"So there I was, a videographer for the dance company La Danserie, when one of the lead choreographers said to me (insert your own swiss accent) 'I'd really like to choreograph a piece with you and one of the smaller ladies in the company to take advantage of the contrast in size between the two of you'. Having just spent a year LITERALLY working my ass off, losing 90 pounds and regaining some of my youthful athleticism, I replied 'Yeah, what the heck.'."
"Well one piece became a three part suite because it was going well I guess, and the artistic director of the company said to me (insert your own french accent) 'I'd really like you to be in the big piece I'm putting together for the finale of the show', and I replied, 'Well, yeah, what the heck.', and I found myself performing in four out of eight pieces in six shows, as the only male in the company. I hadn't been on a stage for 15 years prior to that"
"After that two week run of shows, I retired from dance, but asked back, then retired again, and asked back again, etc.. So far I've retired and returned eight times. Eventually I decided it was time to take class, after all, I was a member of A PROFESSIONAL COMPANY!! The first night that I showed up for Adult Beginning Ballet, the ladies were greatly amused to see this BIG MAN show up for class. One of the ladies asked 'So what brings you to take beginning ballet?', and I replied 'Well I'm a member of La Danserie and have been performing with the teacher for about six months now', and the jaws dropped. I then realized I had started at the top and was working my way down in the dance world."
"My involvement for the time being is limited to yearly performances in The Nutcracker as the directors would be lost without my stage mugging and child wrangling skills. It comes along every December, let me know if you want to come, I can hook you up."
Please visit the dance school and company websites of my beloved Patrick Frantz and Patti Raffy:
