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Nickolas Fielding (lostlittleboy) wrote in toujoursliberer,
@ 2008-09-01 21:08:00

Entry tags:

evander_rycroft, nell_abbot, plot

Dancing in the Dark
Subject: Dancing Lessons at the Theatre
Who: Evander Rycroft
Where: Bridge Theatre, Stage
Warnings: The Theatre Boys, it's hard to say.
Open to: All of Harry's Boys immediately; Harry and Will or anyone else in the Theatre.

Not wearing much more than the loose harem pants that he frequently wore, Evander moved across the stage, going slowly and breaking down the dance. He'd been serious about teaching the boys so they could show Harry and persuade him to let them put "Arabian Nights" on in the Theatre. Evander moved lithe and agile, swaying around the other boys, smiling at them and even teasing a few, Robin especially, as he continued on, capturing their attention before getting to the end.

"See, it's not that hard," he said, pushing his hair back out of his face. "What do you think? It will be better with music of course, but the dances can stand on their own."

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ex_little_st99
2008-09-02 03:47 am UTC (link)

Nell frowned a small amount. His dancing up until now had been formal, the sort one could enjoy at a party without the constable's being called for a disturbance of the peace and he wondered how easy it would be to pick up a dance like the one Evander had shown them, although he assured them of it's ease.

But at the same time he was perfectly sure that if he could master it then it would look rather spectacular.
"But wouldn't they look odd without music?"

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lostlittleboy
2008-09-02 10:55 am UTC (link)

Evander smiled and looked at Nell. "Well these sort of dances, as much fun and wonderful as they are with music, aren't exactly meant for the stage. They're for a more.... intimate setting." Despite the company and how all the boys made their living, Evander was still not comfortable just casually discussing things. Yes the dances has been meant for seduction of lovers, to entice others and charm them, but he wasn't sure saying that around the boys would be a good idea.

He walked over to the curtain and picked up a metal box from the chair. It was a large music box he'd managed to bring with him back from Spain. Evander wound it up and looked at the others. "It's not the best but it is loud enough for you to hear, and so you can see." Evander placed it on the foot of the stage and backed up. Once the music started, he began the dance again, this time the tune adding to the dance as a whole, and Evander was a master at the art.

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	ex_little_st99 2008-09-02 12:04 pm UTC (link)
	Nell glanced away, a little embarrassed. He knew he shouldn't be but other boy's weren't attractive to him, older men were and though he wanted Evander to teach him the dances he didn't want to watch him - which he realised might make learning difficult. With the music the dance seemed more sensual, more erotic. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	lostlittleboy 2008-09-02 12:15 pm UTC (link)
	Evander danced again and then stopped and moved back to the music box, kneeling down to catch his breath. "What do you think? Was that better?" He looked at the other boys, not sure of their reaction to it all. They seemed.... less than enthused "But if you think it's a stupid idea, we can stop. It's no good if you don't have fun with it as well." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	ex_little_st99 2008-09-02 12:18 pm UTC (link)
	"No, it's not a stupid idea!" Nell said firmly. "I want to learn to do the dances, even if no one else does and I thought you looked good." He only hoped he would also look so good, but he feared he might be all left feet. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	lostlittleboy 2008-09-02 12:39 pm UTC (link)
	He looked at Nell and smiled. "Good, because I wanted to teach them to you all. And thank you." He looked around at the other boys and stood back up. "I know it might look hard but I can go slowly and teach everyone each part by itself and then it can be put together. One person alone looks good but if we all did it, it would be amazing." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	ex_little_st99 2008-09-08 09:41 am UTC (link)
	Sorry it's taken me so long to reply. Was hoping one of the other boy's might jump in! Admittedly Nell wasn't sure if he wanted to do the dance with everyone. He enjoyed being the centre of attention but he was sure Harry would see fit that once they'd learned the dances that Evander would teach him something special. "So, where should we begin then?" He asked. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

lostlittleboy
2008-09-08 11:10 am UTC (link)

I know I was too

He knew the boys were apprehensive, but Evander was determined. He needed to make himself special in some way around here so Harry wouldn't have a reason to send him away, and that he would be liked by those coming in as well. Evander smiled at Nell and stood back up. "Well, the movements are relatively simple. I can teach each piece until everyone knows them and then, their pieced together for the dance. The more you know it and can feel it, the better it will be and then you can add your own... flair to how it looks."

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ex_little_st99
2008-09-08 05:02 pm UTC (link)

"Flair like what?" Nell asked quizzically, trying to copy the way Evander stood although unconsciously. "With what you wear? Or props or just deviating from the routine?" The idea of doing that worried him a little, what with him not knowing anything about dancing but he'd not known anything about acting at one point and now he knew how to improvise that so it wasn't as if he couldn't learn.

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	lostlittleboy 2008-09-08 05:09 pm UTC (link)
	Evander grinned and nodded. "With all of it. What you wear gives the audience a visual other than the dance. And props just add to the effect. Once you know the dance, you can change it, add to it and make it what you want to convey," he said walked back and forth a bit. "It's like acting, just not with your words, but with the music, with your body." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	ex_little_st99 2008-09-08 05:11 pm UTC (link)
	"Right," Nell said, nodding. "Right." He paused, unable to think of anything else to stall it. Sooner or later he would have to begin, and fail, to dance. "Shall we get started then?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

lostlittleboy
2008-09-08 05:31 pm UTC (link)

Evander nodded and walked closer to them and stood in front of Nell. "Think of it as learning your lines. After you practice a while, you have it memorised right? That's how the dancing can be." He looked to the others, smiling at Robin and Piper. "I will do a little and then you can copy me, and we keep adding, and pretty soon, you'll have it all. Are there any questions?"

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	ex_little_st99 2008-09-09 03:31 am UTC (link)
	Nell glanced at the other two, hoping there would be no more questions snd they could simply begin. "No, I don't think I have any more." He said firmly. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	lostlittleboy 2008-09-09 09:10 am UTC (link)
	Evander nodded. "We can start then, and if you have questions, any of you, just ask." He moved back in front of them and smiled. "Okay we'll start at the beginning. I'll do a few moves and then you copy me. Don't worry about getting it right at first, just get a feel for how the movements feel, how the body moves. Right okay..." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	ex_little_st99 2008-09-09 01:04 pm UTC (link)
	Nell watched Evander carefully, trying to copy what he'd done although he felt graceless, certain that where-as Evander looked as if he was born to dance this way, he looked as if he should retire from the vocation as soon as possible. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	lostlittleboy 2008-09-09 01:17 pm UTC (link)
	Smiling at the others, he walked between then and made little adjustments to what they were doing, moving a hand or arm up, having them move their feet just a little more one way or the other. "I promise it will get easier," he said to them all. "We can take all the time we need too." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	ex_little_st99 2008-09-10 03:30 am UTC (link)
	Nodding, Nell privately had his own ideas of how well he was doing, but he couldn't hide how much he was enjoying it. He wished they could put some of Evander's music-box music on again. Dancing without music always looked strange. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	lostlittleboy 2008-09-10 10:56 am UTC (link)
	Evander grinned and moved over to the music box and wound it up all the way again. "Here let's see if this helps. Don't worry about the whole dance for the music; keep doing these few steps but let the music fill you, guide you to what you're doing." He set it back down and let it start to play once again. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	ex_little_st99 2008-09-10 11:04 am UTC (link)
	With the music the dance seemed to come alive, be something more fluid and alive and Nell didn't feel quite so embarrassed or unsure. Although they were only a few steps he was sure they looked quite impressive and he felt himself much the same. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	lostlittleboy 2008-09-10 11:48 am UTC (link)
	Evander laughed and moved around with them. "Yes that's it!" It wasn't perfect and they had more to learn but it was a good start. The music definitely helped. Evander led them, adding simple arm and hand movements and they moved around, just repeating the first part through the course of the music box tune. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	ex_little_st99 2008-09-10 11:51 am UTC (link)
	Nell stopped when the music finished, and he panted softly for the excursion of it all. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	lostlittleboy 2008-09-10 12:04 pm UTC (link)
	Evander stopped and fell down on to his back and grinned wide as he breathed hard. He turned to the rest of them and smiled more. "Well done, all of you. I think this could be something really great. Why don't we stop for today. We don't want to completely wear ourselves out for the rest of the day, do we?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	ex_little_st99 2008-09-10 12:07 pm UTC (link)
	"I think we could stop, yes." Nell agreed. Harry or Will was going to start wondering where they all where, and what the music was from. "Besides, work soon. And then we'll get to tire ourselves out over something else completely." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	lostlittleboy 2008-09-10 12:31 pm UTC (link)
	Evander sat up and nodded. "That's true. I don't think Harry would be too happy if we weren't in any shape to work either. And tiring ourselves out in that way can be fun too right?" He was still getting used to this kind of life, similar to what he'd know but in some ways so very very different too. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	ex_little_st99 2008-09-10 12:59 pm UTC (link)
	"Lots of fun." Nell agreed, rather surprised to hear Evander of all of them say that but pleased as well. At least he seemed to be settling in. (Reply to this) (Parent)