Page 19 of Dancing on Air

This was ridiculous. What he wanted to do was send everyone home and call his mother to tell her how stupid it was that she’d chosen Romeo and Juliet over Dancing on Air.

Cora was not Juliet. She was Ella. With every move she made, she was the Irish country beauty meant to fall for the wounded soldier whose platoon had left him for dead.

When he opened his eyes, he made up his mind. Clapping his hands, he got everyone’s attention.

“We’re going to change things up for a few moments.” He earned a few groans from the crew. “Humor me,” he added. Glancing around, he pointed at Luc Briggs, one of the best male dancers at BAC. “Here.” He pointed towards Cora.

Cora frowned. “But Reece is playing Romeo.”

Max despised Reece Tyler, if for no other reason than the way he looked at Cora. The guy’s family was friends with his own. Reece was cocky and a rich brat who thought every woman would just fall at his feet.

Still, he knew that all the female dancers wanted to be partnered with the handsome man. Sure, he was a good dancer. And handsome enough to play lead in any ballet.

But for his main character, Pete, Luc was perfect. He knew that Luc was by far the best male dancer in the company even though he was shy and was often picked for chorus or as an understudy. In his heart Max knew that he was perfect to be opposite Cora.

“We’re trying something new,” he said again.

“Hey,” Reece groaned.

Max waved him off and then focused on Luc.

“Imagine,” he started, only talking loudly enough for Cora and Luc to hear. He grabbed both of their shoulders, pulling them closer. “You’ve been injured and are lying on the ground, dying. Then comes a beautiful fiery haired goddess and, instantly, you believe you’ve died…”

“Are you really sure you want me?” Luc chimed in, causing Max to smile.

“I’ve seen you dance and act. I think you can manage this.” He tapped his shoulder, then proceeded to run through the scene quickly. After giving them the list of moves he’d created for his main character’s death dream scene, he stood back as they took their new positions. Then he turned to the pianist. “Play something in adagio, something solemn.” He clapped slowly until the piano started playing along. When he turned to Cora and Luc he pointed. “Luc, you’ll start off.”

Luc lay on the stage, half on his right shoulder, facing the invisible audience. His arms reached out as if he was begging his platoon to return and help him. Then he fell flat on his back, his arms raised high overhead.

“Cora,” Max said after a full thirty seconds.

Cora glided across the floor, her long strides eating up the empty space. She stopped, feet away from Luc. Her hands moved up to her face as if shocked, then, slowly, she moved to Luc’s side, knelt beside him, and brushed his dark hair away from his forehead.

He could just imagine the stage changing at that moment, switching from the real world to the dream one he’d created in his head.

Glancing at the pianist, he said, “Speed it up, let’s move to allegro, one-ten tempo.”

The music suddenly sped up and became more exciting.

“Move on to the dream sequence,” he said to Luc and Cora. “Faster pace.” He clapped along with the piano.

Suddenly, Luc jumped up and glanced down at his body, as if in shock that he wasn’t dying. He looked at Cora and laughed as he spun her around in the air.

While they proceeded to run through the handful of moves that he’d listed off for them, he mentally made changes. Thought of different music and imagined the costumes that he wanted. His head was spinning.

Luc and Cora played the parts so well he was amazed, since he’d only given them a brief description of their characters. He could just imagine what they could accomplish with the entire story.

In the five minutes he’d watched them move, he’d had a million more ideas. Far more than he’d come up with in the last year working by himself.

Seeing Cora as Ella, imagining her as she moved, helped the story unfold in his mind.

“Stop,” he said when they had gone through the moves he’d given them.

“What is this?” Cora asked, putting her hands on her hips as she slowed her breathing. The fact that both her and Luc had smiles on their faces proved to him that they’d enjoyed themselves.

They looked better dancing together than she had with Reece.

“Something I’ve been working on.” He glanced around to the other dancers, who were all watching.