Blind The Next Step

'Previously on The Next Step...'

The final score is...

-96!

-CHEERING

The Next Step is moving on

and we're one step closer to winning Internationals.

'Ella takes the stage

'and she's doing MY choreography.'

My biggest mistake was believing Ella was my friend.

Normally, alternates aren't in any dances for Internationals

but Kate put me in this one dance.

All we kind of know is that it's a two to seven person dance.

We know there's a twist coming but we have no idea what it is.

MUSIC: Miami

Congratulations for making it this far.

'Right now all the captains of the remaining teams

'are meeting with the Internationals rep.'

And we're going to see what curveballs we have thrown at us.

Look around you because after today, half of you will be gone.

'The competition is down to 16 teams with four rounds left.

'I hope whatever they have planned for us'

isn't too crazy.

Now, as you know, you will be performing

the two to seven person dance.

But the only challenge you'll be facing

is that you'll be performing this dance...

blindfolded.

Blindfolded?

Go!

This is crazy.

# We

# We are gonna the show the world

# Everything we're made of

# We're gonna tear the roof off this place... #

Stand up!

RINGING

Hey, what's up, guys?

Hey, man. What's going on?

It's good right now, man. Internationals is crazy.

-I can imagine.

-Yeah, man. It's crazy.

How you guys doing though?

Well, we actually have some good news for you, man.

-Yeah? What's that?

-We got our first paid gig.

-What?

-Yeah!

-No way.

Yeah. But we have to use a drum machine.

A drum machine? What?

I mean, technically, I'm not part of the band any more

because I did quit for Internationals.

But still, it still bothers me

that I'm not going to be a part of my band's first big gig.

I should probably actually be rehearsing right now so I should go.

-All right. We'll see you later, man.

-All right. Take it easy, guys.

'I'm so pumped to be at Internationals. Don't get me wrong.

'But at the same time, I'm missing the band.

'More than I thought I would.

'Right now we're rehearsing our two to seven person dance - blindfolded.'

And it's not going well at all.

-Sorry!

-Sorry, sorry!

'I enter the orange blossom room

'just because I want to see how the dance is going. I want to see'

how they were handling the pressure.

Wow. Yes. That was terrible.

-What? Who is that?

-Wait...

'This is a complete disaster. I have to think of something quick.'

-When did you get here?

-Well, I just walked in.

I just wanted to see how the dance was going.

And clearly it's a mess, but don't worry.

I have a genius idea.

If you guys are willing to add one person, I think you guys...

Are you crazy? How can we add another person?

Forfeit or add another person? I'm going with forfeit.

No. No. No. I'm telling you guys, trust me.

You guys need Noah.

He's like Marco Polo on a ship without a compass - blindfolded.

'Noah?'

Why didn't I think of that?

Guys, he's right. I've seen it. He's got this gift.

'We're having trouble with five people.'

Imagine six. It's not going to work.

-There's no way.

-You know what? Don't even worry about it, guys.

I'm going to prove it. I'll be back.

'Yeah, West. I would love to see'

how adding Noah is going to help this routine.

It is Round Two of the competition.

This round is two teams going up against each other.

Now, of course, with athletes being blindfolded,

you run the risk of some injury but we've got that covered off.

We're going to have spotters at the front of the stage.

But remember, if a spotter has to stop a dancer from falling off

the stage, they will be disqualified.

First off, it's England versus the Philippines

with England's Summerford School of Dance getting set to

take to the stage.

APPLAUSE

And here they come, having already put on their blindfolds.

I can't wait to see how this goes.

GENTLE MUSIC PLAYS

-Six pirouettes blindfolded!

-Wow.

That is so difficult. You have no idea where the front is.

But how did he find his partner there? That's really incredible.

'Right now we're watching England perform.

'Unfortunately, they're doing a pretty good job.'

'Our strategy in winning the blindfold dance

'is to use as few people as possible in hopes that our dance'

'will be absolutely perfect.

Does the fact that you have no vision heighten the other senses?

Absolutely. Absolutely. Listening to the music.

Hearing where their feet step.

These are so important to listen to.

Hearing the audience clap.

You know where the front is.

And they are doing a remarkable job on the stage.

'The strongest part of their dance is the way they use touch

'to find each other so that they don't lose their spacing.'

It's actually pretty smart and they're pulling it off.

-Back handspring blindfolded.

-Wow!

-Turning leap.

-Wow!

And will they find each other?

That's the question I keep asking.

-And they do.

-Oh, my goodness.

Wow. Summerford just brought it.

That was spectacular.

'The dance was really beautiful.'

I think we have a good chance of winning.

I will now prove my theory.

'I return with Noah because I really'

want to prove to the girls why Noah is perfect for this dance.

West is just wasting our time right now.

We need to be rehearsing cos we go on stage soon.

He's blindfolded and he's catching everything

that's being thrown at him.

-(I told you.)

-Are you kidding?

-STEPHANIE:

-How is he juggling blindfolded?

It's so weird.

We need him in our routine.

All in favour for in?

And there it is.

OK, but we only have a dance for five, not for six.

'If Noah comes in,'

then we need to lose somebody else.

-I'll back up.

-What?

'I volunteer to drop out because'

I'm the newest to A-Troupe

'and it just feels like the right thing to do.'

Listen, you're not going to do this.

Why not?

'I can't let someone who's on the actual team not dance.'

Listen, guys. I'm the alternate for the team.

I'll back out.

Manila Paardan Ng Sayaw is up next.

Yes, and as we can see, they have twice as many dancers

which means the difficulty will be much higher.

If they can perform a clean routine

then Summerford will be packing their bags.

I cannot wait to see what happens.

Let's go to the stage.

TECHNO MUSIC PLAYS

Oh, wow.

'England has a five-point advantage from Ella's solo but...'

I'm not too sure it's enough to beat the Filipino team.

'They're unbelievable.'

They're pretty sick.

Luckily, that's bad news for England.

Now the judges want to reward difficulty level.

Playing it safe at Internationals may not always be the best option.

And I bet Summerford's having second thoughts

about only using two dancers right now.

'I'm in the wings watching the Philippines dance'

and it's going really well. I'm really nervous.

-And they are...

-Oh, my goodness. Wow.

-Three aerials...

-Three aerials blindfolded.

..towards the stage, blindfolded, beside each other.

Wow! Whoa, whoa, whoa!

Oh...

MUSIC STOPS WHISTLE BLOWS

-ANNOUNCER:

-'Please take your blindfolds off.

'You've been disqualified.'

That means disqualification.

That is heartbreaking.

APPLAUSE

They look so defeated. They don't know what happened.

We're in the next round!

Welcome back to SNR's ongoing coverage

of the Absolute Dance International Championship here in Miami.

Up next is Sweden challenging Switzerland,

who just performed with four dancers.

And Sweden is certainly pushing the envelope.

Get this, folks, for the first time, a team during the blindfold round

is going to go with the maximum - seven participants.

I have never seen this happen before.

This is going to be amazing and, of course, Sweden is the team to do it.

They're known for working seamlessly together.

And they really move as one.

So I can't wait to see this routine.

GENTLE MUSIC PLAYS

'Our matchup against France is really soon,

'but we came a little early'

because we want to see Sweden perform.

-ELDON:

-'The Swedish team is really smart because

'they used a long piece of fabric to connect all the dancers

'so they know exactly where they're supposed to be.'

Wow. They're amazing.

It's like they're not even blindfolded. Makes no sense.

'Even with blindfolds on, they seem to have perfect spacing,

'and their technique is on and...'

I can't find anything wrong with their dance.

Wow.

And they are standing.

And justifiably so.

And here comes Switzerland back to the stage.

That's right. The judges are tabulating their votes.

I have a feeling this is going to be a no-brainer.

I think it's going to be a literal walk in the park.

Blindfolded.

-ANNOUNCER:

-'And the winner moving on to the next round

'of the Absolute Dance Internationals is...

'Sweden.'

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

The Swedish team knew exactly what they were doing

when they made the decision to go with seven participants

in this blindfold portion of the competition.

-NOAH:

-'I'm in the deep wings now,

'practising because everyone's depending on me.

'Basically, the strategy is for me

'to guide the girls through the dance.

'I'm going to be partnering with each of them to ensure

'that they don't get too close to a spotter.'

This is a big opportunity and I don't want to mess it up.

-ANNOUNCER:

-'Ladies and gentlemen, please put your hands together

'for the French representative, Locronan Ecole Royal de Danse.'

'All right, the next two teams going head-to-head...'

Hey, Ella.

I just wanted to wish you good luck.

-What's the catch?

-No catch.

I kind of have mixed feelings right now because she really helped me

to gain confidence and just helped me to be an A-Trouper.

But she also kind of turned on the team and that's not cool.

Look, I'm not competing with you in this round,

so what happens to you doesn't affect me.

Anyway, I know you're going to do well

cos you're freakishly good at spatial awareness.

Thanks, Ella.

GENTLE MUSIC PLAYS

-Gorgeous extension.

-Incredible.

-They're all connected.

-Oh, I know.

What's up? Why you stressing?

Um, because I think I'm going to fall off the stage.

Oh, so you're doing well, then?

I'd be doing a lot better if France wasn't doing so good.

'France always does really well in Internationals.

'Having to compete against them blindfolded'

is very intimidating.

Riley, tell you what.

If you DON'T fall into a spotter, I'll take you on a date.

-HE LAUGHS

-OK.

'I've been wanting to take Riley on a big date

'ever since we got to Miami'

and I have something pretty big in mind.

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

Wow. What an incredible performance from France.

Let me tell you, Ashley,

the competition is going to have a hard time beating that.

Up next is The Next Step.

Now keep in mind mathematics does play a bit of a role.

Next Step will be featuring five dancers.

That's right. And this could either pay off huge for them

or be a total disaster.

'Everything depends on Noah right now.'

We changed all of our choreo so he could help guide us on stage

and we really haven't had a lot of time to rehearse the new routine.

All right, here goes nothing.

It ain't nothing

'I'm really nervous. But I know this group is relying on me'

and I'm not going to let them down.

ANNOUNCER: 'Ladies and gentlemen,

'please put your hands together for The Next Step.'

'Walking on stage builds up all this pressure

'and I'm ready to perform but at the same time,'

I'm not so sure if this is going to go well.

MUSIC: Hotel

APPLAUSE

'The concept for this dance is I'm a prince,

'and they're my princesses,

'and they're all fighting to be my princess.'

And I have to choose one.

'He's kind of partnering each and every one of us

'and in doing that, he's also placing us in the right spots

'and making sure that we know where we are'

and making sure that we don't bump into anyone on stage.

How they doing?

They're pretty good.

'Noah is blowing my mind right now.

'How can he flip with a blindfold on? Who would have thought'

that Noah would have killed something like that?

Noah's doing a great job.

'Without him, it would look like four separate performances

'with nothing really binding us together.

'He's the glue that's holding us together.'

'Noah seems to be doing a great job in directing us because

'I feel super safe and in control

'and I can tell that the crowd is loving it.'

'I started in J-Troupe.

'Everyone was overlooking me and I was never getting in any dances.

'But now people are relying on me and they believe in me.'

This is a personal win for me no matter what.

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

This Internationals competition just hit another level.

It certainly did.

And tell me, where did that guy come from?

Where he came from matters not.

It's what he did when he was here.

-ANNOUNCER:

-'Welcoming back to the stage

'Locronan Ecole Royal de Danse.'

This is unbelievable.

Two truly incredible performances.

I do not envy the judges right now.

Being on stage waiting for them to announce the winner of this round'

is so nerve-racking.

'And the winner...'

'I'm really happy that we did as good as we did but'

France was also incredible.

'..moving on to round four of seven is...'

'France has only four dancers but their routine was flawless.'

I have no idea what's going to happen.

'..The Next Step!'

APPLAUSE

What do you think of that?

Good on them.

Noah is making me look good. He's proven my point perfectly.

I can't believe it. We actually did it.

MUSIC: Miami

LATIN MUSIC PLAYS

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

-You're very welcome. Enjoy.

-Thank you very much.

-How crazy is this?

-It's great.

-Oh, I love Latin music. I love this.

THEY SING IN SPANISH

'I promised Riley that if she didn't fall off the stage

'in the blindfold dance that I would take her on a date'

so I chose a salsa club in Miami.

'James and I are on a date right now but...'

he keeps drumming on the table

'and it just kind of makes me think he'd rather be with his band

'than be here at Internationals.'

JAMES DRUMS ON TABLE

Are you sure you wouldn't rather be with your band right now?

No, Riley. Of course. This is Internationals.

This is where I want to be.

OK.

'You know what? I am done talking about the band.'

I asked Riley on this date so that we could have some fun.

Do you want to go dance?

-Yeah.

-Let's do it.

'I was a little worried that James wanted to be with his band

'more than competing at Internationals but...'

as we're dancing, I know that he wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

'I guess the truth is I do want to be here.'

But I also really want to be with the band.

But I'm just not ready to tell anyone that yet.

'Right now, Giselle's in a dance captain meeting'

and we're waiting for her to return and tell us what the next round is.

Guys. Guys, come in.

'I'm calling the team together because I've learned what

'the next round is going to be and I hope Eldon's ready.'

How many pirouettes are you at now?

Uh... 27?

Well, if we want to make it to the next round,

we need as many as you can muster.

'I just hope Eldon can do it'

because the whole team is going to be riding on it.

I don't know if I'm ready for this.

# We

# We're gonna show the world

# Everything we're made of

# We're gonna tear the roof off this place

# You

# You can never fade us out

# Don't even ask the DJ

# Everybody knows we own this land... #