DE: It's just a jump to the left

[bjornwilde]

Your character needs to learn a dance by the end of the week. I don’t know why- is there a contest? Do they need to learn to work together better? Or did they just realize that dancing is really kickass? Long story short, they need to learn. What are the circumstances, and how well do they do? Describe, draw or post with an appropriate gif/graphic.

Comments

[a1enzo]

Enzo did that for his first Valentine's Day. Then he had to teach Dani to dance. They both picked it up very well for a crash course, though. Waltzing is pretty simple when you get down to it.

Enzo is actually a really good dancer, when the occasion presents itself. It's all the martial arts training.

[kd7sov]

That is all.

[never_shall_yield]

...

...I'm now imagining Javert having to learn the can-can for some undercover operation, and then when he gets to the club, Valjean is there and omg omg I want to die, make it go away please.

I can't describe it. I'm traumatised.

[street_sparrow]

Does it involve Javert in floofy skirt drag?

[damncompass]

I think Fantine just fell off of a metaphorical chair giggling.

And Joshua just horrified himself with the thought of Javert at Rocky Horror.

[yakalskovich]

Sometimes there is so much woe, the subsequent outbreak of crack is unavoidable. At least the upcoming milli-holiday is Halloween, not April Fool's.-

[bjornwilde]

Well, it's their actors not the characters but...
Valjean get his grove on while Lavert just...well I have no words but Jimmy Fallon can get anyone to do anything can't he?

[gavin62truck]

The first thing Tommy says in my head is a very Grumpy Cat-like "NO."

He kind of knows how to dance with a partner, the typical stiff-limbed awkward prom date sort of slow dance. But if he's going to be forced into something, it'd probably be some kind of formal ball in Kate Barlow's world where there'd be square dancing, waltzing, the two step and whatever else they danced in 1880s Texas. He does have a good sense of rhythm, it's just that he's a big clumsy doofus and needs to concentrate on his footwork if he's going to keep from stepping on Kate's dress or feet. (Also, those stiff Victorian collars would really get on his nerves.)

[sunbaked_baker]

I think, if forced to learn to dance, Sunshine and Tommy would be great partners. They could snark at each other, absolutely lampshading their awkwardness and missteps ("Can you watch it with those damn heels? I'd like to still have two whole feet when this is over." "Sorry, no-can do. I'm intending revenge for the last twelve times you stepped on my toes." "Hey. It hasn't been anywhere near twelve. More like... seven." "Ah, so it only feels like twelve. Gotcha."), and laugh the whole thing off.

[genarti]

River says: :D :D :D YES PLEASE.

She's a dancer anyway, if of an unorthodox and hobbyist sort nowadays, so needless to say, she does fine. She's got the skillset, a lot of prior study of all kinds of basics to put to use here, and the habits of practice and learning moves and choreography.

Regan is also game for it! She's not as good as River, both because she didn't study it to the same extent and because she's older by a few decades and so are her joints. But she'd find it a reasonably fun challenge.

Trowa is a circus acrobat and a fighter -- he's good with balance and physical motion. (And he does know how to dance somewhat, because his sister insisted on teaching him how so she'd have a reliably good partner.) So he'd learn fast. The end result would be technically proficient and have absolutely zero emotional feeling in it, but oh well.

Clare is in the Trowa camp, more or less. She may have even learned a few kinds of dance already, because the organization likes insisting its warriors learn a bunch of random skills. She'd likely be completely baffled as to why this was necessary, but she's got the ability to be good at at least the technical side of it. (And emotional intensity might actually show through in her dancing, although if so she'd be unaware of it.)

Enjolras is casting dubious looks at this entire thing. He's had some level of dancing lessons, because no man of his era and social class and education level wouldn't have; I doubt he ever much enjoyed them, though. He'd do a lot of things to make a close friend happy, and he'd do a whole lot of things for THE CAUSE, but he fails to see why him dancing is necessary...?? Assuming he was convinced, he'd be okay at it, because he's an athletic guy, but he would probably dance stiffly and with a palpable air of I AM DOING THIS ONLY RELUCTANTLY, WHAT IS THIS, WHY IS THIS MY LIFE which he would be unable to hide.

Thor says SURE WHY NOT. :D

[street_sparrow]

Now I want someone or something, somehow, to get Enjolras to dance. Just for that image.

Edit: To voluntarily dance. Milliways weird wouldn't have the same effect, I think.

[genarti]

Addendum: I was accidentally assuming for Enjolras that it was dancing more or less consistent with his period. Modern performance dance would just get WTF NOPE from him for what he would see as the level of performative sexuality. He would be terrible at it if somehow convinced to participate, because he would visibly be fighting his own urge to just nope out of there and do something emphatically else emphatically elsewhere at every moment.

The others would have varied levels of skill at this aspect if they had to do it, but none of them would be as viscerally outraged at the idea of being required to participate or observe.

[bjornwilde]

Ben, Jess and Val would be easy to get to dance and all three already know how. Ben does ballroom and not much else anymore; preferring the Waltz or Foxtrot and refusing anything like the jitterbug or cha cha for fear of property damage. Jess loves Salsa and Tango but is fine with just cutting up the dance floor freestyle. Val is another who is fine with doing it freestyle but has had a lot of formal training.

Quinlan would be awkward I think, at least in his younger years.

Anton is saying "Nyet" in a very firm tone but I suspect he would if asked by Svetlana or Nadia; or was bullied by Tiger Cub or Olya. I think he'd be stiff and barely able to follow the beat, despite his fascination with music.

Hank fainted at the idea. In his later years however, I think he'd be quite the dancer.

Andrea would take some coaching to learn anything formal but she's good with her hips and has a great sense of rhythm.

[katyafeline]

Katya: *stalks Anton sooper-stealthily with a sparkly jumpsuit*

[bjornwilde]

Forgot Thalia! My first thought is that she doesn't dance, she moshes but then she didn't have any problem grabbing Grover when they needed to go undercover at the dance at the Military Academy in Titan's Curse, so I don't know for sure.

[damncompass]

Helena knows social dances of the 1890s. She's quite an elegant and lovely dancer, mostly from her martial arts training.

Joshua would probably be one hard sell on dancing, as he has no real need for it. He'd be terrible, though. His coordination isn't great on a good day, and he'd be pretty self-conscious about it.

Fantine is probably already an absolutely lovely dancer if given the chance.

Valentine is just noping forever. She sees no need, but she'll go to the dance and write down all the gossip.

[street_sparrow]

Gavroche wants to throw an 1830s dance now, primarily for Fantine. Dancing is good for the soul.

[sunbaked_baker]

Yrael: Will do fiiiine. He's not the best dancer in the world (his sister Kibeth would be a likelier choice) but he is very nimble and quick on his feet, has an amazing sense of balance and musical timing, and isn't shy or awkward. He'd be all over a dancing competition, given the right partner.

Sunshine: Currently knows how to do the Modern Vague Slow Sway, the Everybody's Either Drunk or High and the Beat is Loud, and something approaching a square dance taught by Haymitch during Kate Barlow's last shindig. ^_^ Given patience and good instructions, she'd be all right learning more formal dances. Better now than she would've a few years ago, because her strength, coordination and balance have been honed from all the vampire-slayage. It's unlikely she would win any awards, however.

Zelgadiss: Would grumble and complain and pout, dancing ONLY because he's being forced to, probably for the sake of saving the world from destruction. He and Amelia would not be making eye contact, but would likely be sporting matching blushes the entire time. The lack of eye-contact would hold over, whoever his partner would be, but the blush is for Amelia alone.

[death_gone_mad]

Amascut, learning to dance? Either she just was introduced to Capoeira or was introduced to Shiva Nataraja. I assume she knows some dances already; it is useful for serious-face pretendy times. Plus she's a fighter, so she's light on her feet and knows rhythms and how to break them gracefully.


Fairy Fixit might need to do some synchronized flying though a non-Euclidian space - that might look like dancing. I don't think she is the dancing type, though.

As for Evil Chicken, a rooster will dance for his hen, but her gender is confused as his backstory.

[alexiscartwheel]

Mary: Knows how to dance. What is she, a peasant?

Carol: Can dance just fine. That is to say, she enjoys forcing Jess to attempt stupid line dances with her. But if she needed to learn a real dancing style, what she'd need is a good teacher. She's already in peak physical condition, and is willing to work hard it things, so with good instruction she'd be fine.

Stiles: Stiles has mastered the high school slow dance shuffle. He has some rhythm, but is also a little flaily. If he wanted to really up his skills he'd start with internet research and trying to follow along with YouTube videos, but ultimately he'd end up back at Jungle getting lessons from the drag queens there. And since you did mention gifs...

[bjornwilde]

Heh, and I am sure Jess in an attempt at revenger, drags Carol to Salsa bars to try and get her to dance as well.

And that gif of Stiles is hypnotic.

[minkhollow]

Cata, Sam and Regulus all know how to dance decently well, given the social circles Regulus moves in and the ones Cata and Sam occasionally hve to get into for contract purposes.

Apollo and Imp would much rather be playing the music. Apollo can probably hold his own if he needs to, though.

Claudia wants to know why someone else can't go on this ping. According to meta!Joshua commentary while we were watching Duped, she does have her father's disco moves, so if it's not a formal dance she'd probably do all right.

Red knows some standard medieval-style social dances. Anything more formal she'd flail at Snow (and probably ask Snow why she feels the need to have Red at this function in the first place). Ruby? If it's not club dancing she wants no part of it.

Woolly I have no idea, but if he didn't know it he'd ask Helena.

[herr_bookman]

Autor attends a School of the Arts where that's really all they teach, and the majority of his canon is based around the ballet division. He knows the ballroom dances of his time and place, but while his technique is decent, he is bad with partners, because touching. He'd learn another as long as it wasn't vulgar.

He is also thinking that a dance competition would he simple to put together compared to an ice rink, if given a compelling reason... And, yup, has two or three people in mind to use for such a a thing already, and ideas about a stage.

[bbq_platypus]

Jim: Mel Brooks.

Borgel: Sure, why not? Plenty of places for that in time, space, and the other.

Leela: I'm slowly but surely going through the Gallifrey audio dramas, and there's one episode where Leela and K9 go on an undercover mission disguised as exotic dancers. I will not comment further.

Kane: Y'know, what? After untold thousands of years, as much of it spent around the "ruling class" as among his own followers, I imagine he's cut a rug or two. He'd probably make a surprisingly good dance partner.

Caius: As far as Caius is concerned, dancing isn't for old men like him, however physically fit he may be. Besides, who would he dance with? He's married to his job.

Garyn: NO.

[street_sparrow]

...K9 and exotic dancer does not compute. Leela, on the other hand, does. Rowr.

[inlovewithwords]

Whooot first DE from new computer, guys. Also: OH GOD NOW THAT SONG IS STUCK IN MY HEAD.

Henry has to because [SPOILER]. It just happens.

Eriond has to because-- who knows. He just gets to know.

Lois has any number of reasons to learn! Maybe an undercover job. Maybe a party. If she's with someone, maybe a date. Either way, Clark is probably her unwilling practice buddy, and if he's unavailable(/hiding from her) Chloe or Oliver. (...Unwilling to a point.) Anyway, she practices frantically and hopes she got it right. Who knows if she did. (And possibly she has to make stuff up on the spot; there was a stripper pole incident-- yeah.)

Tavi... right now, in-Bar? Visiting another world for some reason. In canon? WTF nope not happening until post-canon, in which case either a Function, because Kitai is not putting up with his romantic fail (probably--hopefully--ends with their wedding), or maybe visiting the Marat, I don't know. If the first, Kitai complains about how it's too structured, and he points out she's enjoying it anyway; the second, part that and part the third; the third: it's all made up on the spot anyway so he just tries to keep up. I wouldn't be surprised if it's not his forte; he's not a terribly artistic guy.

[ceitfianna]

Most of mine love to dance because its one of those freedoms and close to fighting.

Will adores dancing, it just makes him happy since its one of those times when he's just a man and not an outlaw.

Charles enjoys dancing but mainly because of the social atmosphere and for how much Raven loves it. He knows how to do social dancing of his era which goes from ballroom to 60s popular.

Sameth is awkward when dancing, he can do it but he had to be the Bird of Dawning and that doesn't make him happy to recall. If he gets to dance with Kait or one of the women in his family then he'll be okay but he spent a lot of dances in Ancelstierre against the wall until Nick made him dance. In the Old Kingdom, dancing is part of being prince, he can do it, he's actually not as bad as he thinks he is but its duty not fun.

William is another awkward one, he actually is a decent dancer but he hasn't had many chances to dance with anyone other than his mother or maybe a girl or two from school. It just makes him aware of how much he doesn't know and well inferiority complex.

Moist is a very good dancer and enjoys it both for how useful it is as a way to get to know someone better and for the flirting opportunities.

Jane loves to dance, the social set ups for balls and assemblies aren't perfect but she loves the chance to move and the interactions that can happen.

Demeter loves dancing and how it gets people close and opening up in ways they didn't expect.

Tumnus enjoys dancing and music, he prefers to play but he's a Faun so dancing is natural for him.

The Pirate King knows he looks good dancing and is happy to show off.

I don't have gifs but I do have some videos. Now to see if I can embed them all. Right so the embedding didn't work, now for just linking.

This is my favorite fanvid from Becoming Jane with a focus on the dancing.

With Cat like Tread from the stage version, which shows off Kevin Kline's glorious dancing.

This is a critical success, admittedly.

[doctorscaryteeth]

Let me tell you about Thurlow's dancing.