Imagine you are 10 years old in California and you are in the middle of a shopping center with hundreds of people who are about to watch you perform something on a stage. You start walking up onstage and you start performing. While you are performing, you forget the steps. What would you do? Would you run away? Would you make it up on the spot? That’s what I did. I made it up on the spot. I was in California in the middle of a shopping center with hundreds of people watching the stage as I was about to start dancing. And then I forgot my solo.

It is a hot, sunny Sunday afternoon in Long Beach, California. My solo is scheduled to go onstage at 12:30 but you have to be there 45 minutes earlier to practice and in case they are running early. I am practicing my solo in a practice room with my dad holding a speaker playing my solo song. My dad starts the song for me to practice to. I get to the part I keep forgetting when I practice and I forget it again. I tell my dad to start the song over. I close my eyes, take a deep breath and do it again. The part is coming up, and… I forget it again. I tell my dad that I'll just make up something on stage and we go out of the practice room.

I hear the announcer call the name before me as the dancer walks on stage. The music starts to play. I try to drown it out as much as possible to practice my own solo. The dancer on stage finishes. I walk onstage as the announcer says my name and my song’s name. I look at my teacher as she mouths “good luck”. The music starts. I get to the part I keep forgetting and… I forget it again. Instead of standing there, I start to improv. The butterflies in my stomach are fluttering like never before. I try to focus as much as possible while still trying to make it look as good as possible. I remember the end part that is coming. I prepare for how to get into and I do it. I finish the rest of my choreographed solo.

As I walk off stage I hear my teacher cheering super loud. I go to find my parents and my teacher. I run to my parents as they congratulate me. “You did so good!” they say. My teacher says “Good job Holden! You did so good! I’m just glad you didn’t do any fuettes!” (Fuettes are really hard turns and I was really bad at them at the time). Everyone laughs at her comment because my fuettes were horrible. After the showcase, me, my family, my friend and her mom went back to our hotel rooms as we finished the rest of our vacations. I learned that sometimes, you just have to go with the flow and let whatever happens happen.

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