Bridget went to play-hit him but he grabbed her and they started being all gross and lovey-dovey, so I looked away.
And I saw Mum and Dad.
They seemed a bit out of place, and they were still in their work clothes, but they were there, standing only a few metres away.
So they’d finally made it to one of my performances. They couldn’t have picked a better one!
‘You were beautiful, Ash,’ said Mum. ‘Or funky. Or … what’s the right word? Whatever it is. You were perfect.’
‘Totally cool,’ said Dad, doing a move that was exactly the opposite.
I reached forward to give them a hug before I died of embarrassment.
But I wasn’t really embarrassed. I was a big, fat, excited ball of happy.
I had a pair of the most amazing, delicious purple, silver and gold high tops, great new friends and was in my own dance crew.
And none of it would have ever been possible, unless I’d come to Silver Shoes!
Ashley Jenkyns
Full name: Ashley Adele Jenkyns
Nicknames: Ash, AshFunK
Age: 10
Favourite dance styles: Hip hop & funk
Best friend: Riley
Family: Mum, Dad, and my 18-year-old sister, Bridget
Favourite colour: Purple
Favourite food: Peanut butter sandwiches and jelly snakes
Favourite school subject: Science
Hobbies: Dancing, being in a dance crew, watching YouTube, playing practical jokes, volunteering with Coastwatch, swimming, snorkelling (in summer!)
What I want to be when I grow up: A dancer. Or a marine biologist.
Best dancing moment: When I finally tried hip hop and our crew performed at the festival
Things I Iove: Hanging out with Bridget and Brimax, big family dinners, watching hip hop battles and seeing all the different styles, making people laugh, sea animals (turtles are the best!), the beach, helping Dad in the garden and, of course, dancing!
How to do a Perfect Front Aerial
A front aerial is an acrobatic move, often found in hip hop dancing, in which a person performs a complete revolution of the body without touching the ground. Follow the movements in the illustration below for a front aerial that is both smooth and strong.
Tips
Practise doing front walkovers and one-armed walkovers before you try to do a front aerial.
Push up off the ground on your leading leg rather than out or forward. This will help you achieve the upward momentum you need.
Don’t forget to stand up straight at the end!
Glossary
Hey guys! I’ve made a list of some of the terms and moves that we use in hip hop class. There are a few acro terms here too, because Jay loves to put tricks into his choreography! Always use mats if you’re trying anything new or hard, and remember that the move isn’t always the most important thing, it’s the ‘flava’ you put into your dancing. Have fun ‘hitting it’!
Love, Ash
aerial a front walkover performed without any hands on the floor
b-boys/b-girls what you call dancers who breakdance
body roll when your whole body moves in a wave-like motion, most often starting with your head
boogaloo the aim is to dance so you look like you have no bones; it’s a very loose movement that involves mostly rolling your hips, knees and legs
breaking breaking/breakdancing tends to be made up on the spot; you perform the moves at different levels, switching from uprock (performed while standing), to downrock (performed close to the floor), from power moves and acrobatics to freezes
choreographer the ‘designer’ of a dance routine. Choreography is all the moves, sequences, patterns and form that make up a dance.
cranking a crisscrossing bounce/jump travelling step, where your arms come up like you’re riding a motorcycle
elbow stand this is like doing a handstand, but on your elbows, and usually one leg will be bent while the other is extended over your head
float a foot movement where you switch between putting weight on the toe and the heel so smoothly it looks like you are floating or gliding across the floor
floor sweep to sweep the floor in a circular motion with your foot and then move backwards on the other one
isolation moving one part of your body while you keep the rest still
jerking a movement where you bounce from one side to the other using your knees, keeping low to the ground, a ‘groove’
kick step a low kick to the front followed by the opposite leg stepping out to the side
locking a series of locking movements where you perform a quick movement, lock into another position and then hold the last position for a beat. Usually your bottom half is relaxed while your top half does all the work!
popping this is quickly contracting and relaxing your muscles so it causes a jerk in your body. You usually perform it with other moves or poses.
reebok a travelling groove step where you rock from side to side using your feet, and your arms follow your body round
running man where one knee bends up to the front while the other shuffles back; you should stay in the one spot
side somersault a cartwheel performed with out any hands on the floor
walk-it-out sitting low and keeping your knees bent, your legs twist from side to side while moving forward
wave where your body stays still while you hold your arms out so it looks like a wave is moving fluidly from one hand to the other
wop a bouncing groove where your knees bounce with the emphasis on the upbeat, and your arms and head swing left to right
About the Author
Samantha-Ellen Bound has been an actor, dancer, teacher, choreographer, author, bookseller, scriptwriter and many other things besides. She has published and won prizes for her short stories and scripts, but children’s books are where her heart lies. Dancing is one of her most favourite things in the whole world. She splits her time between Tasmania, Melbourne, and living in her own head.
Can’t get enough of Silver Shoes? Be sure to check out Ellie’s story in And All That Jazz!
OUT NOW
Breaking Pointe and Dance Till You Drop
available April 2015
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Version 1.0
Silver Shoes 2: Hit the Streets
9780857982858
Published by Random House Australia 2015
Copyright © Samantha-Ellen Bound 2015
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
A Random House Australia book
Published by Random House Australia Pty Ltd
Level 3, 100 Pacific Highway, North Sydney NSW, 2060
www.randomhouse.com.au
Addresses for companies within the Random House Group can be found at
www.randomhouse.com.au/offices
First published by Random House Australia in 2015
National Library of Australia
Cataloguing-in-Publication Entry
Author: Bound, Samantha-Ellen
Title: Hit the streets [electronic resource]
ISBN: 978 0 85798 285 8 (ebook)
Series: Silver Shoes; 2
Target Audience: For primary-school age
Subjects: Girls – Juvenile fiction
Dance – Juvenile fiction
Dance schools – Juvenile fiction
Family crises – Juvenile fiction
Dewe
y Number: A823.3
Cover and internal illustrations by J. Yi
Cover design by Kirby Armstrong
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