Matthew was the only boy in ballet class, the
only boy in tap class and the only boy who willingly attend choir
practice. The girls flocked to classes
and sang lines with gusto. Matthew was
more agile than any of them and had a wider range right up until his voice
broke at fourteen and his dreams began to take off.
At fourteen Matthew’s choirboy voice quavered
and wobbled and settled into a deep baritone, edging towards bass. His ability to hit a note was
pitch-perfect. His chest capacity was
large and growing, so he could hold notes longer than any of his contemporaries
of either sex. There was a maturity far beyond
his years to his sound and he became sought after.
But Matthew only wanted to dance. The singer in him needed to stand still and
hold his hands at his sides. The dancer
in him had slippy feet and jazz hands that wouldn’t stop.
Matthew continued to grow as he got older and
dancing toned his muscles into a powerful sculpted physique. He liked his body more as it grew harder and
leaner. So did the females in the ballet
classes and the battles for casting in prima roles was as often so they could
dance with him as for the prestige of the position itself.
Boys his age just didn’t go in for dancing so
his friends had little concept of what he did or why. Some would have bullied him or maybe taken
him outside once or twice, but Matthew was bigger and stronger than most of
them so they didn’t. Instead they
laughed behind his back and except for his closes friends, didn’t invite him to
parties.
It was television that changed things for all
of them. The guys realized that dancing
could get you on TV and that women would fancy you if you could make it look
good. Just look at the women Strictly’s Brendan
managed to pull. And Matthew realized he
was better than any of the contestants as the usual talent show fodder, and
that girls liked boys in bands even more than boys who could dance.
Matthew switched from dancing to singing, the
boys switched from avoidance to cultivation and the girls switched from friends
to lovers. Jazz hands became wandering
hands, pliés became plastered and Matthew became Matt.
And his dance-toned legs came in handy more
than once for running away from irate boyfriends.
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