"Yes," he said when the boy was done, one of the highest praises he generally ever gave his dancers. And then immediately he groaned. "No." The steps were correct inasmuch as they were the ones that Tobias had given his actual dancers, but they weren't right. He went to turn back the music on his watch and frowned when he realized he wasn't controlling it. He glanced around and...right. The kid had it. He got to his feet only to grab the boy's phone and return to the position he'd been in.
"All right," he said, scrolling back to a section just before where the boy had started. "Let's try again from the leap. Instead of that, do a--" and he made a trilling noise as if the boy was supposed to know he meant doing a tour en l'air instead of a simple jump.
He had perfect aim on the music and it started four beats before where the boy was supposed to come in and Tobias watched expectantly.
Sure it didn't sound like high praise to Spot when he didn't know the guy, but he was generally suspicious of adults who dealt out praise too freely and he was content with the fact he'd clearly done the choreography right or the man would have told him -
Or maybe he didn't, given the very emphatic 'no' that followed. He scowled a little and opened his mouth to retort only to be briefly mystified when he got up and took Spot's phone without so much as a by-your-leave, and then Spot was too busy thinking what the fuck to really say anything.
The instructions were...not exactly clear, but he moved into position anyway as his mind raced trying to decide what move would fit the noise the choreographer made - it's probably more chance than anything that he lands on the right thing, the noise reminding him of a piece of music he'd used back when he was learning to do a tour en l'air - so that's what he does, and when he finishes he looks over, awaiting judgement.
"The timing's not quite right," Tobias said, folding his hands together and pressing his face to them as he stared at the floor. The moment the kid tried to say something, he held up a finger and then returned to the position. It had nothing to do with the job that Spot was doing. He'd done exactly as Tobias had asked and on the music. But there was a split second of music that needed to be filled. He was probably the only one that could hear it, but as long as he kept hearing it, it wouldn't be right.
"Can you do a double?" he finally asked after going through various ideas in his mind. There wasn't any demand. He knew better than to push dancers past what they could do. Up to what they could do was a definite, but he wasn't masochistic and he didn't have anything to prove. He was already prepping the music to go back to a section that would give him enough time to hit play and get up there and do the jump himself. He wasn't a dancer any longer, but he'd certainly trained enough when he was the kid's age and continued to do some of the variations himself when he didn't want to deal with the dancers.
The flash of a scowl is back and Spot opens his mouth to retort that his timing was fine, thank you very much, only to be halted before he even speaks by a finger in the air. It's so presumptive and vaguely dismissive that for a moment he's only silent because he's speechless in his anger.
He forces himself to breath through it quietly while the choreographer is clearly lost in his own thoughts - anybody else he'd have blown up without a second thought, but when it came to dance he had a better handle on his emotions somehow. He wished he'd found a way to translate that to the rest of his life.
Besides, impulsive and defensive he may be, but he's not so much an idiot that he doesn't recognise that he's getting a one on one session with an MBT choreographer and that sort of thing just didn't happen to kids like him. He wasn't going to ruin it.
He's mostly calm by the time the man speaks, but there's just enough of that attitude lingering that he blurts out his answer before he can stop himself.
"Yea I can do a double."
Okay, sure, so he'd never done one quite as quick as this would be, and even before his injury he hadn't always landed it properly, but his pride doesn't let him say no even if the question is clearly only casual - he wants to show off, so he's going to push himself as far as he (safely) can.
He moves back to the starting position and gives Tobias a nod, and when the music comes he launches into the routine again, this time with two tour en l'airs. He stumbles on the second landing, his weaker leg wobbling for a moment before he rights himself, and he swears under his breath.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2025-08-09 08:39 pm (UTC)"All right," he said, scrolling back to a section just before where the boy had started. "Let's try again from the leap. Instead of that, do a--" and he made a trilling noise as if the boy was supposed to know he meant doing a tour en l'air instead of a simple jump.
He had perfect aim on the music and it started four beats before where the boy was supposed to come in and Tobias watched expectantly.
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Date: 2025-08-11 11:48 pm (UTC)Sure it didn't sound like high praise to Spot when he didn't know the guy, but he was generally suspicious of adults who dealt out praise too freely and he was content with the fact he'd clearly done the choreography right or the man would have told him -
Or maybe he didn't, given the very emphatic 'no' that followed. He scowled a little and opened his mouth to retort only to be briefly mystified when he got up and took Spot's phone without so much as a by-your-leave, and then Spot was too busy thinking what the fuck to really say anything.
The instructions were...not exactly clear, but he moved into position anyway as his mind raced trying to decide what move would fit the noise the choreographer made - it's probably more chance than anything that he lands on the right thing, the noise reminding him of a piece of music he'd used back when he was learning to do a tour en l'air - so that's what he does, and when he finishes he looks over, awaiting judgement.
no subject
Date: 2025-08-18 07:55 pm (UTC)"Can you do a double?" he finally asked after going through various ideas in his mind. There wasn't any demand. He knew better than to push dancers past what they could do. Up to what they could do was a definite, but he wasn't masochistic and he didn't have anything to prove. He was already prepping the music to go back to a section that would give him enough time to hit play and get up there and do the jump himself. He wasn't a dancer any longer, but he'd certainly trained enough when he was the kid's age and continued to do some of the variations himself when he didn't want to deal with the dancers.
no subject
Date: 2025-08-19 10:41 pm (UTC)The flash of a scowl is back and Spot opens his mouth to retort that his timing was fine, thank you very much, only to be halted before he even speaks by a finger in the air. It's so presumptive and vaguely dismissive that for a moment he's only silent because he's speechless in his anger.
He forces himself to breath through it quietly while the choreographer is clearly lost in his own thoughts - anybody else he'd have blown up without a second thought, but when it came to dance he had a better handle on his emotions somehow. He wished he'd found a way to translate that to the rest of his life.
Besides, impulsive and defensive he may be, but he's not so much an idiot that he doesn't recognise that he's getting a one on one session with an MBT choreographer and that sort of thing just didn't happen to kids like him. He wasn't going to ruin it.
He's mostly calm by the time the man speaks, but there's just enough of that attitude lingering that he blurts out his answer before he can stop himself.
"Yea I can do a double."
Okay, sure, so he'd never done one quite as quick as this would be, and even before his injury he hadn't always landed it properly, but his pride doesn't let him say no even if the question is clearly only casual - he wants to show off, so he's going to push himself as far as he (safely) can.
He moves back to the starting position and gives Tobias a nod, and when the music comes he launches into the routine again, this time with two tour en l'airs. He stumbles on the second landing, his weaker leg wobbling for a moment before he rights himself, and he swears under his breath.
"Let me try again, I can do it."