Page 76 of Tendu: Dancing in the Castle

Both Will and Simone were unhappy about Aleks’s determination to dance the sexySarabandewith me himself, but they were quickly pacified. Simone was given a beautiful classical solo, and Will was asked to create a contemporary piece which he based, somewhat to my trepidation, on the stone circle. It was primal, sexual and difficult.

“No way, Hearse,” I said, as he walked through yet another idea for the finish. Justin joined us in the wild tribal creation entitledCircle. The real stone circle lay abandoned by us all. Justin had been disillusioned by his lone experience there. He had lain on the flat stone for hours until he was cold and grumpy, and no visions or sunshine had been forthcoming.

Sadie rushed past me in tears one afternoon. Aleks and Will looked uncomfortable in a nearby studio.

“Were you rehearsing the balcony scene?” I asked, knowing that Will and Sadie were going to be performing it together. “Sadie’s really upset.”

“She is not manage,” Aleks told me. “The ability is just not there.”

“And Bevan’s right,” added Will. “She weighs a tonne.”

“Sometimes this is a genuine problem, Amalphia,” explained Aleks, seeing my annoyance.

“Are you going after her?” I asked Will.

“No.”

Will might be a good friend, but he was clearly a terrible boyfriend.

I found Sadie in her room. “Were they being idiots?”

She lifted her face out of the pillow. “I can’t do it. I’m not, you know… you.”

“So, we try something else.” What would Sadie enjoy doing? “How d’you feel about musical theatre?” I asked, remembering that she had liked Justin’s workshop.

Her interest was piqued.

“We should do something with just women,” I mused, there being nothing like that in the planned programme. “Let’s try some stuff out.”

Down on the, now deserted, first floor, we stamped and sang our way through a few different things.

A clipped voice cut through our practice: “What are you girls up to? I thought everybody was down at dinner.”

I looked at Michelle in her red suit and shiny shoes and decided to tell her exactly what we were doing, annoying men and all.

She listened. She nodded. She smiled.

“There was a song, years ago,” she said. “About men getting their comeuppance. Being murdered, even. I always adored it. Superb music. Great costumes. It had it all.” She walked into the room and, with the kick of a red-clad leg and the flick of an arm, sang a small part of the song.

“It is familiar,” I said, somewhat taken aback by both her amenability and ability. “Would you be willing to be in it, if we did that one?”

“Oh, I’d love that,” she said.

“Then, I think we’ll have a showstopper,” I said. “And Aleks has to accept it if you’re involved. You’re like the big boss, aren’t you?”

She laughed. “I would love to hear you say that in front of him. But yes, you can do it.”

Sadie and I marched down the stairs and over to Justin, who was having dinner in the great hall. “Justin, we need you to help us,” I said.

“With?”

“Staging a musical number.”

He laid his fork down.

“I don’t actually know the name of the song,” I admitted. “It’s about women murdering men.” I hummed a little of the tune.

“My sweet murderous loves,” said Justin. “Much as I like the idea, and have always loved the song – though we’ll have to check performance rights – we are rather short on ladies for it.”

---