There Ain't No Sleeping Beauty Here

[dotinthesky]

Natalia has now been properly introduced to British culture (i.e. I made her watch Celebrity Big Brother tonight.) I warned her that it was trash, and she'd probably hate it, but she was laughing from the start, and so it's all good. We are predictably hooked, specially because there's a chick in there who has to fake she is a celebrity (and if one of the others finds out, she's outta there.) So far, she's given Dennis BigRodman the eyes, and vice-versa, so it looks like it's going to be our must-not-miss-car-crash. Or maybe it will get boring by day 4 and we'll switch off.

However, I'm glad I went to the ballet last night. Beforehand, while we were drinking our pints at the Marquis of Granby, we thought it likely that we'd get bored and even leave during intermission. It was a nice surprise to discover that The Sleeping Beauty was good: the production was beautiful, with plenty to watch and swoon over; the audience was respectul and nobody's cellphone rang; the dancers never missed a step or fell on their faces. We even had a good conversation about the cocks on display: do you think male ballet dancers pad their crotches to make them look bigger, or it just so happens that most of them are well-endowed? And don't you just find their butts the hardest, squishiest things on earth? They remind me of the white cheese made in the region where my mom's farm is located: it's a hard type of cheese, round and white, that would probably bounce off the floor if thrown against it.

One particular cool scene involved the evil witch, who looked like a zombie Queen Elizabeth I, arriving at the court with her bald albinos from hell and cursing baby Beauty. She made it almost feel like Panto, but never in a bad way. When Beauty pricked her finger on the needle, trees grew and a mist descended on the kingdom. The music, composed by Tchaikovsky, seemed familiar at certain points (I probably overheard it on Classic FM or BBC3). Sadly, I couldn't watch the orquestra musicians this time like I did with Billy Budd because we were sitting further away from the balcony's edge.

During the second intermission, we ran to the nearby pub for half a pint of lager. Paul O'Grady (aka Lily Savage) was standing outside having a ciggie. About 10 metres away was a drunk man, swinging wine and shouting his miseries to the world. When the show ended, and we were making our way home, we saw more of them, huddled in alleys, insulting passerbys, all over the place. I got home, had a bowl of cereal, and passed out on bed. I've felt like a zombie ever since.

Comments

[tonight-we-fly.livejournal.com]

Or maybe it will get boring by day 4 and we'll switch off

If that bloke from The Ordinary Boys should get get his guitar out and do an acoustic set, could you please let me know which episode it shows in? I'm sure they must all be repeated on ITV 29 or something.

Thanks Ollie, I know you won't let me down...

Ha ha, and your description of the evening ballet experience was superb!

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

That bloke of The Ordinary Boys is making me want to buy their albums! I wonder if they come with loads of pics of his? And yes, I'll definetly let you know what he's up to with his guitar (if they give him one.)

[rojagato.livejournal.com]

do you think male ballet dancers pad their crotches to make them look bigger, or it just so happens that most of them are well-endowed? And don't you just find their butts the hardest, squishiest things on earth?

I did work in a repertory theater company (sound, lights, and libretto-doctoring) and noted that it was somewhat ironic that what the male dancers wore to make them less floppy and chafey did appear to make the process more prominent under lights. Not a problem when we did musical comedy with baggy costumes, but it kind of bothered me when we did children's fare like Nutcracker (ooh! potential bad pun) and modern dance versions of, say Alice in Wonderland, which required tights.

I'm a bit mystified by the proximity of "hardest" and "squishiest" in a description of male dancers' buns, which I've known to be harder than diamonds (or at least hard-rock coal), but I'm not a connoisseur of such things. I imagine that when one is into that, as with cheese or wine, the strangest adjectives keep bedfellows.

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

I wrote this post last night, with my eyes almost shutting, so that might account for the dodgy adjectives. Did you ever encounter any male dancers that were not gay? I know this is a terribly prejudiced question, but I'm wondering if straight men end up becoming ballet dancers!

[rojagato.livejournal.com]

The arrows didn't stand straight up in very many's quivers, no, but at least in my observation, one had a pretty good chance of getting laid by almost anyone in the company, regardless of age, race, sex, or putative orientation. People were likely to pair off in unanticipated combinations for long-term (ie., longer than the life of a particular show) relationships.

Exclusively straight men were not unheard-of, but they tended to identify more as actors than as dancers.

Stereotyping aside, I'm thinking that the rampant, overt sexuality that results when you put a lot of young, healthy, and hyperphysical people together might tend to drive out people who find their comfort level being tested.

[saint-narcissus.livejournal.com]

(do you think male ballet dancers pad their crotches to make them look bigger, or it just so happens that most of them are well-endowed?)

I've known two dancers, they both were quite well endowed. when I've been back stage/ dressing rooms it seems to be a "normal" mix of endowments. I know when I played porn star Ron Jeremy I had to stuff!

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

Coincidentally enough, one of the women from that show "The Surreal Life", in which Ron Jeremy participated, is now in Celebrity Big Brother. You know the chick that kept flirting with Ron? Her. I bet you must have had some chicks after you when you played him too.

[dj-alexander.livejournal.com]

I'm not suprised they don't know who the fake celebrity is. I watched a bit of it tonight and only recognised Dennis Rodman.

[naturalbornkaos.livejournal.com]

I recognised Rodman, Pete Burns and Michael Barrymore. I had absolutely no clue who any of the others were.

But then I live in a culture vacuum. :)

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

I recognised the guy from Goldie Looking Chain, Barrymore, George Galloway, Pete Burns, Dennis... and that's about it! I was disappointed that Boy George and Anna Nicole Smith were not there, like it had been rumoured/promised.

[dj-alexander.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, Michael Barrymore I knew. I wasn't sure Pete Burns was Pete Burns until it was mentioned - he looks like any kind of blow-up sex doll now.

Rula Lenska I probably should have recognised seeing as I've met her before.

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

Anything exciting happened when the both of you met? :-)

[desayuno-ingles.livejournal.com]

honey chile, you know you'll never switch it off! (I call your bluff!)

glad you liked the bally, male dancers' butts are even better looking up close. luckily (or not, really) for you, the majority in the company I knew were gay. and my god do I love it when they safety pin their leg warmers to their little shorty things.

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

I've never met a male ballet dancer in person. What kind of guys are attracted to that profession?

[desayuno-ingles.livejournal.com]

gay boys and boys who like to move, I guess. depends on the kind of dance. modern and classic dancers are pretty different animals.

[dilvsy.livejournal.com]

one of the guys from Goldie Lokkin Chain is in the Big Brother house...maggot, I think his name is?

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

That's the one. He seems pretty nice! I think you might be able to watch some streaming video for free at the website.

[dilvsy.livejournal.com]

really?????


Send me the link!

(and the only reason why i know someone from GLC was there, is cause their website sent an email to my inbox with that info...and I was like, Damn!)

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

http://www.channel4.com/bigbrother/live/

There ya go!

[dilvsy.livejournal.com]

thanks sweetcheeks!