Closed River Dancing (Zydrunas)

[Sayana]

“Not yet. Not right to dance yet. Need to know how people are too, how they react.” “It is always right to dance,” Sayana interrupted and stood up. “Dance for your body, dance for your soul, dance for the beautiful gods and goddesses of this world.” She spun around with her arms raised upwards. She was now drawing attention both due to her grand movements and her louder tone of voice. “Maybe later I will take it up again…” “Oh yes you will,” she spoke as she took both his hands in her mids. “Up, up, up you get,” she continued in a loud clear voice, drowning out any further protests. She pulled at his hands in an obvious suggestion to stand. The bard was just finishing up his song and after the last note was played Sayana spoke up to the audience. “Hello everyone. Tonight we have a special guest all the way from Ahnatep. This fine young gentleman has volunteered to join me to honor and praise Makutsi in a beautiful dance.” It was more like the Dhani had been voluntold but she was hoping that with enough eyes upon him he would not want to look like a coward by slipping away. He seemed rather humble about his abilities, and maybe rightly so, but she wasn’t about to miss out on a dance, any dance, with someone from Ahnatep. Seeing some hesitation from him, she whispered into his ear, “Just do what feels good and right. Don’t worry about the rest. I’ll be there to make you look stunning.” This time she gave a warmer smile. It wasn’t her intention to completely scare him away, just to push him a little. Still holding his hands she began to step backwards towards the dais in attempt to lead him onto the stage. She turned her head to call out to the bard. “Do you know a song that Makutsi would like?” The bard responded with a sigh and then racked his brain. He was not used to performing with a dancer, and this particular one was quite eccentric. The song he came up with did not perfectly align to the river and rain goddess, but it had some flowing melody lines and other features that the goddess would certainly like. Sayana was curious how things might transpire. She had rarely danced with another person, yet she wanted to explore it more. She was usually quite good at improvising, but in this case it might involve mimicking, mirroring, or countering the Dhani’s movements to supplement and expand the sorts of movements that he did. Regardless, she thought it would be great fun… so long as she succeeded in getting him onto the dais.

[Zydrunas]

Zydrunas squirmed as the attention fell upon them both, his eyes shooting around the tavern in a state of alarm. Why did she do such a thing? Why did she behave in such a way? He internally cursed her for such behaviour, for that was the way of a performer - draw attention to one's self and entertain the masses with it. The hands grasped his, a momentary flinch when he noticed what her intention was, his eyebrows rising as he was lured upwards onto his feet. Unable to control the moment, or find the words to object outside of stuttering Zydrunas was pulled firmly towards the stage - skin having gone pale and his eyes wide to the notion. It should not have been too hard, he told himself, just be a fool for a moment then make a hasty escape through the tavern door when booed off stage.

There was a blink as he registered he was before the dias, eyes staring down at it as he tried to understand how he allowed himself to get into such a situation - where had he gone wrong? Where had he brought such a weight upon him. He gave a twitch as the quick words in common darted past him, a momentary blank expression as he tried to work out what was being said, "Right now? You want me to...?"

Even with her attempts to reassure did little to calm him as stepped up onto the stage, his head turning back and eyes boggling at the seeming sea of faces. He had seen people watch him dance before, he had performed in the loosest sense of the word, but why did this make him hesitate so much? His eyes blinked, that cool clench of dread filling him as he gathered some bearings, "Everything look... big from here. Different big." There was a tentative tap with his boot as he tried to make sense of the space. How could he use it, how could he perform in it? A counting of steps, he heard the beginning of a tune being tested and played out. The foot gave a gentle tap, his head gently nodding as he tried to find the rhythm. Normally he preferred firmer beats, but this he could work with - or be forced to work with. The Eypharian did not look like she was about to let him go just yet. A stretch of limbs, he readied himself as best he could with a small nod, "You will not let me go. I will... partake? Very well," he stepped to the other side of the dias, forcibly swallowing down his nerves before nodding, "begin careful, get quicker. Dah?"

He found the beat, and promptly begun. At first it was slow, his gnosis prickling almost in anticipation for what was to come. His hands rose before him, arms bent, fingers open and clawed. One foot stepping behind the other, the mind trying to splutter up the next step of this impromptu dance. A circle, the twitch of lips as he worked his way around in a small circle, hands twisting and pulling, snake-like as the fingers gripped and pulled upon something invisible, from there the arms tugged down, forelimbs swirling it to his core. It was then the left arm came out, slow, careful as if drawing something out from within, form twisting and turning, contorting round so his back was before at last flicking the arm out to the right as if to discard it. With a tap of the foot he turned back again to face the woman, eyes staring intently before the motions begun again - a touch faster than before and focused more upon being fluid.

[Sayana]

Aha! So he would do a little dancing. Sayana was beaming as she successfully convinced him to the middle of the dais. He seemed nervous for sure, but he wasn’t attempting to flee – either physically or by making verbal excuses. "Everything look... big from here. Different big." The Eypharian gave a soft chuckle and realized that he was probably getting acquainted with such a large space. Seizing the opportunity she walked swiftly from one side to the other with her arms raised, a strong posture, and a presence that attempted to draw the audience’s attention back to her. “Now, as he’s getting ready I must say that it is not common for me to do two dances of the same back to back. But, we shall see if our guest brings us a new flavor.” Sayana spoke to the audience as the Dhani got comfortable behind her. In the back someone hollered, “Amateurs!” Sayana merely kept smiling. It rarely boded well to argue with an audience member and it just made the performer look silly. She turned to look expectantly at the Dhani and he replied, “You will not let me go. I will... partake? Very well, begin careful, get quicker. Dah?” She grinned at his final answer and turned back to the audience. “And let me introduce to you… The Serpent of the Winding River.” She gestured to him with her arms as she moved off to the side and little did she know how accurate her made-up title for him was. Of course she knew he was a Dhani, but she merely thought that a river would be symbolic of one who had seen or had even been part of a raindance for Makutsi. For the first little bit, she let him have center stage since he seemed a little more comfortable and she didn’t want to steal the spotlight from him. It also got her thinking of ideas of how she wanted to blend her movements with his. There were his hands reaching, pulling down from the sky. And a circle. A circle followed by the twisting of arms as if he was pulling at his spirit to cast it upon the ground. When he faced her with his eyes gazing intensely, she gave him a nod. She would definitely be joining him now. She angled herself so that she might face him, yet tried to keep their sides to the audience instead of someone’s back to the audience. Her mid and high arms were out and ready, while her lows were relaxed at her sides. She was fully prepared to start moving and mimicking an entirely new repertoire of moves yet when he brought his arms up again to grip the very fabric of the air, a smile crossed her face. This seemed rather familiar. With his hands pulling at the sky, she opened her high and mid arms into a V on either side of his arms and mimicked the motion of drawing upon the air with her two rights and also with her two lefts on the other side. As he brought his arms down to swirl them to his core, she followed suit half a tick behind him. When he began moving in a circle, she moved in the same direction so that they would always be facing each other as they moved. Partly she did that for the aesthetics but also so that she’d have a visual hint of what he was doing, should he change from the familiar pattern. The next move she had felt that it had lacked something in the context of a circle. So in preparation, she adjusted her circling so she might make it to his side, specifically his right side. And as he started the dramatic twisting of his left arm, she carefully brought them both to a stop (using a sneaky low left arm firmly wrapped about his waist) so that they might both face the audience side by side. And as he proceeded to pull forth something from within, she mimicked the same move but using her right mid. To the audience it would result in a rather symmetric movement. With a nod, she was ready to go again. This time felt faster. The musician must have picked up on something or was simply trying to build excitement but nevertheless, they circled faster. This time she was also more dramatic as she reached to the upper right with both her high hands and the upper left with her mid hands creating a twist to her body that sometimes changed as she switched the sides she reached to. During the circling she attempted to catch his eye and nodded in the other direction. A moment later she switched the direction she was circling and if he caught on, then they’d both change direction together, but if not she planned to make her circle larger than his and go around him as they crossed paths. The music was speeding up as she danced on the balls of her feet and she watched him intently for the next move. She hoped they might face the audience again so that it would provide a natural break and also keep them from getting dizzy once it sped up even more. OOCHope that wasn't too much dance detail. Sometimes I find it tricky to draw the line when I have a lot I want to describe.

[Zydrunas]

Dance, it was something that existed down in his core that he had no choice to find the beat to and thrum with it. It was part of him, a natural thing that whilst unskilled was always there granting him some comfort. The humming beat that existed there, beyond or just about, the cords that were played finding that rhythm between the pair. The Eypharian moved, more graceful than him, the practiced movements clear as she stepped and mimicked him. He did however give a brief raising of the brow as she gave the title, his mind slowly working out a translation in his head before continuing. What did it mean? Why had she called it that?

For a moment there was little more than nothing, his mind slowly picking through the moves he did know, watching and looking for those subtle cues to be placed down by the partner in such an act. Intensity existed, eyes staring back at the smile as she copied him for the moment and brought it round into a mirror reflection - it was the pull he had spoken of earlier. Of course, he himself tried not to turn his back onto the audience, something that he was finding difficult. He gave a small flinch when the hand brushed against his waist, the eyes darting to her to see what exactly she was planning - but, he kept the moves going, allowing the woman to lead for the most part. She was more experienced in such things, it only made sense.

The nod showed approval, the repeating of the movement so he faced towards the audience, a single firm blink as he found a point across the room to focus upon to steady his dizzying mind and then continued once more. The forms gave a twist, catching the small hint to go the other way that leaved him momentarily trying to work out her idea. Whilst it was not as fast as hers, it was in close as keeping as possible - form switching so they begun the movement in the opposite direction. Adrenal began to pulse, his mind tuning out the steps quicker in his mind, the feeling of the stage beneath his feet as he grew more steadied with his moves.

No longer slow, it was firmer, arching upwards onto his toes as he balanced there once more facing the audience and regaining his bearings, the next set of moves reaching out of him. He gave a nod to the woman, keeping the speed with the music as best he could. It was the right hand that reached up and over then, that same grasping pull as he did before as he pulled it back round back over his head - arm and hand straight. It was the left that moved simultaneously, rising upwards as the right begun to sink downwards - entire form twisting as it did. With a sweep of his arms he curled them inwards once more, that same dispelling from the core from the right as the left flicked backwards. Legs began to spread in their stance, his mind imaging the water that flowed from one hand, cupped back up by the returning left as it swooped round to a clap in the right, the rest of his body turning round as he rose upwards onto his toes. Hands reached up to the heavens, limbs curling back on themselves as he turned, feet beating out upon the stage, his hands stretching out as in one last movement he swooped his form downwards, dragging the invisible imagined rain with him, right coiling over the left as it passed the hold over before shooting forwards towards the crowd.

His eyes gave a flicker to the woman as he held his stance, chest pulling as he looked for a hint - was it the end? Was it enough for them? He was not sure if he had succeed in pleasing the audience or not, and so looked of some guidance on the subject. With barely a twitch of lips he breathed to the other, "Enough?"

[Sayana]

Her mind was constantly working as she moved to the music. She was focusing on the music, on the way the Dhani danced, how she might incorporate her own moves to be both visually appealing and dynamic, and always being ready to change at the merest tick of a warning. Quite honestly she hadn’t had this much fun since she had danced back in Ahnatep. Despite the Dhani’s choice of simple moves, it gave her ample room to be creative and still have the thrill of being on stage watched by an audience. The Dhani gave a slight nod during the middle of their fast circling and Sayana took it as a cue to once again face the audience. At first she found herself at his side once more but as she attempted to repeat the arm movements of before, she noticed that his movements had changed slightly. The Eypharian realized that it would be rather difficult to keep up with him while standing side by side (and not obviously watching how he moved), so she instead took her place behind him. He was taller than her for sure, but her arms were certainly visible behind him. She shot all six up together in a vertical line above her head and let them slowly open, spread out and fall down to her sides. When his arms went back behind him, she had to be careful not to get hit but she was able to continue to create beautiful backdrop of arms behind him. Even as he continued she mimicked the look of a fountain by bringing each set of arms one at a time up through the middle and spreading out as they fell. As he spread his stance, he began moving too quickly to attempt to mimic but she still looked for gaps in the space around him. Whenever he moved or twisted to the left she would attempt pulling motions in the air on the right of him and whenever he went to the other side she would do the opposite. As he spun round she swirled her arms around him, twisting and curling but never quite touching his waist. At last when he dropped his form downwards, she had to quickly respond and do the same lest she get her arms trapped and the next moment he had shot the imagined rain forwards towards the audience. His quiet, “Enough?” was a strong enough cue for her to seek out an ending. “Yes,” the Eypharian whispered from behind and she reached with her high hands to catch his wrists, bring his arms fully up to the sky before dropping down in a full out bow. Sayana kept him bent down in the bow until the musician realized they were done and finished the song with two strong chords. “You were marvelous,” she whispered and then released him as she straightened up. Several people began clapping and Sayana doubled the applause as she stepped away from him and started clapping in his direction. With a smile Sayana turned to the audience and did a quick little bow herself. She then walked over to the dancer and gave a friendly gesture that he was now free to leave the stage. OOCI'm quite happy for that to be my last post. If Ser Dhani would like to take a seat and allude (or not allude) to potential rain, then be my guest to finish off this thread.

[Devi]

Your Grades have arrived! Sayana Skills: Dancing - 5XP Socialization - 3XP Observation - 3XP Cosmetology - 1XP Rhetoric - 4XP Flirting - 1XP Interrogation - 1XP Persuasion - 1XP Leadership - 1XP Lores: Dancing: Adding a silken veil. Dancing: Importance of space when practicing. Dancing: Improvisation. Dancing: Tailoring dance to the musical style. Zydrunas: Dhani patron of the Rearing Stallion. Zydrunas: Taught me a raindance. Comments: Very enjoyable read - your own passion for dance really shines through in this writing. The descriptions were very detailed and added a nice level of depth to the story. The added song was a nice touch too! Zydrunas Skills: Socialization - 4XP Dancing - 2XP Observation - 5XP Rhetoric - 1XP Interrogation - 1XP Flirting - 1XP Lores: Sayana: Eypharian dancer at the Rearing Stallion. Racial: The importance of keeping warm in Winter. Sayana: Can dance in the style of raindancers. Dancing: Performing can be nerve-wracking. Dancing: A dance in tribute to Makutsi. Comments: Again, a lovely read. Zyd's level of the common language adds a nice nuance to his character and you added lots of references to his history which was nice to see. Has he been bitten by the performance-bug perhaps? Let me know if you have any questions and don't forget to edit your post in the Grade Request Thread. Happy Writing!