Ivan Braginski was not really sure why he had actually showed up at the theater. He had no real interest in the contemporary dances that would be performed by the several independent artists tonight. He was a classic ballet dancer, the best at his company. When the head of the company had said he would be giving out a ticket for this performance, Ivan hadn't really been interested. He wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for Jones. Alfred Jones had just joined their company regardless that he was not classically trained. And Ivan hated him due to the fact that the boy had won the lead of the next show. Alfred was nothing more then a simple minded fool and a lousy dancer unworthy of such an important role in Ivan's opinion. But when the American nearly jumped at the ticket offered by the head, Ivan grabbed it first it just to piss him off. It was a petty revenge, but definitely worth the defeated look and hateful glare the American had sent him.
Ivan had no clue why the boy wanted this ticket so bad, as far as he could tell no major professional dancer was performing tonight only a bunch of amateurs. I was just going to be the usual boring performers and uncreative choreographies. Or at least, that was what he imagined until he saw the crowd inside the theater.
It was the kind of crowd you only saw when doing a major popular piece with a highly regarded dancer as a guest star. People that had not been able to buy seats were begging to everyone that passed the doors for a spare, and suddenly Ivan reconsidered the entire thing. Maybe there really was someone there that would make the night worthy of showing up.
Ivan calmly took his seat and waited for the performance to start. When the light finally went out and the stage was illuminated Ivan was already getting thrilled with anticipation. Someone that could bring up that kind of crown surely would be a worthy dancer. But he was disappointed with the first performance. It was dull and unoriginal piece with an unskilled rookie dancer as the lead. The second performance was also not worthy of his attentions. By the third performance Ivan had opted to crowd gaze instead of looking at the main stage that was surely being misused by the dancers. It made no sense that such common and plain performers would have gathered such a crown, Ivan felt cheated. Hell, maybe even Alfred had just acted excited over a bunch of rookies just to get Ivan to come and sit thru two hours of one horrible performance after another to spite him some more.
A five minutes intermission was announced and Ivan felt like leaving. The entire first act of the show would have been a miserable experience for anyone with a decent knowledge of dancing. Yet the rest of the crowd was just as excited and anticipating as before. Ivan wondered if maybe there was someone on the second half of the show that had alone brought in the entire crowd, and the rookies were taking advantage of that. It made sense. It was a cheap way of promoting but it usually was a good way to at least get people to come and watch a nobody perform. So when five minutes had passed, Ivan miserably found himself back in his seat hoping he would not regret staying.
The first performance of the second half was definitely an improvement from the first half. The man wearing pure white makeup, wig and outfit was dancing splendidly to the fast beat and low based music. He had more talent then the rest of the entire first act cast alone, yet he wasn't exactly what Ivan would have called a crowd herder. When his solo performance ended, Ivan for the first time that night clapped along with the rest of the crowd.
The second performance turned out to be a ballet solo. The man performing it had a perfect technique and obviously had studied the classic ballet before performing this much more contemporary piece. It was quite a surprise to Ivan when the man performed a spin he recognized Alfred would perform in much less grace. So this blond man must have been the reason Alfred had wanted to come so much. Ivan reckoned that indeed, the blond performer had enough talent to join their company. It would be quite a welcomed acquisition even. Ivan wondered if maybe he should talk to the head about it later. When the solo ended, Ivan was honestly clapping his appreciation. He rose with the crowd as the dancer bowed and thanked the spectators. Ivan speculated that he was probably the one that had attracted such a crowd. Why would a man with such talent wish to perform in an amateur show like this he had no idea but he was sure the dancer had a good reason. When the crowd quieted down, Ivan asked for his neighbor's performance schedule to look at the name of blond. Arthur Kirkland. Ivan had never heard of him before but he was certainly not going to forget it.
The final performance would begin now. Ivan wondered if it would be another rookie or not. A blond man entered the stage. He was wearing nothing but red loose pants and a black lace mask. Red roses were placed on his hair. He began dancing before the music, as if the music was following him, playing for him instead of him dancing for it. Ivan fell frozen in trance the second the blond man started to move. His moves were the most graceful thing Ivan had ever witnessed. The man had perfect control over every part of his body, knew how to move his body in a way that every step would look divine. It was mesmerizing. Ivan had always heard of people that were able to hypnotize you when they danced, but he had never actually seen someone do it. Yet he couldn't take his eyes away from him. It didn't matter that the mysterious blond was performing to an entire crowd in a theater, Ivan felt like the man was dancing to him. Every step, every movement of his arms, the way his chest would raise and fall breathing with the music. Even the way the dancer's hands would be placed or moved while he spin and bent or fell to the stages floor. It was the most beautiful, erotic, and natural thing he had ever seen. Ivan felt like he was facing an angel. A divine creature sent from the heavens to dance, to show the world the beauty of the body's movements. It nearly broke Ivan's heart when the blond angel ceased to move.
The crowd was instantly up clapping and cheering. Ivan remained seated, rising one of his hands to his aching chest and another to his cheeks. The man's performance had moved him to tears. That masked performer had made him, Ivan, acclaimed one of the most talented ballet dancers of his times, a man that had never cared about the contemporary dances, cry in the middle of his performance. It was surreal. Ivan was up and heading to the backstage of the theater before anyone else could even think about it. He needed to speak to the man, needed to know that man's secret to reach such a sublime performance.
When Ivan finally reached the back stage's door he was stopped from entering by a security guard and no matter what he tried, the security would not let him pass. It didn't matter how much Ivan asked, threatened or begged. The stern faced security would just glare at him with his piercing blue eyes behind glasses and reply a barely understandable "no".
For fear of missing meeting the dancing angel Ivan gave up on going to the back stage from inside the theater and decided he would try the outside door. He rushed thru the crowded entrance, ignoring the several people still discussing the show as they gathered their things to leave and headed straight to the side alley of the theater hoping to find the another door there.
It was just his luck that as soon as he saw the door it swung open revealing the dancing angel. Ivan was suddenly struck by how beautiful the angel actually was up close. His blond hair fell smoothly to his shoulders and framed his face delicately enhancing his sea blue eyes. The perfectly trimmed stubble on the angel was the only real sign of masculinity on him. And his angel was even more graceful moving normally. Ivan was experiencing butterflies on his stomach just imagining speaking with such perfect creature.
"May I help you?" A deep smooth voice asked and Ivan had to think before realizing the angel had spoke up to him while he stared.
"Ivan Braginski." Was the first thing that slipped out of his mouth. "My name is Ivan Braginski." He stretched out his hands so they could shake on it. He desperately hoped he had not scared the other man.
"Francis Bonnefoy. Un plaisir." The angel smiled and shook Ivan's hand. Ivan could swear he felt his face warming up just by the touch of the others hand.
"Would you like to accompany me for some coffee?" Ivan blurted out before he even realized it and regretted it a second later.
Francis smiled smoothly. "Bien sûr. Lead the way."
It took all of Ivan's control to hold back from smiling giddily at Francis. But as they walked out of the alley to the street, Ivan was pretty much sure that he had fallen in love at first sight.