Dance Academy 3.03
Jul. 24th, 2013 09:45 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lizbeeI didn't do a post last week, on account of DYING OF THE COMMON COLD, but it would have been, basically, "GET IT TOGETHER, CHRISTIAN."
Well, Christian got it together, with help from Abigail and a drag queen. PRETTY GREAT, I HAVE TO SAY. (I also have to ask how old Abigail and Christian are at this point, that they can get into a club with a cover charge. Although if anyone has access to fake IDs, it's Christian.)
Now, I've been thinking for a while that Abigail is a surprisingly good teacher -- she's demanding, but fair. She may not make it as a professional dancer, but I'm pretty sure she's the student who will wind up teaching at the end of the season. (This totally works, because musical theatre actresses need day jobs.) Here, she takes what she knows about teaching and psychology and applies it to motivating Christian. And although sneaky, her methods didn't violate his boundaries or humiliate him, except to the extent that he had to overcome his dudely fear of drag acts.
What does violate his boundaries is the board's insistence on making Christian put his feelings on display. This has happened a lot over the years, and it's kind of troubling that they choose not to acknowledge that his main emotional outlet is dance, not words. On the other hand, it's an incredibly (upper) middle-class approach, and reflects Christian's status as welfare class outsider. (I'd say working class, but that doesn't fit the housing commission flat background. No judgement is being passed! Much of my own family is welfare class.)
By the end of the episode, we know Christian will be okay, and so will Abigail, even if she still has a rough journey ahead of her. Not so sure about Kat! Someone on my Twitter feed was angry they're doing another eating disorder plotline, but I kind of feel like, well, it's a ballet school -- the amazing thing is that there isn't a queue for bulimic upchucking.
And this doesn't feel like a retread of the Abigail story because Kat's motivations are only superficially similar to Abigail's. Yes, she wants to improve as a dancer and get into third year early, but she's also grieving for Sammy, and is wrapped up in her own ongoing self-loathing. And her weight loss seems much more radical than Abigail's -- Alicia Bandt has actually lost a lot of weight, whereas Abigail was really only starving herself for a few weeks, and Dena Kaplan has such a solid body that you didn't really get a sense of her fading away.
(Which is not to say that girls with solid body types don't ... you know. Kaplan has a similar figure to Billie Piper, who, at the height of her bulimia, still looked completely healthy from the front.)
Anyway, I am concerned about Kat, and the long-term effects of this new self-sabotage. I expect Tara is being hated on AS WE SPEAK for not instantly noticing that Kat isn't okay, but she's extremely busy, and Kat's hiding it well. I expect Abigail is going to flex her new friend-saving powers and help her out, but how bad will it get in the meantime?
...speaking of Tara, I thought Christian was out of line with his comment about her wanting to get back with him. Despite her verging-on-protesting-too-much denial, for the very first time, Tara seems quite happy to be single. Or maybe she's just been too busy, being a replacement Sammy and then dancing with the company, to think about romance. Either way, it's good for her. My only real problem with Tara has been her inability to be single. It's a pretty common phase teenage girls go through -- many never grow out of it -- but an annoying one. (See also: Buffy Summers.)
IN CONCLUSION, iView? MUCH better quality if you stream it from iPad to AppleTV than if you watch on your computer. I KNOW YOU WERE WONDERING.
Well, Christian got it together, with help from Abigail and a drag queen. PRETTY GREAT, I HAVE TO SAY. (I also have to ask how old Abigail and Christian are at this point, that they can get into a club with a cover charge. Although if anyone has access to fake IDs, it's Christian.)
Now, I've been thinking for a while that Abigail is a surprisingly good teacher -- she's demanding, but fair. She may not make it as a professional dancer, but I'm pretty sure she's the student who will wind up teaching at the end of the season. (This totally works, because musical theatre actresses need day jobs.) Here, she takes what she knows about teaching and psychology and applies it to motivating Christian. And although sneaky, her methods didn't violate his boundaries or humiliate him, except to the extent that he had to overcome his dudely fear of drag acts.
What does violate his boundaries is the board's insistence on making Christian put his feelings on display. This has happened a lot over the years, and it's kind of troubling that they choose not to acknowledge that his main emotional outlet is dance, not words. On the other hand, it's an incredibly (upper) middle-class approach, and reflects Christian's status as welfare class outsider. (I'd say working class, but that doesn't fit the housing commission flat background. No judgement is being passed! Much of my own family is welfare class.)
By the end of the episode, we know Christian will be okay, and so will Abigail, even if she still has a rough journey ahead of her. Not so sure about Kat! Someone on my Twitter feed was angry they're doing another eating disorder plotline, but I kind of feel like, well, it's a ballet school -- the amazing thing is that there isn't a queue for bulimic upchucking.
And this doesn't feel like a retread of the Abigail story because Kat's motivations are only superficially similar to Abigail's. Yes, she wants to improve as a dancer and get into third year early, but she's also grieving for Sammy, and is wrapped up in her own ongoing self-loathing. And her weight loss seems much more radical than Abigail's -- Alicia Bandt has actually lost a lot of weight, whereas Abigail was really only starving herself for a few weeks, and Dena Kaplan has such a solid body that you didn't really get a sense of her fading away.
(Which is not to say that girls with solid body types don't ... you know. Kaplan has a similar figure to Billie Piper, who, at the height of her bulimia, still looked completely healthy from the front.)
Anyway, I am concerned about Kat, and the long-term effects of this new self-sabotage. I expect Tara is being hated on AS WE SPEAK for not instantly noticing that Kat isn't okay, but she's extremely busy, and Kat's hiding it well. I expect Abigail is going to flex her new friend-saving powers and help her out, but how bad will it get in the meantime?
...speaking of Tara, I thought Christian was out of line with his comment about her wanting to get back with him. Despite her verging-on-protesting-too-much denial, for the very first time, Tara seems quite happy to be single. Or maybe she's just been too busy, being a replacement Sammy and then dancing with the company, to think about romance. Either way, it's good for her. My only real problem with Tara has been her inability to be single. It's a pretty common phase teenage girls go through -- many never grow out of it -- but an annoying one. (See also: Buffy Summers.)
IN CONCLUSION, iView? MUCH better quality if you stream it from iPad to AppleTV than if you watch on your computer. I KNOW YOU WERE WONDERING.
no subject
Date: 2013-07-24 12:34 am (UTC)It continues to entertain me that Abigail won't talk about Barcelona. Though it scares me a little that they keep bringing it up because I'm afraid the answer's going to be one I don't like, but on the other hand, at least they aren't pretending it didn't happen? Whatever it was?
And yeah, Christian was totally out of line re Tara. But then Grace was totally out of line with Ms. Rayne (and I continue to be amazed that she doesn't get fried for it).
no subject
Date: 2013-07-24 12:39 am (UTC)Though it scares me a little that they keep bringing it up because I'm afraid the answer's going to be one I don't like, but on the other hand, at least they aren't pretending it didn't happen? Whatever it was?
Maybe Ethan's Spanish company didn't care for Abigail's dancing either.