Elton and Dancing Boys

[FreeThinker]

A reader of Wicked Boys just sent me this link of Elton John singing "Electricity" from Billy Elliot. If I had found this link before I posted the story, I would have included it. This shows exactly what Rafael and Jeremy mean when they say they have to dance. It's just beautiful, an older and younger boy dancing. What an amazing video.

[The Pecman]

Wow, that is beautiful. Sexy as hell, exuberant, and also very well-photographed.

[Jeff Ellis]

How beautiful!

There is always something exceptional about young people striving for perfection.

[Merkin]

When the boy flies it is just astonishingly beautiful and so right.

[Cole Parker]

I think that's what dance is all about: the release and realization of emotion through physical execution and fulfillment. You can actually feel that in watching this video.

C

[dude]

OH MY GAWD! They ARE Rafael and Jeremy!

[The Pecman]

...the release and realization of emotion through physical execution and fulfillment.

I try to get that at least once a day, but haven't been too successful so far.

[Cole Parker]

Probably doing it wrong.

C

[Lugnutz]

This has been moved to the top of my reading list. I have a visual now. I just hope any dancing terminology don't make my brain hurt.

[Bruin Fisher]

Entrancing.

[Gee Whillickers]

Oh wow. I didn't know Elton was a Freethinker fan!

Makes sense, though. I should've known.

[dude]

Like to see Liam's actual performance on stage?

[FreeThinker]

Thank you, Mike. That was incredible. It brought tears to my eyes, after all the time I spent on my story and then to see Liam blow it all away with that dancing. He's a beautiful boy, an incredible dancer, and a brilliant performer.

By the way, the spinning leaps he makes just before the end of his dance are Grand Jete' , which Rafael and Jeremy perform six of at the end of The Dance of the Friends," in the sequel to my story.

[The Pecman]

Sequel?

Did I miss something?

Just to be Mr. Negative: the kid can't sing, but I'll say this for him -- he made a vain attempt, and there was no re-recording or pitch correction. And he dances very well.

[FreeThinker]

It's coming soon to a computer screen near you.

[Merkin]

One of the choices offered at the end of that clip is one entitled "Meet the Billys." It is just incredible. Have a look.

[dude]

Just to be Mr. Negative: the kid can't sing, but I'll say this for him -- he made a vain attempt, and there was no re-recording or pitch correction. And he dances very well.

I can't understand anyone's compulsion to be 'Mr. Negative.' I've tried to promote -for the most part- a very positive atmosphere here.

After wrapping up the site updates last night... I happened across Liam Mower's amazing live stage performance of the 'auditon scene' from Billy Elliot - The Musical and it brightened my spirit so I shared it and went to bed in a good mood.

Getting up this morning and reading this thread... I am depressed. I don't need to be depressed. I am going to absent myself fromt he Forums for a while until it passes.

Mike

[FreeThinker]

I'm grateful you posted it, Mike, and I thank you. It was inspirational for me.

[Cole Parker]

In actual fact, and not because of what Mike said, I thought the kid's singing was quite good. He did sing in tune. I'm very sensitive to that, and didn't find any problem at all.

He doesn't have an operatic voice, sure. But that wouldn't be in character with who and what he is on stage. He doesn't have a fully developed vibrato, either, but I think if he did it would detract from the character. No, I was very impressed with both his dancing and his singing.

I guess this'll just have to be another of the many things Pec and I disagree about.

In one of the end clips, the Michael character spoke of their rehearsals. They go to school in the morning and then, in the afternoons, work out with hard athletic training for three hours! And it's only after that they put on the show. He said it keeps them in shape. Man, I guess it would!

I loved that movie. I'd seen it several times. I'll bet the play is wonderful, too.

C

[Jeff Ellis]

I'm with Merkin on this one... here is the link to Meet The Billys

I am very taken with young people striving for perfection.

I also agree with Cole about the singing, I thought that it fitted the part perfectly. He was supposed to be a working class lad talking with a rough father. Michael Devine or Terry Wey might have done it with greater operatic skill... but they would have missed the point entirely!

[Paul_and_Paco]

By the way, the spinning leaps he makes just before the end of his dance are Grand Jete' , which Rafael and Jeremy perform six of at the end of The Dance of the Friends," in the sequel to my story.

I have been told to say, "Those were petit jeté, not grand jeté. A grand jeté is a leaping mid-air split, where the body is quite a ways off the floor. That is why the grand jeté is so tough and even one can be a very tiring skill." There, your resource has spoken.

Tim says "Hi!"

[The Pecman]

I can't understand anyone's compulsion to be 'Mr. Negative.' I've tried to promote -for the most part- a very positive atmosphere here.

Oh, calm down. For a dancer, he sings very well, and I don't dispute that doing both is very difficult, especially at that age. And I congratulated the kid for not lip-syncing -- that was 100% live, which is more than Beyonce can do.

My sincere apologies if you thought I went over the line. I get into my American Idol / America's Got Talent mode and slam the shit out of everything I see on television, just like the nasty judges on TV. The good news is: I'm trying to be honest and real, and when I do compliment something, you know it's from the heart and not just trying to be nice.

Hey, the kid still sings a lot better than, say, Ronnie Howard in The Music Man or even Christian Bale in Newsies. Note that Billy Elliot has always had multiple performers on Broadway, and some of them are better than others. That's a grueling schedule, especially for a kid, and I salute them for working so hard and being that talented at that age.

In actual fact, and not because of what Mike said, I thought the kid's singing was quite good. He did sing in tune. I'm very sensitive to that, and didn't find any problem at all.

My curse is that I had three years of music theory, played in an orchestra for seven years, and have a music collection bigger than you can imagine (and I don't doubt you can imagine an awful lot), plus I'm acutely sensitive to pitch. The kid's not hitting the notes. (Wireless mic placement was excellent, however.)

But it's real singing, and I concede, if you buy into him being a working-class kid during that time, it's OK for the storyline. Bear in mind I'm in a business where we shape and craft every single facet of performances to be perfect, so when we see or hear something that's wrong, it's magnified in my mind. What's extremely obvious to me isn't always obvious to most people, and the flaws make it harder for me to enjoy a performance.

BTW, my partner just looked over my shoulder and said I was an asshole who should shut up and stop trying to be Howard Stern on AGT. It's an American pastime (and British, too) to be opinionated and outspoken when judging talent, and I'm the first to say it's easier to shoot from the hip and criticize than it is to actually perform.

[FreeThinker]

I have been told to say, "Those were petit jeté, not grand jeté. A grand jeté is a leaping mid-air split, where the body is quite a ways off the floor. That is why the grand jeté is so tough and even one can be a very tiring skill." There, your resource has spoken.

Tim says "Hi!"

Since my Resource trained this summer with perhaps the greatest ballet company in the world, I suppose I should defer to his judgement. Imagine my embarrassment!

[Paul_and_Paco]

Ah, Tim says he cannot sing for crap, probably why he is so good a dancer. Paco's younger brother though can both sing and dance... got both talents.

[Paul_and_Paco]

Imagine my embarrassment!

Hahaha! Imagine the boy blushing brilliantly, this summer he might be learning how to plant corn and ride horses better. Did you not hear? He is into farm boys now!