Another gem from Mark Morris. It was in a rehearsal for Drink to me only with thine eyes and there was this bit where a guy had to lead a girl off stage, downstage right. The correction went something like this:
“Look, you offer your hand, she takes it, you walk off. Natural. Why do you look like you’re offering her a snack?”
I paralyse myself with self-doubt and moral qualms every time I write one of these blog entries, because there’s something sacrosanct about the dance studio and the work that goes on in them. People who work in them deserve to be allowed to work privately without constant scrutiny, recording or analysis, because to do creative and expressive work, you need a safe and respectful, confidential environment. The last thing you want is someone in the corner making mental notes of what you say to publish on a blog later.
But damn it, that’s one of the funniest insights I’ve ever witnessed into why ballet looks so arch sometimes, and the funniest use of the already-funny word ‘snack’ and I’ve been dying to share it ever since.
