The Man I Love (The Fish Tales, #1)(15)

Under Kees's brief but vigorous tutelage, Erik was far more comfortable with formulating observations and articulating them than just three days ago. “I like this part,” he said.

Kathy Curran was up in the air, her pliant back draped over Matt Lombardi’s shoulder, legs unfolding in an upside-down split. Matt brought her down a few steps and turned her under his arm. She turned him under hers and they revolved around each other. Then, out of nowhere, Kathy was back over his shoulder, going up and the sequence repeated. Three times in all.

Upstage, Daisy and Will mirrored.

“Theirs is so much smoother,” Erik said, trying hard to be objective. “Not the steps but how the steps connect.”

“Steps are words and the choreography is sentences. The sentences have to flow with the music.”

“Right. And I see what you mean about the coming down being harder than going up.”

“Most difficult thing about lifts. Up in the air Kathy is beautiful. Beautiful line.”

“What’s line?”

“The picture the body makes in the air, the shape. The lift is gorgeous but now watch as he puts her down. See how the flow breaks as she gets her feet on the ground? She doesn’t quite have the knack of sustaining the flow. Now watch Daisy. She goes up. Beautiful line, look how she uses her head, there’s a little modulation in the music and she turns her head against his arm, did you see it?”

“No.”

“Watch next time. Now he’s bringing her down, down, down but her head is still back, her head is the last thing to come up which sustains the downward flow. And right into the next phrase without a break. Gorgeous.”

“They make long sentences.”

“One more time, watch her head against his arm. Right now. I love how she tells a whole story with just a little turn of her head. And the way she keeps it thrown back tells a story, too.”

“She doesn’t want to come down.”

“Exactly.”

Erik twisted his mouth, debating how to phrase a question. “Can I just throw something out there and you can call me an idiot if it’s warranted?”

“Fire away.”

“Does the difference in how they partner women have anything to do with Matt being gay and Will being straight?”

Kees laughed, low and deep in his chest, his teeth flashing in the dark.

Erik felt slightly foolish. “Never mind,” he said.

“No, no, man, it’s a fair question.”

“But does it hold any weight?”

“Look, no gay man is oblivious to a beautiful woman. I’m gay, I’ve partnered women and believe me, you feel it going on. Beauty is beauty. And straight or gay, you are immersed in this intense, artistic chemistry which is both sensual and sensory. Chemistry is chemistry. It just isn’t rooted in sexual attraction.”

“But still, it seems Matt and Kathy dance out here.” Erik gestured around them. “They’re looking out here to the audience, breaking the fourth wall.”

Kees reared back, corners of his mouth turned down in mock surprise. “Fourth wall, check out the theater fag.”

“Tuesday’s my gay day,” Erik said, smiling, which got him a swat upside the head. “But their focus is out here while Will and Daisy only look at each other. They’re not dancing for us. It’s like we’re not even here. It’s more their private moment and we’re just invited into it. Or we stumbled on it. Matt and Kathy are performing but Will and Daisy tell a story.”

“Exactly. And it tends to give all their dancing a romantic feel. Which is fine for a program like this. Be interesting to see them dance something a little more abstract and edgier. Something angry.”

“Is that how you’d choreograph for them?”

“It would certainly be a challenge,” Kees said, with some relish. “Daisy’s adagio is so mesmerizing. I’m itching to see what kind of speed she has. Take that sleek race car out on the straightaway and open it up, make her dance fast.”

Sitting in the first row of the balcony, arms crossed on the ledge, Erik was indeed mesmerized. He looked at Kees. “Do you think she’s good?”

Kees nodded slowly. “She’s unquestionably talented in her own right. Her technique is superb. But what she has with Will is extraordinary.”

“Why? What makes it extraordinary?”

Kees was quiet a while, watching. “One thing I notice is Daisy seems more interested in making something beautiful together with Will than being adored as the prima ballerina. She is a much more forgiving partner than Kathy.”

“Forgiving.”

“You have to understand in ballet, there’s an unspoken code of chivalry for the danseur noble.”

“What’s that?”

“The male dancer. Same way you’d use prima ballerina for a woman. Anyway, he’s expected to always present the woman in the best light. So you can see this little flicker of annoyance on Kathy’s face if Matt bobbles something. But Daisy, she’s conscious of Will as a dancer, not just someone propping her up. She doesn’t betray his mistakes.”

Squinting at the couple on the stage, Erik made a quantum leap. “She partners him. As much as he does her.”

“Exactly. If he’s not where she needs him to be, she covers and she moves on. She doesn’t stop and blame. She incorporates the rough spots into the whole. Strikes me as interesting.”