The Secret Lives of Cheerleaders: 5 cheertastic scenes from the film

4. Ava and Katrina go head-to-head in a dance-off.

From the moment Ava performs her dance routine during cheer tryouts, it becomes clear she is a worthy adversary for the team captain. Katrina is not pleased. She and Coach Sinclair have been working hard to ensure Katrina wins the coveted Cheerleader of the Year Award and Ava could threaten her chances.

As Ava becomes increasingly comfortable with her place on the team and her ascending popularity, she starts to realize she has the talent to stand up to Katrina. An innocent solo dance practice becomes an impromptu dance-off on the football field when Katrina catches Ava fine-tuning her routine. Both actresses are talented dancers. I’m glad the movie took every opportunity to have these ladies show off.

3. Katrina melts down in the bathroom.

Not only does Ava almost beat Katrina for Homecoming Queen, but she comes in as a strong competitor for the Cheerleader of the Year Award. Once Katrina sees the rankings, she storms into Ms. Sinclair’s office and demands an answer. “You said her being good would make me look good!” Except now Ava is one of the top ten contenders for the award, direct competition for Katrina.

Ms. Sinclair clearly doesn’t care about these girls whatsoever. If Katrina is a bomb, then Ms. Sinclair is the spark that lit the fire. She encourages Katrina to “work harder.” The following scene is a classic villain meltdown. Katrina scares everyone out of the bathroom, screams, breaks a mirror, the whole nine yards. DeBerry is excellent at playing crazy.