Revision [28130]
This is an old revision of OllieDancing made by BillHamilton on 2013-02-14 11:03:52.
It's a deliriously hot September afternoon, and even Lizzie can't deny that it's far too hot to stay indoors. She lets the kids go an hour early from afternoon lessons, and everyone agrees that swimming is just the thing to beat the heat. All who are interested head down to the swimming hole, and spend the rest of the afternoon chilling out in the water.
<#kate: During the swim, bruises on Ella's right bicep are evident and look a little like the grip of fingers. Ollie notices and his attention draws Ella to the injury. She shrugs, seeming to play it off as no big thing. "French," she says dismissively and dives under the water.
#>
On the way back, Ollie and Ella get to talking. "So what's out there worth getting beat for?" Ollie asks. Ella gives an enthusiastic recount of her escapades of <#kate: last Saturday #> night, including the details of a new dance which everyone's doing at one of the clubs; an energetic dance with a lot of bouncing and jumping around. <#kate: She demonstrates a few twirls and steps during their damp trek back through the humid early evening.#> Ollie seems intrigued, and he explains that when Ella had talked about music and dancing, he had always pictured "gross stuff" like waltzes and slow dances. "But this kind of dancing sounds fun!" He asks Ella to teach him some, and she agrees.
<#kate: On that Friday night,#> Ella and Ollie sneak out to an alleyway behind a club that she knows about. <#bill: Cole asks to come along and they welcome him.#> Ella takes Ollie through the basic steps of (Kate, insert appropriately wiggly period dance here?). Ella and Ollie dance for hours. <#bill: Cole watches them for a bit, but then tells them "be right back." Ella and Ollie both give him a distracted "okay" as they continue with the dancing. Cole is back before Ollie and Ella call it a night and #> they manage to sneak back home without being spotted, exhausted and happy. Chores are a lot slower than usual the next day. <#kate: Ella, however, seems to have the energy by evening and sneaks out again on the same mission, welcoming Ollie to join her,#><#jonah: which he does. #> <#kate: She takes him to a different place this time, with a different type of dancing and genre of music (which Kate doesn't recall atm) to show him the variety out there. They have a similarly fun time in the alley, dancing and then sneaking back in time for a little sleep before Church the next day. #> <#bill: Cole, much like the night before, comes along, watches for a bit, and then wanders a while. #>
<#kate: On Monday night,#> they go up to the bell tower and dance a bit up there, with Cole and Jeanne providing the music. Ella sees Celeste watching with enthusiasm, and pulls her into the dance as well. <#kate: She gets everyone who's there to dance to reels and other swing style dances where everyone is swirling about, changing partners and getting dizzy with the fun. Ella sings to the songs that Cole and Jeanne don't know, but they quickly pick up the tune and are able to add their accompaniment to the dances they aren't dragged into. #> <#court: Jeanne looks self-conscious when she is dragged into a dance, but she soon loses herself in the bouncing and the giggles, and splits her time between playing and dancing. #> Everyone gets fairly happy and silly, and they all sleep quite soundly that night.
From then on, there are frequent spontaneous dancing events in the bell tower, and elsewhere, as Ella, Ollie, <#jonah: and others #> practice their moves. Ella, being far more devoted to the craft, is always doing the teaching, and Ollie is among the happy and willing pupils. From time to time Ollie will come with her on her night errands. <#bill: Cole does as well, usually following the same m.o. of walking around. #> <#court: Jeanne is not one to initiate dancing, but if she's in a good mood and with the other kids (no new people), she is willing to be silly and let loose. More often she plays music for the dances, but sometimes she will join, depending on how she's feeling and who else is there. She also occasionally will go out with Ella, especially if she needs to blow off some steam. #>
<#kate: Just an FYI about Ella: She doesn't sneak out every night, but typically on the nights that are going to be the most festive: Fridays, Saturdays and occasionally on Sunday. #>
<#kate: Jonah: I remember this coming up in the chat as a way for them to bond. The date is totally arbitrary. I'm not sure what would precipitate the dance "lesson", maybe a birthday or a party at the hotel? In other words, I just stuck it in here so it can be mucked with as needed. #>
<#bill: I don't know where this takes place (room or tower (if big enough) garden or hotel or out somewhere)but Cole would be happy to provide music for the dancing if asked. If you're dancing in front of him he'd probably just do it without being asked...if you're going out to dance (which I'm thinking no, based on the date) he would love to be in on the sneaking out. #>
<#kate: I could see both. 1. If they snuck out to someplace that has music (something Ella typically does anyway), they could dance in the alleyway as I don't think they'd be allowed inside. 2. I think Jeanne and Cole are the only people with an instrument available in the room/tower, so if either start playing a tune you can dance to, Ella might just start bopping, Ollie style, and that can lead to something more? or maybe someone has an option 3? #>
<#court: To clarify, Jeanne only has an instrument when she can smuggle the laundry washboard places. =) And it's more percussion, so could be danced to, but probably better when played together with other music! Jeanne will sing to it on occasion, and has no problem sneaking it at night, but probably can't during the day. #>
<#kate: and if anyone else has thoughts... #>
<#ann: Celeste is a willing audience and whistles for them, encouraging them. If someone grabs her hand she'll try to join in, though I don't think she's particularly good at dancing. #>
<#kate: Not sure how you all would react to the part above that's more a story version. Does Cole (or anyone else) come sneaking out with Ella that Friday/Saturday/Sunday? Does anyone say no to the dancing (like Valerie? or Minnie-assuming she's even at the Tower) and is it okay to have Celeste and Jeanne joining the dancing bit? #> <#court: Yes for Jeanne! #>
<#bill: If Cole is aware that you're sneaking out, he would would probably go. He would definitely go if either a. no one had ever sneaked out before or b. you were planning on going somewhere they had never been before. #>
<#kate: I think it's pretty clear, especially with Ollie, they are sneaking out, so Cole (and whomever else) would notice and would be welcome to join. I'm not sure if it's a. or b. though. Ella knows where she is going so could supply a name of the bar/dance hall but I'm not sure if you guys have done this kind of thing previous to Ella's arrival. #>
<#bill: Sweet. So Cole would come. Regarding your statement about sneaking out. I thinking we haven't...I don't think Cole would have done it on his own (yet) and I'm not aware of anyone else (Callahan being the most likely) initiating. I suppose that's up to Kel (or all of us in Co-creation). I kind of like the idea of Ella initiating. Ten is pretty young for sneaking out as it is...sneaking out at nine or younger seems even less probable (though, Cal is older). Also, it would be an interesting interaction potentially with Cal, as sneaking out-out (not just to the tower) is a very independent/leadery thing for Ella to do. So I would like us to address Cal's reaction to that. #>
<#kate: I'm okay with Ella initiating more than sneaking to the Tower, but I feel like Cal and Shawn being older might have done so before hand. I'm not sure if anyone would have joined them but I doubt it's never been done before by the time Ella arrives. That's just a gut reaction as I don't know Cal or Shawn's motivations that well, but they seem the type. #>
<#ann: I thought they had, but I could be wrong. #>
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