot me or any of the 8CA staffers running around the gym for pics that’ll work on our Monday posts!
Your coach hunts down the scoresheets and exit packets. Everyone crowds around her trying to check scores and comments. Coach says something appropriate, something along the lines of, “We have to get better,” “The changes didn’t work,” or, “We worked extra hard and it paid off.” She points her tired group of athletes to the right exit. One last check of the room. Find the right bus, and accept that the tone of the ride home has everything to do with that scoresheet.
But all of that was a flashback to Saturday or Sunday afternoon. Remember, it’s Monday on our alternate timeline! The whole day is a wake-up call. “Oh, right…I’m a ____ (student, teacher, office drone, or whatever life you or your parents lead outside of dance team). True, there’s a lot that’s ordinary about this alt timeline. But at least you’re dancing, there’s no incredibly contagious virus, and civil society isn’t fractured. Just a normal January, and from where we’re actually sitting (the REAL 2021), normal has never looked so blissful.
Here at the 8CA office on a Monday after two days of competitions, I’m not ashamed to say that I’m dragging. If gym bleachers were YouTube creators, my shoulders, back, and glutes would troll them mercilessly. And man, I gotta rehydrate, since I have to keep water to a minimum during comps (bathroom breaks are pretty inconvenient when you’re trapped in crowded bleachers and have to watch every routine).
Speaking of nutrients, Monday’s also my make-up day. I’m like, “This one salad is totally going to balance out all the junk I ate before, during, and after those competitions!”
I’ve got staffers’ hours to tally and pay for. I round up results, sort through pics, and create the results posts for Instagram. I console anyone who needs a shoulder to cry on, or listen to anyone who needs an emotional punching bag. If a coach or dancer needs my thoughts, advice, or a missing stat, I’m there for her.
Maybe there’s no practice today, or maybe you have a meeting and video review. For teams who had the weekend off, Monday afternoon means it’s back to the grind. Outside it’s just a chilly grayness, but inside, it’s all about intensity. Expectations are higher. Coach lays out a deal that boils down to this: “If you can’t ____ (insert skill here), I’m pulling you out of the dance.”
By the time you get home, we’ve got the weekend’s results up on several Instagram posts. You’ve got your eye on sectional rival Team P, and Team Q keeps getting better and better. And if you’re razor sharp, you don’t sleep on those teams from the other end of the state who you’ll probably run into in a few weeks.
Before that pressure-packed Saturday when your IHSA fate is on the line, there’s another highlight on our alternate reality 2021 timeline. It’s the one where ADs hope for an epic mic drop, where you dance for bragging rights, and the real treasure is getting even more feedback, running the dance again for points. Conference championship, anyone?
And that’s where we’ll pick things up again in Part 2 of our peek at an alternate 2021 universe!
[Cue blurry video transition effect] Now, back to the real 2021. Deep breath…take care of each other…and one extra slice of pizza is ok.