Shake it Off The Next Step

Noah, as soon as you feel strong enough,

I want you to start working on your duet with Richelle.

This is my chance to redeem myself

after letting my team down in two qualifiers.

I feel exactly the same as I did when my doctor cleared me to dance.

But when I go to dance,

I just can't.

I am so sorry for bolting like that, it's just that date,

it just brought back a lot of memories.

Memories of James?

Thanks.

-Got you!

-Know what else you got?

A mustard stain right...

Oop, got you!

-OK, I have to get back to work.

-And I have to get back to rehearsal.

Bye, James.

Oh, no. I didn't.

I just called Alfie, James.

I just made a huge mistake.

# We...we are going to show the world

# Everything we're made of

# We're going to tear the roof off this place... #

Stand up!

# Some people think famous... #

The other teams at regionals are going to see this dance

and they're going to be like, "Whoa!"

And we're going to be like, "Yeah!"

and they're going to be like, "Wow!"

I'm marking the choreo because I still don't feel 100%.

Even though the doctor cleared me to dance,

I just don't feel ready to go full-out.

-Yeah!

-Whoa!

-Woo!

-Hey!

As dance captain, it's my job to make sure all of the dancers

are operating at 100% and everybody's giving it their all,

except Noah.

Who's marking it. Again.

-All right.

-Awesome.

-Nice work, man.

-Good work.

-Yeah.

-Nice work.

All right, guys. We'll meet again on Wednesday.

-All right.

-Let's work.

Henry, I need some advice.

Well, advice is my middle name.

Shoot.

Riley called me James.

Oh, that's nothing. I once called my teacher Mum.

Mr Peters didn't like that.

No, no, no, this is, this is different.

Maybe she's just not ready to date me yet?

Riley and James were together for a very long time,

so it's natural for her to make that mistake.

I think you're going to be just fine, man.

Trust me. It just means that she's getting comfortable with you.

Henry's right. It's just a name.

It's only once.

It shouldn't bother me.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

Yeah!

-Juice?

-Juice.

-All right. Noah, juice?

-Yeah, man. Let's do it.

See you. Bye.

Noah, can you actually come back for a minute?

Oh, Noah's in trouble!

See you later, man.

I don't know what's going on with Noah

but I'm going to get to the bottom of it.

OK, so why were you marking the choreo?

I don't know why, I just can't dance full-out

and I just keep dancing within what I think are my limits.

Noah's overthinking this.

I need to help him let loose and have fun.

I know exactly what to do.

I think you need to take your mind off of dance for a minute.

We need to put you through a, wait for it, training montage.

What do you mean, I don't know what that is.

Well, I don't know a lot about physiotherapy but I do watch a lot of movies

and whenever the tough guy is down on his luck,

they put him through a montage and it helps get his strength back up.

OK, dance captain. I'm in.

All right, meet me in the rehearsal room later.

OK.

And then, in the 1960s, there were...

..hippies. They fought for peace or something like that,

-I'm not really sure.

-Hey, sassy Cassie, what's up?

Hey. I'm supposed to be making a history project for school.

I need to make a short video that there's something about all the decades

from the 1960s until now,

but I'm having a really hard time getting into it.

History's so boring.

Personally, I love history.

You just have to find something fun about it.

What can be fun about history?

What's fun about history?

Gee, I don't know, Cassie, everything.

I know, why don't you focus on the dance styles in each of those decades?

That does sound fun.

But I don't know anything about

what dance was like in the '60s, or the '70s,

or the...

Leave that to me. Meet me in studio A later.

I'm going to rally the troops.

I'm so happy to have Amy as a friend.

I need all the help I can get on this super boring project.

-What's going on?

-I've assembled a group of time travellers to join you

on your dance journey through the ages.

You're about to travel back to the swinging '60s.

You may not guess it, but I'm a huge nerd for two things -

dance and history.

This is Cassie's lucky day.

I'm doing all the '60s dances.

The twist, the swim, the mashed potato.

Oh, yeah, daddy-o, I'm wading out!

Woo! Woohoo!

A lot of these dance moves were controversial at the time but the

teenagers of the '60s didn't want to dance like their parents.

They wanted to break free.

I'm amazed Amy pulled this all together so quickly.

This is way better than what I was doing before.

Yeah!

Woo!

-Yeah!

-Woohoo!

The 1960s were way more interesting than I thought.

I can only imagine what the '70s will be like.

If we ignore the fact that Riley called me James,

this whole thing will just blow over.

We cannot just let this blow over, we need to talk about it.

So, I called you James.

-Did you?

-You didn't hear me?

I must have forgotten.

I'm so sorry. I don't know how that just slipped out.

I mean, you are obviously not James.

You are Alfie. And I guess the wires in my brain just

got...like... They just got crossed, and blah blah blah, you know.

James is not on my mind.

OK? He's not. James who, right?

And its like I said, a random word, and it just kind of slipped out

and I'm going to stop talking right now.

Look, I get it. You and James were together a long time.

It's natural.

Really? So you're not mad?

How could I be?

You are amazing. Really.

Now, let's move past that.

There is a fantastic black and white film showing at the Rep cinema tonight.

Would you like to go with me?

A movie would be perfect.

I'd love to, James.

Um,... I just...

If Alfie is the perfect guy, why do I keep messing this up?

This is exciting! The final preparations are done,

and Noah's training montage is ready to begin.

He'll be dancing full out in no time.

So, what's the block for?

Well, have you ever seen the movie The Karate Kid?

Oh, yeah, I love that movie. Are you teaching me karate?

No. Nothing like that. But if you're going to get back on your feet,

then you're going to have to learn your footing all over again.

Which is why you are going to stand on this box on one foot for as long as you can.

In arabesque.

I don't think I can do that.

Anything is possible if you believe.

Standing on one foot always works for movie characters.

So there is no reason that it shouldn't work for Noah, too.

OK.

It's OK.

Just try it again.

I hate disappointing Skyler.

But even more than that, I hate disappointing myself.

I can do this. I know I can.

Do you know what? I think I can do this.

I think I've got this.

-You're killing it.

-I could do this all day.

I'm proud of Noah for pushing himself past his comfort zone.

If he keeps this up, this could really work.

All right, buckle it up.

We are heading to the 1970s.

Amy and her time travellers are dancing through the decades

to help me with my history project.

This is the most fun I've had in history class ever.

The 1970s saw the rise of discotheques and DJs.

This new style of dance took funk,

fused it with pop and created a whole new style of grooving.

We are dancing disco.

We're doing the bump and the hustle.

We are dynamite.

Yeah!

Could this get any more awesome?

I'm speechless.

Alfie, wait.

I accidentally called Alfie James.

And I did it twice. And I feel horrible.

And I don't know what to do about it.

I'm sorry... I'm sorry I called you James.

Which time? The first or second?

I deserve that. But...

Let me make it up to you.

I'm going to take you on a date this afternoon.

It'll be the most spectacular date you've ever been on, I promise.

You have something planned?

Oh, yes!

Yes, I do.

I have absolutely nothing planned.

I better think of something amazing.

And fast. Wait until you see what I have planned, it is so amazing,

so outrageous, so...

you are going to completely forget that I put my foot in my mouth twice good.

I would love to go on a date with you.

And can't wait to see what you have planned.

Sounds exciting.

Meet me in the lounge, Alfie.

I'll text you when, Alfie.

And then you'll see what I have planned...

Alfie. I have to think of the perfect way to make it up to James.

Alfie!

Alfie.

So, what is the next test going to be, then?

Well, have you ever seen Rocky?

Yeah, I love that movie.

Yeah. Well, to work on his boxing skills,

Rocky practised on large pieces of meat.

Why didn't he just use, like, a punching bag or something?

Because Rocky is a champ.

Champs punch food.

-You want to be a champ, don't you?

-Yeah.

-OK.

Don't you think it should be like a steak or something?

I'm a vegetarian, so we're going to stick to cabbage.

OK. You just want me to hit that?

Yes.

OK, seriously?

Punch it.

OK. This feels silly.

Look at me. I'm punching vegetables.

But if this is going to get me back to my old self, then I'm all for it.

Better.

Noah is really starting to trust himself again.

But his greatest challenge is yet to come.

Now we're heading to the 1980s, where the dancing was wicked decent.

As the 1970s faded, the '80s gave way to hip-hop,

break dancing and music videos.

I'm busting out my King of Pop moves.

Bow down, subjects.

His Majesty is in the building.

The moonwalk, the sprinkler, the worm.

These '80s dance moves are so fresh.

The '80s were like a different world.

Next up, '90s.

I thought of the perfect date idea.

This Alfie can't go back to Switzerland,

I am bringing Switzerland to him.

-Oh!

-Oh, hey!

Wilkommen to Switzerland, Prince Alfred.

-HE SPEAKS GERMAN

-What?

-It's nice to see you, too.

Oh.

Yeah, what you said. Sit.

So, I prepared a traditional Swiss meal for you.

Chocolate fondue with cheese.

Right.

We don't... In Switzerland,

we do not specifically eat chocolate fondue that often.

If ever.

Well, do you want to try some?

Sure.

Is that...

Cheese and chocolate fondue?

A little bit.

I dropped some cheese in there earlier,

and I tried to fish it out but it got away from me, so I figured,

they are both dairy, and then I just stirred and stirred,

and now you can really taste it.

I can definitely taste the cheese in the chocolate.

It's not...a great taste...

..but I am trying to appreciate Riley's effort.

Schtick?

-Sure.

-Here, you can use it.

I don't have a really good sense of how this date is going,

but, based on the look on Alfie's face,

I'm going to lean towards not good.

What's the next test?

Well, have you ever seen Star Wars?

Yeah. I love that movie.

-Wait, what are you doing?

-Well, when you are training to be a Jedi,

you have to learn to use the Force instead of your eyes.

OK. This is going to be so easy for me.

You know, I did, like, a whole blindfold dance

at internationals, right?

When he did blindfold dance at internationals, he was in top form.

So I'm bringing the blindfold back.

If this doesn't get Noah believing in himself again, nothing will.

Are you going to, like, throw something at me?

Ow! You didn't even tell me you were going to throw that.

-Use the Force.

-Tell me when you are going to throw it, though.

No. You're going to use the Force.

It's not fair. What?

Ow! Ow!

Ow!

He is so close.

But he needs do believe in himself.

It is time to prove to Noah that he really is back to 100%.

There you go.

I've got it back.

I finally feel as strong as I did before my back surgery.

Thanks to Skyler, and my training montage,

I'm going to rock my regionals dances.

No more marking.

You know what, I could not have done this without you.

You're the best dance captain ever.

-Thanks so much.

-Any time.

Now, we're heading back to the gnarly '90s.

Wait. Can I dance?

-Yeah.

-I wasn't alive in the '90s, but I've seen some videos and stuff.

-Do you mind filming?

-Sure.

Watching the dances is fun, but I bet dancing them is even funner.

The '90s were the beginning of the internet and reality TV.

That made it easier for people to get interested in dance

and learn how to do it.

Reality TV started in the '90s?

I thought it had been around forever.

Cassie and I are getting jiggy with it right now.

These '90s dance moves are going to make you sweat.

2000s, here we come.

See you later, '90s.

Hello, 2000s.

This is when most of us started dancing,

so we know all about this decade.

This is amazing. I can't believe how great my friends are.

This could be my first A plus in history ever.

The 2000s had the best dances.

Single Ladies, Stanky Leg, Lean Back.

If I had my MP3 player, I'd do all of them.

Woo!

That was so fun!

I can't believe we just made it through 50 years of dance.

Best. Project. Ever!

I think my grade in this class is going to go way up.

Thanks, Amy.

Alfie and I are sitting together in silence,

pretending that the food is not terrible.

This is a textbook bad date.

You really can taste the cheese in that, can't you?

It's just, um... It's pretty disgusting.

Is this date as horrible as I think it is?

I mean, just a little bit.

I'm sorry. I really...

I really wanted to make it up to you for what happened, and...

I just need you to know that...

Listen. It's fine.

OK?

-I'm having fun.

-Really?

Totally.

But... Yeah, I do have to go.

I have some things to attend to.

Oh, you're leaving early?

Yeah. It's kind of time sensitive.

OK.

Yeah, I totally get it.

Don't even worry about it.

I really thought this date would have worked.

I mean, Alfie and I.

We don't seem to click like we used to,

and I don't know how to make it better.

See you later.

Wait. You're not going to give me a goodbye kiss?

Yeah, of course. What was I thinking?

-Right. I'll see you.

-Yeah.

Alfie and I are trying to make this work.

But I keep turning it into a disaster.

Why does this keep happening?

# We're going to show the world

# Everything we're made of

# We're going to tear the roof off this place

# You can never fade us out

# Don't even ask to change it

# Everybody knows we own this sound. #