By Michael Goth

Word Count: 3827

Rating: G (suitable for all audiences)

Summary: A 10 year old girl joins a breakdancing competition, where some of her opponents are teenagers.

This story is dedicated to Achelle Phillips, Angela Stivala, and my mom. Also, to all the Shelly P.’s everywhere!

She awoke a little before 8:00 on the morning of July 15, 1985, a bundle of nerves. This was the day she had been anticipating with equal amounts excitement and fear. The day she had been practicing and preparing for over the last three months.

To save time, Michelle had showered the night before. She wanted to be ready to book as soon as she woke. She had wanted to leave a little earlier, but had to wait until after her mother left for her job at the bakery. Diana Peterson would not have approved of what her ten-year-old daughter had planned for today. Besides, if she won, Michelle wanted to surprise her mom. She was doing this as much for her mother, as for herself.

Michelle, a cute tomboy with shoulder-length curly hair, dressed in sweats and a t-shirt. The simpler, the better. Carrying as little weight as possible was key to her performance. She had seen older kids perform in jeans and a leather jacket, but at her age, that outfit—though cooler to look at than her drab attire—would be like an extra ten pounds on her body. An extra ten pounds that could seriously affect her moves.

After pulling a small duffle bag out of her closet, Michelle walked over to her bookcase. She grabbed her small cassette stereo player from atop the dresser, under a Miami Vice poster splashed in bright colors—Crockett and Tubbs standing in front of a black Ferrari. Michelle unplugged the player and placed it in her bag. The Sony could be powered with either electricity or batteries, so it did not matter that she would be nowhere near an outlet. She had checked the batteries the night before to see if they were still juiced. Now she took several cassettes—the soundtracks to Flashdance, Purple Rain, and Michael Jackson’s Thriller—and placed them in the bag.

She walked across the hallway and into the bathroom. Looking in the mirror above the sink, Michelle pulled her naturally curly hair back into a ponytail and wrapped a purple band around it. She then tied a blue headband around her forehead. A few nights earlier, she had used her mother’s glitter gun and written “Shelly P.” on the front of it.

Back in her bedroom, Michelle went into her closet again, this time taking out a small gymnastics mat, rolled up and tied by string. She grabbed her Sony Walkman (a birthday present) and placed it inside the elastic lining of her sweats, then hung the headphones around her neck. She picked up her duffle bag and mat and left her bedroom.

Michelle exited the house through the garage of the ranch that she and her mother shared. They had moved in the previous February, after her mother and father separated. Her parents had been married since 1968, and Michelle (born in 1975) was their only child. The house was very simple, but the town of Schaumburg was a good one, with a highly regarded school district. Michelle had spent the first decade of her life in Elgin, which was about a twenty minute drive from her new home. Close enough so she could still get together with friends.

Pushing her ten-speed Huffy Bicycle (a Christmas present) out of the garage, Michelle brought down the garage door, pulling the handle up to lock it. She put on her headphones and hit play. Michelle had been listening to Knee Deep in the Hoopla by Starship last night, and the tape was still in the Walkman. As she climbed onto her bike, Grace Slick and Mickey Thomas sang of building a city on rock n’ roll. Michelle loved the song, though she could never figure out who Marconi was and why he played the mamba. Or what a mamba was, for that matter!  

Michelle glided down the driveway, turned left on the sidewalk, and began to peddle. It had rained the night before and the cement was still wet, so she rode carefully but quickly. She had one place to stop before she headed to the town square where the competition was being held at 10:00…The Village of Schaumburg’s Summer 1985 Breakdance Competition.

Michelle had started breakdancing a year earlier, while still living in Elgin. She had seen other kids doing it and found it to be cool and exciting. It had also helped to take her mind off her parents’ constant drumbeat of arguments.

Ten minutes after leaving her house, Michelle peddled up to the front of St. Matthew’s Church, where she and her mother attended Mass every Sunday. She leaned her Huffy against a cement pillar, swung her duffle bag over her shoulder, and walked into the church. There were no services being held, so the chapel was empty except for herself and an elderly couple sitting at a pew in the center. Michelle stopped at the golden vat of holy water, dipped her finger in, and then performed the sign of the cross.

She walked up the main aisle to the first row, placed her bag on the floor, and knelt down, once again crossing herself. She placed her hands together, closed her eyes, and began to pray. She prayed for her mother and asked God to watch over her. Also, she asked the Lord to smile down upon herself today. The grand prize for coming in number one in the breakdance competition was $500, which Michelle wanted to win for her mother. Her mother had done so much for her, sacrificed a lot, and Michelle wanted to thank her in a very special way.

After she finished praying, Michelle stood and walked down the aisle. She once again blessed herself with holy water (she needed all the help she could get!) and walked outside. She clipped the duffle bag onto the back of her bike with the gymnastics mat, hopped on the bike, and peddled herself out of St. Matthew’s parking lot, turning right and making her way onto the sidewalk running parallel alongside Schaumburg Road. Fifteen minutes later, she arrived at the village square where the competition was being held.

Michelle parked her ten-speed with about twenty other bicycles. She checked her watch. It was a 9:30, a half hour before the competition would begin. She walked out among a sea of at least thirty other kids, ranging from her age to eighteen. Suddenly she felt sick to her stomach. She had not eaten breakfast (but had included a Snicker’s bar in her bag) because she suspected she would get nervous and did not want her food coming up in front of a lot of other people.

There was a table set up at one end of the village square. There sat four college kids, three boys and a girl in a tight fitting Def Leppard Pyromania t-shirt. Michelle walked up to the girl, who wished her a good morning and gave her a piece of paper to fill out. She wrote Michelle Peterson on the line asking for name and then next to it wrote, “Shelly P.”. She handed the piece of paper back to the girl, who smiled and wished her luck.

Michelle walked out into the center of the town square. All around her kids were practicing their routines. She recognized the logo of Windy City, a breakdancing crew very popular in the area, on the back of the leather jackets belonging to a group of teenagers. Windy City was a breakdancing crew consisting of high-school-aged kids who lived in Schaumburg and performed all over the area. The Windy City kids were generally considered the best breakdancers in the Northwest Suburbs. However, since its crew were all under eighteen and residents of Schaumburg, and Windy City was not a professional organization, its members were still permitted to participate in the competition despite having a certain level of experience that everyone else lacked. Michelle practiced on her driveway in front of her friends and other neighborhood kids. How could she possibly compare to the kids of the Windy City crew? As if she were not nervous enough!

As 10:00 approached, Michelle noticed a few of her friends among the people coming to watch the competition. There was a sizable crowd gathering under the summer sun. The infamous Midwest humidity was beginning to rise. She was glad that she was wearing a t-shirt. The Windy City crew in their leathers would roast in the summer heat, though she doubted that would affect their performances much.

A middle-aged man with a two car garage for a nose, who Michelle recognized as Schaumburg Village President Lou Stubbs (his mug was always on the front page of the bi-monthly village newsletter), took his position near the front of the square. He asked the spectators and competitors to quiet down before welcoming everyone to The Village of Schaumburg’s Summer 1985 Breakdance Competition. In Olympic style, the contestants would be judged on technique and artistry, and be graded on a point system. At the completion of the competition, the three kids with the highest scores would be awarded $500, $300 and $100, depending on their placement.

Stubbs handed the microphone over to a cute high-school-aged student who introduced himself as Billy Fox, then wished all the competitors luck and called the first name, Lester Dobbs. A well-built black kid of about sixteen walked into the center of the square, mat and ghetto blaster in hand. He laid down his mat and hit “play” on stereo, the sound of Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five blasting from the sizable speakers. Lester then began to lay down some impressive moods. Michelle once again thanked her lucky stars that she had not eaten breakfast. She was so nervous now, she would have been wearing it!

Michelle watched about a dozen performances, ranging from the laughable to the amazing. The village had not held tryouts; anyone was permitted to compete, and it was obvious to her that one kid had never breakdanced in his entire life. His moves had resembled a fish out of water flopping around on the pavement.

Billy Fox kindly applauded the latest competitor, who had been mediocre at best…though better than fish boy. Billy looked down at a piece of paper in his hand, then spoke into his mic, “Please give a hand to our next contestant, Michelle Peterson… ‘Shelly P.’!”

The introduction nearly knocked Michelle over, as if she had been hit by a massive gust of wind. She took a deep breath and walked out into the center of the square with her mat and stereo cassette player. Before the competition began, she had decided which song to perform to. She had put the tape into the player and wound it to begin right before the song. Though she had practiced and performed to a variety of songs like “Maniac” by Michael Sembello and “When Doves Cry” by Prince, she had decided to go with the song that she most frequently used.

Michelle laid down her mat and placed her stereo close. She turned the volume all the way up to max and hit the play button. As she took her place on the mat, she quickly looked up towards the sky, saying a little prayer, and then got herself into position as “Beat It” by Michael Jackson surrounded her like a comfortable blanket.

Michelle began simply with her basic Toprock. She bounced lightly on her toes before she crossed her left leg in front of her right, all along staying light on her feet. She then quickly switched feet, crossing her right over her left. She repeated this move several times, hoping to grab the attention of the audience.

She then got down on the mat, placing herself into a pushup-like position. She pulled her right foot forward, putting the majority of her weight on that foot. She brought her left leg forward and raised the matching hand into the air. Her left leg was at a 90-degree angle up against the back of her right leg, before bringing her legs parallel to one another. Michelle then placed her left hand on the mat in front of her. Even though she was concentrating on her moves, Michelle noticed that the audience was all eyes. She had half expected a majority of them to be laughing under their breaths at her beginner’s moves. She figured that many were surprised that she had not landed on her scrawny butt the second she started her Toprock. Either way, now that all eyes were on her, this audience would belong to “Shelly P.” She repeated her move, but this time ended her routine with her right hand in front of her, her body back in pushup position.

Michelle decided to get a little adventurous and prepared her Coin Drop. She placed her right hand opposite her left leg, then lifted the leg into the air and placed her opposite hand on the ground. She then wound her body in a circular motion, swinging her legs around her. Michelle came down on her back and continued the spinning of her body.

With the easy stuff out of the way, she prepared her Windmill Spin. She was now at the part of her performance where the judges would be paying especially close attention to the technique of her moves. This is where she had to become Jennifer Beals in Flashdance, mixed with Kevin Bacon via Footloose. It was time for her Power Moves.

As she began to prepare for her Windmill, Michelle took a deep breath and said another prayer. This was the part of her performance where she had to be the most careful; if she made a wrong move, she could be seriously injured.  She got down into a kneeling position, her left elbow at her side and her right hand in front of her face. She then placed both hands on the ground with her left elbow tucked into her hipbone, putting most of her weight into her left arm. She then pushed off the mat with her left arm and turned her body into a circular motion with her right, legs extended off the ground. She repeated the Windmill three times, the third time really putting all of herself into the routine as Eddie Van Halen’s guitar solo ripped through “Beat It”.

Michelle then suddenly froze, becoming silent and still. The audience erupted in applause. Now, it was time to put the wrapping on the package. She lifted her legs into the air, bringing herself into a headstand position. She then brought her legs down and stood up. The audience continued to applaud. Adrenaline and pride running through her ten-year-old body, she bowed and waved to the audience. An audience who for a few minutes had been in the palm of her hand.

Billy Fox thanked Michelle for her performance, followed by more applause. Michelle once again waved to the audience, feeling very proud of herself. Even if she did not win, she had put down a good performance. Picking up her mat and cassette player, she walked back to the rest of the competitors, many who congratulated her, as another prepared to perform.

The completion ran until a little after noon. Michelle eagerly anticipated (and dreaded a little) the end, when the judges would make their final decisions. After the last boy finished his performance, Billy Fox thanked everyone for coming before he walked over to the table where the four college kids sat, including the girl in the Def Leppard t-shirt, who handed Billy a piece of paper.

Billy walked back over to where he had been standing previously. Everyone grew very silent as Billy began to read off the names of the three winners. The third and second winners (like bronze and silver in the Olympics) were two high-school-aged boys. All hope drained out of Michelle as her heart sank to her stomach. She scolded herself for being naive enough to think that she could possibly win against the older, more experienced kids. She tried to remind herself that she had put down a good performance and that the audience had eaten it up with a spoon.  

“Okay,” said Billy Fox. “For the moment everyone has been waiting for…the winner of The Village of Schaumburg’s Summer 1985 Breakdance Competition is Michelle Peterson… “Shelly P.”!

The audience roared its approval as “Eye of the Tiger” came over the public address system. Michelle had to all but peel herself off the cement as she walked up to where Billy Fox was standing. Billy shook Michelle’s hand, gave her an envelope (no doubt with the $500 in it), and hung a medal around her neck. She turned to face the cheering audience and noticed her friends waving at her, obvious pride on their faces. She had never felt so proud of herself. Silently she thanked God for smiling down on her this day.

Michelle could not wait to tell her mother!