Magic! Magic!’ On Saturday night a chant sprung up as soon as the Charms ran onto the court. It was awesome. There was a kind of electricity in the air, pulling the crowd forward in their seats and lifting their hopes to the ceiling. Lesley’s pep talk before the game had tipped us off that this was a big one. ‘If Magic wins, then we get an extra game in the quarterfinals. So cheer your butts off, people!’ The new opening number was weeks away from being ready, so tonight we were scheduled to do the old one. We’d been doing it for so long that it was as automatic as breathing. But I still loved it. Dancing it was like pulling on an old pair of jeans and not having to check how your bum looks in the mirror. Doof, doof, doof, doof … As soon as the music started, the chanting fell away and we sprang to life. Well, our pompoms did, really. Bam, bam, bam, shake. Over, over, up and shake . . . while the guys did punches in the air. Out we fanned into two circles, one within the other.
