"Yes, I think it is. My teachers have told me I have good... hmmmmm, I'm
not sure what the English word is. We call it bun-tai. It roughly
translates to 'thing in itself.' It means I know where my body is when I
dance. Though, I am better at it with my feet than my hands. They say I
still need to work on my 'expressiveness' in my hands."
[the word she is looking for is proprioception, but idk if i found
the right term in Cantonese???? /sob]
Chiyo doesn't have the vocabulary to know proprioception without pulling up a dictionary, but she understands Li-Na's intent. Her eyes are focused on Li-Na's nails, and there isn't any falter in her brush strokes as she nods.
"I get that. It's great that you have that sense of yourself!" She's sincere because that means Li-Na is amazing. "I'm curious, though, what's your favorite kind of dance to do? —Oh, sorry if this seems kind of like 20 questions! I want to learn more about you."
Li-Na lets Chiyo take her other hand and admires the finished one, wiggling
the fingers slightly. She's going to have to pay extra attention to her
hand positions with her fingers so colorfully painted like this. But it
does give her hands a very fresh appearance.
"A leading roll... hmmmmm..." In all honesty, Li-Na would be quite happy to
just be in the corps de ballet of a major ballet company. But every
ballerina has a roll they're enchanted by. "I suppose Odile from Swan
Lake. Or Myrtha, the Queen of the Wilis, in Giselle. I saw a
video last year of Hikaru Kobayashi as Myrtha and was just amazed."
There's a pause in Chiyo's handiwork because she looks up at Li-Na with stars in her eyes. Her imagination has already taken her places.
"I haven't seen you dance much, but I know you'd be beautiful as Odile! Oh my gosh, you really would. I don't know Giselle, though. What's that one about?"
Li-Na blushes at the compliment. Even though she's trying to broaden her
style repertoire, she still dearly loves ballet. And being cast as Odile or
Myrtha would make her year.
"Giselle is about a peasant girl who falls in love with a noble
pretending to be a peasant. But even though he loves her, he is already
betrothed. When Giselle finds out, she is so heartbroken that she dies. And
that is just the first half of the ballet."
Chiyo's interested. She is 100 percent interested. Tales of romance, love, and heartbreak are her bread and butter, and Li-Na has her full attention. She clutches at her chest like she's heartbroken, too.
"Oh, no! That sounds like such a tragic story! I want to see it. What is the second half about if Giselle dies?"
Hold on Chiyo, it is about to get 10 times sadder.
"In the second act, Giselle's spirit meets the Wilis, the spirits of young women betrayed by their lovers. Queen Myrtha leads the Wilis as they haunt the forest. If they encounter a man, they force him to dance until he dies from exhaustion as revenge.
The noble who Giselle fell in love with, goes to her grave in the forest and weeps. Giselle's spirit appears to him and he begs her forgiveness. She still loves him, so she forgives him. When she leaves to rejoin the Wilis, the noble follows after her.
This causes him to be capture by the Wilis, and they force him to start dancing. But Giselle's love for him protects him, and he manages to survive until dawn. The Wilis depart, the man Giselle loves is allowed to live, and Giselle is freed from the Wilis to rest in peace."
Wow, this is a story made and written specifically to destroy Chiyo's heart. Tears spring to her eyes, and she has to cap the bottle of nail polish because she might spill it otherwise. At least she miraculously finishes Li-Na's other hand in time before she's moved to tears.
"Oh, no, oh, no, oh, noooo— Giselle!" She sets the bottle down on the bed, and she wipes at her tears. "She's so noble! Her love transcended death and saved the man she loves... She's so good, so, so good! I'm so glad she was able to rest in peace." She sniffles.
"But what about Queen Myrtha draws you to her, Li-Na?"
A smile tugs at at corners of Li-Na's mouth as she watches Chiyo's reaction. She carefully holds her hands to the side as she waits for the nail polish to safely dry.
"I think it is her presence on stage. We are not really given much information about her or the other Wilis. Is she called a queen because she is their leader? Or was she a queen before she was betrayed in love? You have to wonder what happened to her to cause her to become so vengeful."
Chiyo nods and takes a moment to mull over that. She can't say she always understands the need or want for vengeance, but she can't deny those are real emotions that people have.
"It's sad to think about. How betrayed must she have been, too? As the leader or as a queen? To feel that much despair... how deep does it go to become a Willis? To be a Willis for forever? That people are betrayed like that at all...."
It brings to mind the question: why are people selfish enough that betrayal is the option they choose? And in how many cases is it due to circumstances like it was with Giselle?
Li-Na can kind of understand how it feels to be betrayed. It takes a long
time to recover from the experience and even longer to find a way to
forgive, if ever.
"I think the betrayal has to lead to her death for a woman to become a
Wilis. So very tragic circumstances."
Li-Na carefully tests the edge of a nail to make sure the nail polish is
dried enough to start moving her hands around.
Li-Na unscrews the nail polish cap, and carefully wipes the excess polish off on the lip of the bottle. Cupping Chiyo's hand with her own, she carefully starts painting her host sister's nails.
"That would be nice. Too bad the ballet ends there, so we never find out what happens to them."
"Maybe we can think up of our own story for them? It's not official or anything, but that's what some fans do with stories they really like!"
Chiyo isn't going to introduce Li-Na to fanfic unless she asks, but it's the concept that she wants to bring up. The possibility to create head canon for these ballet characters.
"Right! And then we can reimagine the ending to be something we like more? I mean, no disrespect to the original story, but sometimes what writers or editors decide.... sucks."
She doesn't mean to be rude, only honest, but honesty can be rude. She's not abashed or guilty over her frankness.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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"Goit it! I'm going to give your nails the best paint job ever! I'm not a manicurist, but I know how to color."
Chiyo's focus when it comes to doing a task is strong. She'll make each coat even and smooth.
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"You have such steady hands."
She'll try. She really will. But all her skill is wrapped up in her feet rather than her hands.
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"I'd be a different kind of artist if I didn't. The more sure I can be with my hands, the better I can do my work. Is dance similar?"
That's not to say Chiyo won't make any mistakes, but that's why she has cotton pads on standby to clean up any stray spot of color.
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"Yes, I think it is. My teachers have told me I have good... hmmmmm, I'm not sure what the English word is. We call it bun-tai. It roughly translates to 'thing in itself.' It means I know where my body is when I dance. Though, I am better at it with my feet than my hands. They say I still need to work on my 'expressiveness' in my hands."
[the word she is looking for is proprioception, but idk if i found the right term in Cantonese???? /sob]
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"I get that. It's great that you have that sense of yourself!" She's sincere because that means Li-Na is amazing. "I'm curious, though, what's your favorite kind of dance to do? —Oh, sorry if this seems kind of like 20 questions! I want to learn more about you."
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"No, I do not mind! Ask any questions you want. In return, I will ask any I want."
It's a little mesmerizing, watching Chiyo work. Li-Na has to blink and remind herself her host sister asked her a question.
"Hmmmm, favorite kind of dance. I have mostly only studied ballet, so I cannot really say I have a favorite yet."
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Done with one hand, she reaches for Li-Na's other hand. They're going to light up the night with these nails.
"That's understandable! How about this: do you have a dream leading role for ballet?
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Li-Na lets Chiyo take her other hand and admires the finished one, wiggling the fingers slightly. She's going to have to pay extra attention to her hand positions with her fingers so colorfully painted like this. But it does give her hands a very fresh appearance.
"A leading roll... hmmmmm..." In all honesty, Li-Na would be quite happy to just be in the corps de ballet of a major ballet company. But every ballerina has a roll they're enchanted by. "I suppose Odile from Swan Lake. Or Myrtha, the Queen of the Wilis, in Giselle. I saw a video last year of Hikaru Kobayashi as Myrtha and was just amazed."
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"I haven't seen you dance much, but I know you'd be beautiful as Odile! Oh my gosh, you really would. I don't know Giselle, though. What's that one about?"
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"Thank you."
Li-Na blushes at the compliment. Even though she's trying to broaden her style repertoire, she still dearly loves ballet. And being cast as Odile or Myrtha would make her year.
"Giselle is about a peasant girl who falls in love with a noble pretending to be a peasant. But even though he loves her, he is already betrothed. When Giselle finds out, she is so heartbroken that she dies. And that is just the first half of the ballet."
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"Oh, no! That sounds like such a tragic story! I want to see it. What is the second half about if Giselle dies?"
no subject
"In the second act, Giselle's spirit meets the Wilis, the spirits of young women betrayed by their lovers. Queen Myrtha leads the Wilis as they haunt the forest. If they encounter a man, they force him to dance until he dies from exhaustion as revenge.
The noble who Giselle fell in love with, goes to her grave in the forest and weeps. Giselle's spirit appears to him and he begs her forgiveness. She still loves him, so she forgives him. When she leaves to rejoin the Wilis, the noble follows after her.
This causes him to be capture by the Wilis, and they force him to start dancing. But Giselle's love for him protects him, and he manages to survive until dawn. The Wilis depart, the man Giselle loves is allowed to live, and Giselle is freed from the Wilis to rest in peace."
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"Oh, no, oh, no, oh, noooo— Giselle!" She sets the bottle down on the bed, and she wipes at her tears. "She's so noble! Her love transcended death and saved the man she loves... She's so good, so, so good! I'm so glad she was able to rest in peace." She sniffles.
"But what about Queen Myrtha draws you to her, Li-Na?"
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"I think it is her presence on stage. We are not really given much information about her or the other Wilis. Is she called a queen because she is their leader? Or was she a queen before she was betrayed in love? You have to wonder what happened to her to cause her to become so vengeful."
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"It's sad to think about. How betrayed must she have been, too? As the leader or as a queen? To feel that much despair... how deep does it go to become a Willis? To be a Willis for forever? That people are betrayed like that at all...."
It brings to mind the question: why are people selfish enough that betrayal is the option they choose? And in how many cases is it due to circumstances like it was with Giselle?
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Li-Na can kind of understand how it feels to be betrayed. It takes a long time to recover from the experience and even longer to find a way to forgive, if ever.
"I think the betrayal has to lead to her death for a woman to become a Wilis. So very tragic circumstances."
Li-Na carefully tests the edge of a nail to make sure the nail polish is dried enough to start moving her hands around.
"Okay! Your turn now!"
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To be betrayed to the point of dying.... She hopes all the Wilis find peace someday. Betrayal and dancing men to death won't help anyone in the end.
She holds out her right hand for Li-Na. If there's one benefit of being an art, it's that she knows how to hold her hand very steady.
"I hope the Wilis can find their own happy endings someday. Or at least get closure like Giselle did."
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"That would be nice. Too bad the ballet ends there, so we never find out what happens to them."
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Chiyo isn't going to introduce Li-Na to fanfic unless she asks, but it's the concept that she wants to bring up. The possibility to create head canon for these ballet characters.
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"Think up our own story?"
Li-Na thinks on this for a moment, then grins.
"That could be fun. Sometimes you really like something, but then it gets to the end and you do not like the ending too much."
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She doesn't mean to be rude, only honest, but honesty can be rude. She's not abashed or guilty over her frankness.
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"Have you done this with other stories before?"
Tell her about your fanfic, Chiyo.
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Drawing comes to Chiyo a lot easier than writing does, so she defaults to fanart more than not.
"When my nails are completely dry, I can show you some of the stuff I post online!"