Chapter 20

Act IV: Billy Elliot (1)

----------

[T/N: The Chinese translation of the musical Billy Elliot is ‘Out of My World’.]

The male duck named Chen Ziran was the oldest boy in their class. It was said that he started at Huawu Academy of the Arts at the age of ten and took the exam for three consecutive years. Seeing that his age almost reached the admission limit, he crossed the acceptance score and entered the door of the musical theatre profession.

Although his grades were not dazzling, he had a lively personality. He was a sports committee member and was very ‘jumpy’, and he loved to shout — Qi Ji said that before Xiang Cai transferred to their class, she and Chen Ziran sat at the same table, and he didn’t bother her.

Ever since Chen Ziran lost his face when he was publicly humiliated by the class teacher, punished to do the split in the corner of the classroom,  he had never caused trouble with Xiang Cai again.

Xiang Cai thought that the relationship between them was ‘irreconcilable’. He would never imagine that Chen Ziran would actually come over and ask him for help!

Chen Ziran blushed, and the two pimples on his temples shone brightly: "That ... Xiang Cai, I used to be a tap dancer, and it's very different from ballet, so can you teach me?"

Tap dance was a branch of ballroom dancing, but wild and free. Ballroom dancing required a strong sense of muscle strength, while ballet paid more attention to lightness and stability.

Qi Ji stared suspiciously at him, wondering if he had any conspiracies or schemes waiting behind him.

Xiang Cai was rather calm: "Okay." He looked Chen Ziran up and down, "But I have never taught anyone, I have no experience."

Chen Ziran hurriedly said, "I see that you teach Qi Ji very well. I will stand behind her to watch and learn without delaying your time."

After saying it, Chen Ziran really took the initiative to stand behind Qi Ji, his two feet standing in a T-shape, and his hands in position.

Xiang Cai didn't shy away, he had the confidence to be a swan mother and teach the ugly duckling to swim. Anyway, he could teach one while the second catch up. It didn’t make much of a difference to teach one or two.

He shouted one, and the two ‘students’ raised their arms.

He shouted two, and the two ‘students’ held on to the pole and started to do the relevé.

Xiang Cai’s teaching skills was limited, but he was very patient. He found that the two had flawed movements, so he made the effort to correct them over and over again.

In the musical, the little swan dance of ‘Tchaikovsky’ was only half a minute. Don't look at just half a minute, but each version of ‘Tchaikovsky’ danced differently.

When learning the performance of a musical, they could refer to the experience of their predecessors, but they did not need to completely imitate them. Otherwise, it wasn’t their own interpretation, but a poor copy and paste.

Taking into account the actual level of Qi Ji and Chen Ziran, Xiang Cai taught them only one of the most basic movements of ballet — stepping on the tips of their toes combined with swinging their arms upward like wings spreading, rotating with their arms extended: soothing and graceful.

Neither of them were stupid, but they hadn't found the correct way to use ballet before. Xiang Cai gave them a few pointers, and the two immediately got the know-how. After a few minutes of effort, they seemed to dance.

Standing before Xiang Cai’s teaching, in the performance classroom, countless hidden eyes fell on them, all secretly watching their every move.

They also wanted to know, was Chen Ziran actually learning, or was he faking it? The two seemed more likely to be at odds with each other than to be teacher-learner.

Xiang Cai naturally noticed those vague eyes. But he was completely unmoved and didn't even beat his breath.

In the beginning, Chen Ziran was still a little embarrassed, his eyes fluttering and frequently getting distracted. Xiang Cai started directly, clasping his wrist, and adjusting his hand movements for him.

"The curvature of your arm should be more rounded ... don't stick to the hip bone ... your fingers should have a sense of extension, the thumbs should be between three or four fingers, and the palms should relax ..." The boy lowered his head and warm fingertips followed him. His words wandered in the palm of another boy’s hand.

His voice was crisp, his tone was slow, his long eyelashes were drooping, and his short hair was neatly attached to his forehead, revealing a smooth and delicate face.

When Xiang Cai approached, Chen Ziran held his breath subconsciously, fearing that his breathing would be too loud and disturb the young teacher. They were standing so close. Because of his age, Chen Ziran was half a head taller than Xiang Cai. He looked down at the young man's whorl, and suddenly regretted the reckless provocation he made before.

"... I'm sorry." Chen Ziran moved his lips. He thought he didn't speak loud enough, but Xiang Cai had heard it.

The boy did not look up when he heard it, and kept busy: "It's too late to say ‘sorry’ now."

"What?"

Xiang Cai opened his arms for him, creating a beautiful wingspan

Xiang Cai took two steps back, reviewing his teaching results, and said proudly: "You should say ‘thank you’ to me now."

"..." Chen Ziran thought, ‘I'm afraid that thank you is not enough’. And so he said thank you several times.

As Xiang Cai continued to teach Chen Ziran, the other students silently gathered at the other end of the classroom, watching with interesst. Not only did they watch, but they also absorbed it secretly, learning the hand postures, the standing postures, the positioning of their legs and waists ...

After Chen Ziran left with gratitude, the classroom was quiet for half a minute, and then another person came up to ask Xiang Cai.

"Xiang Cai," said the girl, "can you teach me too?"

Another girl refused to be outdone: "Xiang Cai, I have studied ballet for two years before, but my movements are a bit rusty. Can you help me to see if this works?"

Then there was a boy who used the ‘close’ card: "Xiang Cai, I live in the dorm next to yours! When I was washing last night, I gave you a tap! You have to help me first!"

Immediately after, the fourth, fifth, sixth person... more and more people raised their hands, both boys and girls, rushing to Xiang Cai. Although there were still a few people who remained very stubborn in place, most of the students in the class chose to stay close to the surging starlight.

The noisy room was filled with a hustle and bustle that Xiang Cai had never felt before.

...... But this was the age of seventeen or eighteen, and it should look like this.

※

It was late at night on the other side of the ocean. When Tan Yiming came out of the bedroom, he happened to meet George, who was eating a box of instant noodles.

The two of them lived together in a student dormitory. Although they were called ‘dormitories’, they were very good. They shared a small living room. The living room extended to two bedrooms, one on the left and one on the right. The area was not large, but it was enough for comfortable living.

"Tan Yiming, why haven't you slept? It’s so late." George curiously said. "Don't you usually pay attention to going to bed early and getting up early?"

When he mentioned this, Tan Yiming felt a headache: "I promised to help a child with post-production. The result was half done when Windows automatically upgraded the new system — it was stuck for a few hours, and the results show that there are still 22 more hours until the update is done."

Recently, many friends' Windows computers had been forced to update this curse. Halfway through painting, halfway through writing a paper, halfway through a game ... they suddenly fell into the quagmire of updating. Before, Tan Yiming was still laughing at the group of unlucky people online, but he didn't expect to become one of those unlucky people in the blink of an eye.

The little swan's backing vocals had already been passed to him a long time ago. The boy's voice condition was very good, clean and clear, and the intonation was also good. There was almost no need to repair it. He just needed to mix the tracks together.
 

The previous few days, Tan Yiming was busy working overtime. There was really no way to help him. It wasn't until Friday night when he could find the time to sit in front of the computer to do the mix. How could he think of delaying it any further but then he actually encountered the cursed Windows automatic upgrade!

He has been dragging his feet with these backing vocals for a long time, and he was really embarrassed to make the little swan wait any longer.

The thought of the boy on the other side of the ocean being disappointed made Tan Yiming feel guilty.

"Post-production for audio?" George slapped his thigh. "Your broken computer isn't running well? Leave this kind of thing to the professionals!"

A figure appeared in Tan Yiming's mind. He asked, "... You mean?"

"Yeah, go to Brother Yao!" George waved his hand. "With his help, I'm sure it will be done in minutes!"

"'Brother Yao'? Since when are you so polite?" Tan Yiming raised an eyebrow. "You were still guarding against him like a thief a few days ago, for fear he would seduce your girlfriend away. Why did you suddenly change today?"

"You can't say that! I'm ... I'm ..." George muttered, "Before, when I was Big Rich George, I used a villain's heart to measure the gentleman's belly! Recently I have been in touch with him and I think he is pretty good.”

What Tan Yiming didn't know was that, not long ago, George found out that Yao Yin was playing the same game as him. Not only was he an RMB player, but also an RMB player with good technology and good luck. Yao Yin took George several times to push the map and helped him find some skills he needed from the boss ... Since then, George's gaming skills improved dramatically, climbing up the games levels so fast that even the grass on the wall couldn't catch up with him.

If it weren't for George already having a girlfriend, it would be fine for him to bend for Brother Yao!

As early as the recording of "Slowlytune", Yao Yin and Tan Yiming exchanged their contact information. It was just that Tan Yiming never took the initiative to find the other person, and Yao Yin's name lay quietly in his contacts like that. Although the two did not contact each other in private, Yao Yin often updated his circle of friends, mostly with his experience practicing piano and composing, mixed with photos of gatherings with friends. When Tan Yiming occasionally brushed it up, he would ‘like’ in courtesy.

He also searched for Yao Yin's personal homepage on YouTube. As the president second son said, Yao Yin was a small internet celebrity with more than 100,000 fans on YouTube. He published two vlogs each week, one related to soundtrack work, and one to share his study and life in the United States.

When Tan Yiming was idle he watched a few videos. Yao Yin was very fluent in English, with a strong American accent. If he didn't know that he only went abroad to study at university, Tan Yiming would think he was a native English speaker.

On the Internet, Yao Yin looked more distant than in real life. His fans said he was as delicate as an ice sculpture doll, blooming only under the moonlight.

Tan Yiming returned to his bedroom, hesitating for a moment, staring at the computer screen message that read the update will finish in 22 hours, and finally sent a message to Yao Yin.

Yiming Qingyun: Yao Yin, are you there?

melodyY: Don't be so polite.

melodyY: If nothing happens, I will be here every day for decades.

Yiming Qingyun: ...

Yiming Qingyun: I have something here to trouble you with.

melodyY: Oh, then I'm gone.

Yiming Qingyun: ...

Yiming Qingyun: I want to borrow your computer. I want to help my friend with post-production.

melodyY: [Hello, the user you dialed is not in the service area]

Tan Yiming thought, ‘Sure enough, "the ice sculpture doll that blooms only in the moonlight" was completely created by people on the Internet, and the gap between that and the real three-dimensional one was too big’.

He also knew that the two were not familiar, and it was a bit too much to make this request hastily, but he kept remembering his promise to the little swan.

Yiming Qingyun: I know it's troublesome for you.

Yiming Qingyun: I won't borrow your computer for too long, and I will provide some compensation, so can I?

melodyY: Sharing Photos-Lamborghini

melodyY: Sharing Photos-Aston Martin

melodyY: Sharing Photos-Rolls Royce

melodyY: Tan Yiming, you first look at the cars in my garage, and then talk to me about paying.

Tan Yiming was really helpless.

In the face of this wealthy second-generation rich man, he really did not know what to use to repay favors.

Yao Yin disappeared for a while, and when he came back, his spikes were put away.

melodyY: I just played a game with George and he told me about your broken computer.

melodyY: What friend can make you spend so much time helping with the post-production?

Tan Yiming thought that his roommate George was too unnatural, and the microphones were more sensitive than him.

Yiming Qingyun: It's a little friend I met not long ago, I’m helping him with the backing vocals.

melodyY: OK.

melodyY: You send the audio over, and I’ll help you synthesize it.

Tan Yiming said several words of thanks and hurriedly forwarded the email from guess to Yao Yin on his mobile phone.

Tan Yiming was only on his mobile phone for a bit, but in less than twenty minutes, Yao Yin has sent five freshly released audios to his mailbox!

Yiming Qingyun: So fast?

melodyY: This is the difference between a professional and an amateur.

melodyY: Your computer is called a computer, and my computer is called a workstation.

Yiming Qingyun: Well, thanks, professional, for your help.

Yiming Qingyun: [Holding Fist]

melodyY: Okay, you amateur, how do you want to repay me?

This time, without waiting for a reply, Yao Yin sent a PDF file.

Although the document was pure English, it did not affect Tan Yiming's reading.

A certain domestic small fresh meat was staying in the United States for gilding and joined a Hollywood movie. However, his English was really poor, so the film production company was recruiting voice actors. Because Xiao Xianrou also had a few lines of Chinese in the play, they required the voice actor to be Chinese, and also fluent in English.

melodyY: This is not open recruitment. The music teacher asked me if I could recommend anyone.

melodyy: How about you, amateur ... want to be a professional once?

※

Since that performance class when Xiang Cai taught and helped the students understand ballet, the atmosphere in the class gradually changed.

Once, there was a layer of cold ice between him and them but now, this layer of ice was finally showing signs of melting.

Now when Xiang Cai entered the class, some classmates would actively greet him, and he would respond with a smile.

In the morning and evening exercises, Chen Ziran would help him occupy a place and let him practice with the boys.

Chen Ziran was still very popular in the class. Although he was not the class monitor, his appeal was stronger than the monitor's. He took the initiative to show good face to Xiang Cai, so the classmates now saw Xiang Cai ‘free of suspicion’, and stumbled to learn how to get along with the little prince.

Teacher Chu, the class teacher, noted with curiosity the changes in the class, but she herself also came from this age. Adolescent children had their own rules in the game and did not need adults to intervene.

...

On that day, when Xiang Cai just entered the classroom, he suddenly found that the atmosphere in the class was somewhat wrong.

Usually, during class, the atmosphere was very relaxed. Some people even played basketball in the back of the classroom, and was reprimanded by Teacher Chu several times.

But today, every boy in the class was sitting in a tight position, backs straight, and even the skinniest Chen Ziran pouted with a serious look.

"... What happened?" Xiang Cai asked blankly.

Qi Ji immediately grabbed his sleeve and whispered: "Did you just see a few middle-aged people in the corridor just now? The leading man and woman looking particularly temperamental?"

Xiang Cai recalled that he had just passed by four or five people in the corridor, who were not teachers at school. Because of the Huawu High School’s reputation, people always came to visit, so he didn't care much.

"I saw it," Xiang Cai said, "They seem to be going to the fifth dance classroom."

That fifth dance classroom happens to be the Ballet Department.

"Ah!" Qi Ji exclaimed, suddenly holding Xiang Cai’s wrist, and she couldn't help exclaming, "It really is them, it really is them!"

Seeing her so excited, Xiang Cai was even more dazed: "You, what are you talking about ..."

The girl's eyes glowed with light: “Out of My World!!! Xiang Cai, they are the producer and director of the Chinese version of Out of My World!!! They came over to choose an actor!!!"

Xiang Cai was startled by this unexpected revealation.

After a long while, his lips trembled, and he asked softly, "Are you talking about ... the ‘Billy Elliot’ Out of My World?"

Qi Ji nodded.

Then she looked into his eyes and nodded again.

The musical Out of My World told the story of a boy who did not follow his father's wishes to learn boxing, but embarked on the lonely and difficult road of dance in the context of the British miners' strike in the 1980s.

Xiang Cai preferred another translation of it—

The Boy in Ballet Shoes.

***

Back    ToC    Next