Page 58 of Cocky Nerd
“It’s just a freaking awesome ballet on so many levels, especially because there’s a supernatural element, but I think the character of Giselle just epitomizes so much about the life of a dancer, and love in general. Do you know thestory?”
I love seeing her so enthusiastic. “Tellme.”
“It’s simple, of course, it’s about a peasant girl who’s been courted by a game-keeper named Hilarion, but she falls in love with a duke named Albrecht when he’s pretending to be a peasant, and then she finds out that he’s already betrothed to a princess, and she dies of a brokenheart.”
“Ohmy.”
“And then there’s this band of undead virgins called the Wilis, who dance in the forest from midnight until four am, and any man who’s in that part of the forest then will die of exhaustion after being magically compelled to dance with them. Because that’s the Wilis fate—to lure young men to their doom. They raise Giselle from the dead and she’s commanded under a spell by the queen of the Wilis to lure Albrecht to his death, after she’s had this really sweet reunion with him and seen him grieving for her at her grave. Giselle is powerless to disobey, so she dances seductively, enticing him to come to her, and he can’t resist her. They dance together, beautifully and furiously, as Albrecht’s energy is exhausted, and Giselle keeps begging the queen for mercy on him. They dance an amazingpas de deuxuntil the sun begins to rise. At four am, the Wilis return to their graves, and Albrecht’s life is saved, although he mourns for Giselleforever.”
“Albrecht doesn’tdie?”
“Well, it depends on the interpretation, but he dies a metaphorical death, for sure, whether he lives to marry the princess or not. And what’s great about the character of Giselle is that she is this joyful, passionate young woman who loves to dance but she has a weak heart. Literally. In death she finds forgiveness and strength, and learns that even though the duke deceived her, his love wasreal.”
“I see. So it’s a poignantending.”
“Most of the popular ballets aretragedies.”
“Do you see yourself as having a weakheart?”
She shrugs. “Maybe. We’ll see. You don’t really know until your heart is broken.Right?”
I lift her hand to my mouth and kiss it. She hides her eyes from me, and I suspect they’re damp. She’s the only person who could break my heart, I just don’t know if I’ve given her the power yet. How does one do that, exactly? When you understand the concept of gravity, what does it take to get you to step off theedge?
I wait for her to speak, because I don’t think anything I could say right now would be the rightthing.
I know whatGisellemeans. I get it. Women make men do a dance, and men are afraid it will kill them. We fall in love, we feel like we have to hide who we really are to get them to fall in love with us, they find out we’re a lie and it kills them, but it makes them stronger and they save us even though we can never truly be withthem.
Art. It hides the truth in beauty and feelings. That’s a noblething.
Math and science still make more sense to me, though. This plus this equals that. Add this to that and you’ll getthis.
Olivia plus Johnequals…
“But, yeah. Once I’ve dancedGiselle, I can retire, get fat and crank out a little monster or two…Do you? Wantkids?”
“Yes.”
“Youdo?”
“Why do you sound sosurprised?”
“I don’t know. Do I? I am. Sorry. It’s just hard for me to picture you driving a minivan and changingdiapers.”
“Would I have to do both at the sametime?”
“Well, obviously Richard would be driving while you change diapers in the back of theminivan.”
“Works forme.”
She is quiet for a while, before saying, so quietly that I barely hear her: “Would youwait?”
For you?“Yes.”
My chest is wet where her cheek is pressed against it. She sniffs. I run my hand over herhair.
“What’s your middlename?”
“Anthony.”
