Étoile 1.6 - The Disaster
Jul. 31st, 2025 08:10 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shallownessThe Paris audience did NOT like Tobias’s new work. Gabin reacted with anger, Tobias bolted.
Cheyenne disclaimed pathetic fallacy as a thunderstorm broke as she threw Crispin out of a ballet class for the company by sheer force of will. (Called it.) She then went on to become the scariest ballet teacher for some kids, having made the actual teacher cry. Jack forced her to meet with Crispin, who managed to get in her head by saying he had files on everyone (I twitched, because there’s been a lot of talk about a certain paedophile’s file in the news of late, but not when they were writing and making this.) So, she has slept with Jack, although I think the majority of his irkedness about the Cheyenne/Gael is professional and the sanctity of his couch, though there’s ego there too.
But really it turned into Cheyenne knowing Gael has a file too, seeing him have an inane conversation with another dancer, getting jealous, and not admitting it, even when Gael called it out. She drew Jack into it, turning up at his favourite drinking establishment, pulling him out of a conversation with VIPs to rant. Jack divined she was jealous about Gael, and did have a talk with him – Gael going on a diversion about Jack being so obsessed with him, did he fancy him? – about figuring out what he wanted from Cheyenne.
Mishi was sympathetic that Mme Toussaint’s Monday man hadn’t turned up. She ended up going out with the Gamin, but also his friends, and feeling like a fish out of water (again, as she does in her worklife in the Paris company) because ballet is most of her life. I felt for her. She left early, the Gamin wanted to walk her out (sweet, and maybe he arranged for this whole hang with friends thing because of nerves, and that’s his group dynamic, but she was entitled to expect to hang out with just him and get to know him, because they clearly knew so little about each other), but she said no because she’d lied about getting an Uber home.
Genevieve announced that she’d found somewhere else for Mishi to live, but Mishi was deflated because she’s happy enough where she is, and Mme Toussaint GAVE HER A KEY.
Genevieve also had to deal with the dancers coming to complain, firstly about nepo baby Mishi (Genevieve, as played by daughter of Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin, corrected their pronounciation, hee), the other stuff that had happened in the exchange with New York, and some trifles. (Total stereotype: but striking is to be expected in France, non?) And then she had to be berated by the culture minister, who knew there were industrial tensions (but not that her daughter was one of the reasons for them) and wanted them resolved, but also wanted Tobias to do something the audience would like more: less weird, with more tutus and nice music.
Genvevieve called Jack, sure she’d be fired, but after he’d queried whether they’d said outright that was the case, talked herself back into fighting for her job. Turned out she was at her sister’s house, which was half hers as it had been their mother’s, so Genevieve thought she had a right to mooch around like a teenager. Her sister already had one of those, skateboarding around the house, thanks.
I really, really don’t get why in Watsonian terms the sisters were squabbling in English. They had enough non-French dancers to excuse the indignation meeting in Genveiveve’s office being in English. There was a Swedish girlfriend among the Gamin’s friends, so they had to speak in English, but really, it’s a sop to the Anglophone viewers.
After six days of Tobias no-shows, Gabin went to his flat and made a pest of himself until Tobias opened the door. He hadn’t changed from his tux on opening night and it looked gross. He’d been, presumably, getting the computer to reread a translation Le Monde’s bad review all that while. Gabin wanted him to get over it and go do what they wanted to the critic. As Tobias wanted to do something really creepy in vervenge, and Gabin (who carries a rock around with him at all times) wanted to do something violent, it was probably a good thing that Genevieve turned up. I was expecting her to deliver the culture Minister’s dictat, but in a neat reversal, she proved her claim that she was the right woman for the job, because her speech to Tobias was that the audience hadn’t been ready for his brilliance, he had to put it behind him, change (and wash, I’d add) and get to work on his next piece – no conditions about music or tutus added.
We saw that it had worked – and that he had listened to Gabin’s complaint that he’d felt badly let down when Tobias had bolted, not staying for the difficult curtain call, when he was there in a fresh outfit for another difficult curtain call for Gabin and the other dancers.
Less effective for me was the final strand I want to talk about. Nicholas was in charge of rehearsals for a piece he might have choreographed, but certainly had been running for several years. He didn’t want another contract, he wanted to retire, citing his physical issues – he was now in a scooter and using oxygen. Jack wouldn’t have it, and it felt like it was more about Jack not wanting things to change than anything, certainly not Jack seeing the true state of Nicholas. They had a later converstaion where Jack seemed to be sincerely telling Nicholas he’d hero-worshipped him as a child, and they both revered the dance, while it seemed that Nicholas had caved and would stay on another year.
But as soon as the final scene was Nicholas walking unaided (in a fine trenchcoat) away from the building at night, I half-suspected what was coming: and he collapsed, presumably dead, having worked himself too hard. I felt that was a bit much, whereas the key, Genevieve backing Tobias’s vision and Tobias turning up for the curtain call had been just enough.
I daresay I will be chuckling over Tobias’s goldfish randomly over the next few days.
Cheyenne disclaimed pathetic fallacy as a thunderstorm broke as she threw Crispin out of a ballet class for the company by sheer force of will. (Called it.) She then went on to become the scariest ballet teacher for some kids, having made the actual teacher cry. Jack forced her to meet with Crispin, who managed to get in her head by saying he had files on everyone (I twitched, because there’s been a lot of talk about a certain paedophile’s file in the news of late, but not when they were writing and making this.) So, she has slept with Jack, although I think the majority of his irkedness about the Cheyenne/Gael is professional and the sanctity of his couch, though there’s ego there too.
But really it turned into Cheyenne knowing Gael has a file too, seeing him have an inane conversation with another dancer, getting jealous, and not admitting it, even when Gael called it out. She drew Jack into it, turning up at his favourite drinking establishment, pulling him out of a conversation with VIPs to rant. Jack divined she was jealous about Gael, and did have a talk with him – Gael going on a diversion about Jack being so obsessed with him, did he fancy him? – about figuring out what he wanted from Cheyenne.
Mishi was sympathetic that Mme Toussaint’s Monday man hadn’t turned up. She ended up going out with the Gamin, but also his friends, and feeling like a fish out of water (again, as she does in her worklife in the Paris company) because ballet is most of her life. I felt for her. She left early, the Gamin wanted to walk her out (sweet, and maybe he arranged for this whole hang with friends thing because of nerves, and that’s his group dynamic, but she was entitled to expect to hang out with just him and get to know him, because they clearly knew so little about each other), but she said no because she’d lied about getting an Uber home.
Genevieve announced that she’d found somewhere else for Mishi to live, but Mishi was deflated because she’s happy enough where she is, and Mme Toussaint GAVE HER A KEY.
Genevieve also had to deal with the dancers coming to complain, firstly about nepo baby Mishi (Genevieve, as played by daughter of Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin, corrected their pronounciation, hee), the other stuff that had happened in the exchange with New York, and some trifles. (Total stereotype: but striking is to be expected in France, non?) And then she had to be berated by the culture minister, who knew there were industrial tensions (but not that her daughter was one of the reasons for them) and wanted them resolved, but also wanted Tobias to do something the audience would like more: less weird, with more tutus and nice music.
Genvevieve called Jack, sure she’d be fired, but after he’d queried whether they’d said outright that was the case, talked herself back into fighting for her job. Turned out she was at her sister’s house, which was half hers as it had been their mother’s, so Genevieve thought she had a right to mooch around like a teenager. Her sister already had one of those, skateboarding around the house, thanks.
I really, really don’t get why in Watsonian terms the sisters were squabbling in English. They had enough non-French dancers to excuse the indignation meeting in Genveiveve’s office being in English. There was a Swedish girlfriend among the Gamin’s friends, so they had to speak in English, but really, it’s a sop to the Anglophone viewers.
After six days of Tobias no-shows, Gabin went to his flat and made a pest of himself until Tobias opened the door. He hadn’t changed from his tux on opening night and it looked gross. He’d been, presumably, getting the computer to reread a translation Le Monde’s bad review all that while. Gabin wanted him to get over it and go do what they wanted to the critic. As Tobias wanted to do something really creepy in vervenge, and Gabin (who carries a rock around with him at all times) wanted to do something violent, it was probably a good thing that Genevieve turned up. I was expecting her to deliver the culture Minister’s dictat, but in a neat reversal, she proved her claim that she was the right woman for the job, because her speech to Tobias was that the audience hadn’t been ready for his brilliance, he had to put it behind him, change (and wash, I’d add) and get to work on his next piece – no conditions about music or tutus added.
We saw that it had worked – and that he had listened to Gabin’s complaint that he’d felt badly let down when Tobias had bolted, not staying for the difficult curtain call, when he was there in a fresh outfit for another difficult curtain call for Gabin and the other dancers.
Less effective for me was the final strand I want to talk about. Nicholas was in charge of rehearsals for a piece he might have choreographed, but certainly had been running for several years. He didn’t want another contract, he wanted to retire, citing his physical issues – he was now in a scooter and using oxygen. Jack wouldn’t have it, and it felt like it was more about Jack not wanting things to change than anything, certainly not Jack seeing the true state of Nicholas. They had a later converstaion where Jack seemed to be sincerely telling Nicholas he’d hero-worshipped him as a child, and they both revered the dance, while it seemed that Nicholas had caved and would stay on another year.
But as soon as the final scene was Nicholas walking unaided (in a fine trenchcoat) away from the building at night, I half-suspected what was coming: and he collapsed, presumably dead, having worked himself too hard. I felt that was a bit much, whereas the key, Genevieve backing Tobias’s vision and Tobias turning up for the curtain call had been just enough.
I daresay I will be chuckling over Tobias’s goldfish randomly over the next few days.
