10587/Dance Dance Dance o/`

Dance Dance Dance o/`
Date of Scene:	28 March 2022
Location:	Firemuse Dance & Musical
Synopsis:	No description
Cast of Characters:	Cassandra Cain, Alexis Carr

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Cassandra Cain has posed:
    Yesterday, a butler dropped off a message, then waited for a reply. Yes, a real life butler. He seemed to be the old British type, but he wished to know if there were a time this day in which the Lady Carr could find time to take the estimable Miss Cain for a lesson. That was yesterday, and given that most people don't have butlers...kind of an eyeopening moment.

    Today Cassandra is at the door, waiting to be let in. She came at the right time (no choice, apparently she was driven) so she's right on the dot for her appointment.

    She brought a new set of shoes this time, and is holding what appears to be a dance outfit. And a note, addressed to Ms Carr herself. Probably for the best since she's still mute. Hello?

Alexis Carr has posed:
    Alexis had grown up with butlers. She was very polite and a proper British gentlewoman to the gentleman, and agreed upon a time after her Sunday classes where she could give Miss Cain a private lesson. She also received payment, and actually was a little (A LOT) surprised that it was made out to her proper name, rather than Alexis Carr. It was also the correct amount for what a world-class musician and dancer would charge for private services.

    Her eyes were opened, indeed.

    Alexis opens the door, wearing her own yoga pants, ballet shoes and her hair up in a proper bun.

    "Come in, Cassandra! It's so good to see you -- I was worried about you." she admits, her voice warm and the studio no longer decorated for Christmas, but retaining a casual sort of grace.

Cassandra Cain has posed:
    Cassandra's face shows a few things, starting with a quick glance about to ensure that nobody else is there. She tilts her head slightly to the left, then allows herself to relax and smile, and to offer her left hand for Alexis to take and lead her in. Her right arm carries clothing.

    She looks as if she's wearing things that she could move in easily enough, but whoever sent her with the actual tights is likely correct: it's best to get into the habit of the correct gear. The shoes on top are probably custom-made, but as she glances to one side she pauses, then spots her old change of footwear. And runs her right hand throgh her short hair, blushing a little bit for Alexis to see!

Alexis Carr has posed:
    "It's all right --" Alexis smiles, and motions to the footwear. It has a little notecard with 'C. CAIN' written on it in sparkly purple. "Students forget their shoes all the time." she states, and she motions up to the dance studio proper. "Let's go get ready and do some warm ups, yes?" she smiles, motioning to the floor, and she leans down to a little computer screen and --

    There's a thudding beat as some EDM kicks on. It's an easy, bouncy sort of electronic music, easy to move around to, and Alexis looks over to judge how Cassandra reacts to it.

Cassandra Cain has posed:
    Cass pauses as Alexis puts on music, her goal of changing into her outfit temporarily halted. She lets her eyes look about, body still and alert. Music, yes. Words seem almost superfluous. She keeps glancing to the left, thinking or feeling or just letting herself adjust a moment.

    Then she ducks into a room to get dressed, all in a sudden motion. Alexis wouldn't know but this is a step up - her roommates took hours convincing her that her teacher would object if she stripped right there. No body image issues here!

    Still, she returns shortly in a pale blue set of tights that look brand new, and dem new shoes that she's done entirely wrong.

    I'm ready to start now, teacher!

Alexis Carr has posed:
    Alexis would have probably protestest just a little bit if Cass has stripped down there. but she gives a smile, watching as her student goes to duck into the changing room and then comes out. Alexis notices the shoes, and she gives a small smile, and sinks down, sitting on the floor, and she mot ions to Cassandra's feet.

    And she motions to her feet , showing how her shoe is set up.

Cassandra Cain has posed:
    Cass frowns too early, the look in Alexis' eyes telling her more than her actual actions. She tenses up a little, then bends over and yanks at one of her own lacings. She looks as if she's going to try and throw one of her ballet slippers through a window, which absolutely can't happen because physics, but for a moment she looks as if she has a temper.

    Hey, humans do that stuff. Still, she pauses mid-yanking and takes her hands off of her slippers. She opens her hands, flexing them all the way open, then visibly calms and looks up at Alexis. Then she nods, following how to do it right.

    All the signs of someone who's not used to failing. Ever. Perhaps this won't be the perfect student, but at least she's willing to overcome problems.

Alexis Carr has posed:
    "Hey, hey --" Alexis tries to interrupt the temper. She reaches out, and very gently she tries to place her own hands over Cassandra's. Her fingers are calloused with ears of working strings, playing piano, freerunning practice. She looks up to Cassandra, her eyebrows rising up, and she closes her fingers slightly.

    "It's OK, Cassandra." she whispers gently under the beat of the EDM.

Cassandra Cain has posed:
    Cass takes a few breaths. She has tension in her shoulders, mostly the left one for some reason. But she nods, letting her fingers relax, and laces her ballet slippers with mute acceptance. Many people with limitations like her own find some things frustrating - for Cass, communicating her problems is likely a big deal.

    Still, she follows directions and shortly is rising to her feet. She lifts her right leg out in front of her, straight, and points the toe. Her face suggests approval. Then she glances at Alexis, offering a half-smile quirked at the cheek.

Alexis Carr has posed:
    Alexis gives a big smile and a nod.

    "It takes time to build up the skill." Alexis continues. She points at Cassandra, and then taps her head. "You're smart here." and then she points at Cassandra again and taps her own chest. "And you are smart here." the shorter woman says to Cassandra, and she gives a little smile, trying to work out how best to communicate with Cassandra, and she tilts her head to the left a moment, breathes out, and then calls out "Alexa? Pause playback."

    The EDM quits.

    And Alexis goes to the side and opens what looks like someone's deck box, and she pulls out what look like like oversized, chubby, plastic escrima sticks.

    And she taps them together. They make a hollow 'Boom' sound, and she grabs out another pair, and offers them to Cassandra.

    "Ever played with boomsticks before?"

Cassandra Cain has posed:
    Cass' eyes are riveted to Alexis when she talks. It's as if she's reading the woman's lips, which is ...you know, close enough to the case that it'll get the concept across. She tilts her head, her right fingers lifting to touch her own chest. Just a hesitant touch, before Alexis pauses the odd music.

    Cass is grinning when Alexis pulls out the sticks, clearly Okay with them...until that moment when they make noise. She was actually starting to reach for one of them, in Alexis' hand, when that noise made her jump back. Her hand pulls back and she peers at them, then up to Alexis. So, sticks yes, boomsticks no, it seems.

    Then her head turns a little bit to the right, her eyes still on Alexis, and she much more hesitantly holds out her left hand. I'm willing to try this odd alien thing you've brought me..

Alexis Carr has posed:
    "Here." Alexis hands them over, and she has a pair, and Cass has a pair.

    She then taps the plastic sticks against the floor, almost like a heart beat. Bom-bom. Bom-bom. Bom-bom. Bom-bom... and she motions over to Cassandra to try.

Cassandra Cain has posed:
    Quickly, as if she's done it before. Cass watches Alexis for seconds, then she gets down and begins to match the beat. She's not certain what Alexis means with the lesson, but it's weird that she follows along so well. There's suddenly a matching rhythm in the room, with Cass' eyes locked so piercingly upon Alexis' own.

    Cass seems to relax a little once she's got the rhythm that Alexis wants, but she isn't getting into it at all. She looks as if she's studying, not having fun. This isn't an emotional thing for the student. It's work.

Alexis Carr has posed:
    Bom-bom, bom-bom, bom-bom--

    And she holds her stick out, and she motions to it.

    "Bap my stick with your stick." she explains.

Cassandra Cain has posed:
    Cass is clearly capable of holding a rhythm at this point. She sighs, following orders perfectly. In fact she does it during Alexis' sentence, not letting her quite finish. She has this odd way, as if she's reading her mind a second or two ahead of the game.

    Still, the rhythm continues. And when Alexis moves to get ready for the next stick-tap, Cass is already raising her own stick to match.

Alexis Carr has posed:
    "Alexia, play Orinoco Flow."

    Bum-bum-BAP. Bum-bum-BAP bum-bum-BAP. Bom-bom-BAP.

    Alexis is giving a smile, trying to help re-familiarize Cass with the movement-to-music. Match the movements to the beat. It's something she does with some of her younger, newer students to get them to move to beats.

    Alexis is clearly having a bit of fun with it, trying to encourage Cass to play a bit.

    

Cassandra Cain has posed:
    It's perfect. It's also mechanical until the music starts, and Cass' brows furrow as she tries to figure out what exactly is the deal. Her arms lift the sticks to meet up with Alexis' own, certainly. They tap the rhythm almost as if she were the one running the show.

    She isn't showing off, it's as if she's studying things and trying to hold back just right, and keeping a dozen other things in her mind, but relaxing into the music was never an aspect that she kept in her crystalline perfection that she thought all of this was gathering toward. Her image of what dance is. Control, and the chance to talk with your body, to tell a story and be happier doing so. But how do you get from that, to happy? She never knew.

    It doesn't come instantly, but there is a moment when something in the student goes click. When she stops keeping it perfect, and starts to let herself move with a freedom. It starts in her abdomen, and she stops being so tense. Her lips offer a hesitant question to Alexis, and she spins one of her sticks between beats, without losing time. Then she double-taps instead of just matching.

Alexis Carr has posed:
    "Yes! That's it, relax. Dance is language with your body. You can be sad. Intense. Happy. Mourning. Exhilerated, but dance should make *you* happy, because you deserve to be happy." Alexis states, and she has the *biggest* smile on her face as Cass relaxes, and she motions them up. Alexis begins to move her body to the music, and bom-bom-BAP against Cassandra's boomsticks, moving loosely with the music.

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Not hitting the floor anymore, Cass is now matching a partner stick-to-stick. She has the music to match to, so she doesn't speed up in the way she normally would. She'd push, she'd make it harder. But that's not what they're doing here. However, she does something no beginner ever does: she moves her feet.

    Instants after Cass and Alexis are upright, Cass is cross-stepping to her right. On the beat, not waiting for Alexis to lead her. She stays in range, it's still easy to match, but the way she's tapping sticks it's clear that escrima is something she's done many times.

    The weird part is how she fights off those training instincts and relaxes. She lets her eyes slip away from Alexis' own a moment, glancing to places where if this were a fight she'd have an opening, but only a couple of times. Then she starts to actually grin. And she nods, showing that she's ready for more.

Alexis Carr has posed:
    The odd thing, if their roles were reversed Alexis would be the one trying to work up her escrima skills. Baseball bats with burn marks left in Gotham only go so far.

    But the lady is teaching dance, and she spots the grin, and for a moment she thinks that it's speaking to Cass.

    Cass leads in the dance, and Alexis follows her lead, and the British woman matches step for step as they move through the studio.

    Just little taps, making the BOM sound. It's fun. It's warm up, and Alexis is pleased at the progress. Every ounce of her body shows how proud she is of Cass.