You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
At least when he danced with Tatiana people could see that it was not his fault.<br />
4:40 PM<br />
The rude detective had been as good as his word, for despite the fact that the day had dawned<br />
with the unpleasantness of the double suicide, the afternoon waltz practice commenced at the usual<br />
time of 4 PM.<br />
As part of the series of performances scheduled for the upcoming ball, the imperial ladies and<br />
their attendants were presenting what was known as a formation waltz, an elaborate patterned dance<br />
which began and ended with twelve couples on the floor. But during the long central movement, each<br />
couple would move in turn to the heart of the circle for a brief moment in which they were featured in<br />
a particular step or – if the female dancer in question was especially unsteady - a held pose.<br />
They had been practicing for weeks and it was still a disaster. It had been announced at the last<br />
rehearsal that half of the ladies should come to the next session at the customary time of four and the<br />
other half at five, the discrepancy being explained as some challenge of choreography or blocking.<br />
The ruse fooled no one; the real reason was that the four o’clock ladies were in need of an extra hour<br />
of practice and the five o’clock ones were not.<br />
Tatiana, of course, was a five o’clock lady and when she arrived at 4:45 she went back to the<br />
platform where she had stood earlier that morning and considered the scene before her. There was<br />
the customary swirl of activity in the theater - various couples in their places all about the stage, the<br />
trio of musicians who came to such rehearsals noisily warming up, some of the ladies standing to the<br />
side having costume fittings. Konstantin was dancing with Ella, which was not surprising, but as<br />
Tatiana squinted down at them, she could see that they were talking, which was.<br />
It is not easy to converse while you waltz. The woman holds her head back and to the left in an<br />
exaggerated curve and the man is likewise also looking to the left, although his arch is not so<br />
extreme. But their faces are turned in opposite directions and the music is often very loud and<br />
besides, dancers are expected to have expressions of paralyzed rapture. Their mouths should not<br />
move. Elegant silence is the goal, with communication between the couple flowing exclusively<br />
through their bodies, a gesture as slight as the pressure of a palm directing the lady’s shoulders or the<br />
most subtle shift of his hip easing her own into a turn.
Change language