Comment on Ballets Trockadero Wishes

  1. crossword on Chapter 32 Thu 30 Oct 2025 05:19AM UTC

    Oooh, now I feel bad about that drive-by on Milwaukee. Sorry! I actually found out about the Milwaukee Ballet because they had a showcase thing at the theater in Miami where I live, and some really awesome dancers from Milwaukee were there! But also my dad is from Chicago and there's some sort of sports rivalry I don't care about with Milwaukee apparently, so even though I didn't grow up in the US, in my mind, Milwaukee == bad. I hope that doesn't dissuade you from reading on and commenting, I love hearing from my readers, you guys have so many times given me great ideas for things to write into the works.
    To answer your question, my mom is French and I grew up in eastern France, so yes, French is my mothertongue and most fluent language. I moved to the US two years ago to connect more with my dad's culture and family, so hopefully my eurotrash English accent is no longer so apparent in my writing.
    For your other questions, yes, I dance... ballroom. And recently more latin dance, since it's popular in Miami. I might try ballet though, the local Cuban community have a great ballet culture. The next work in the series is the 'vacation' Tobias and Gabin take to attend Kevin's wedding, so not too much dance, but if I start ballet by the time the third work rolls around, that one could have some more ballet dancing written in. You mentioned you're a dancer yourself, ballet? Any pieces in particular you can recommend to write in?

    As for ice cream places near the Louvre, I haven't been to Paris in 3 years apart from layovers at the airport, but I image that there are many both new and old, that is a very touristy area, and it gets really hot in the summer.

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    1. Zada J. Pierce (Guest) on Chapter 32 Sat 01 Nov 2025 05:21AM UTC

      Oh my gosh don’t worry about the drive-by! Honestly I thought it was hilarious and just so oddly timed with the conversation I had that day. I do love the Milwaukee Ballet. Some friends of mine used to dance with them and my ballet teacher also danced with them a long time ago. There’s definitely that sports rivalry I also don’t care for, though I think it’s really a reflection of a rather strange dislike that both Milwaukee and Chicago have for each other. I think it stems from both of them competing to be the biggest port in Lake Michigan back when they were just developing cities in the 1860s and Chicago won the railroad contracts and Milwaukee got left in the dust. That’s just a guess though, haha.

      I actually really loved reading the French to see if I was translating it correctly and then checking with your translation below! I had been thinking “this author is absolutely fluent” but also, you never know! I hadn’t noticed any accent in your writing so at least in my perspective you’re all good there:)

      I’ve been wanting to get into Latin dance! I do ballet, yes, and I’m always so happy to hear about other people’s experience with dance. I am unfortunately only good at ballet and keep wanting to try other forms of dance but have yet to accept the fact that I will just have to suffer through being terrible for the first few weeks of whatever I do! There’s a really cool African dance class I was looking at and I was like LOL I cannot have the teacher suffer through watching me do this. Ballroom dance sounds so fun!

      I’m excited to see their vacation! I still really am quite impressed with how well you’ve managed to capture the character’s energy from the show while still having your own unique experience with them. As for dances you could write in, there’s so much out there and it really depends on how much you want them to impact the story! Mishi coming back to Metropolitan Ballet opens up all of Balanchine’s works, like Firebird and Rubies and Agon. I saw the Paris Opera Ballet do Sylvia this spring - forbidden love, Greek mythology - so that’s been on my mind. Of course there’s the classics like Giselle and Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake, but I think there are so many lesser known ones with beautiful scenes - Romeo and Juliet, Manon (Manon has particularly intense and passionate pas de deux, probably my all time favourite), La Fille mal Gardée is more lighthearted and fun. Again, it really depends on what you’re in the mood to invite into your story!

      I hope if you start ballet you enjoy it! It really can be such a great joy with the right teacher and right community.

      I had only been near the Louvre once this spring and it was after being lost inside it for nearly three hours trying to leave, so I was like a. if there’s a new ice cream place I certainly didn’t see it and b. I have no idea what was new around there because I was just visiting.

      Thanks for your reply! It was really lovely to read your responses.

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      1. crossword on Chapter 32 Sat 01 Nov 2025 12:09PM UTC

        > competing to be the biggest port in Lake Michigan back when they were just developing cities in the 1860s and Chicago won the railroad contracts and Milwaukee got left in the dust.

        Fascinating. I recently discovered my grandma grew up in Milwaukee (shocking), I'll have to ask her on a good day.

        Regarding the French, I urge you not to use mine as a proper example of French spelling, I tend to lean heavily into spoken slang for dialogue. One of my favorite things about the show is that they got native French actors speaking native slang French instead of the stilted book French foreign actors always have. That "je t'emmerde en long, en large et en travers" (fuck you in length, in width and in depth) in the first episode was French from the heart!

        If you want to try latin dance, I highly recommend Bachata! It's a slower Dominican dance, the base step is relatively simple to master, and there are some gorgeous figures you can build up to.

        Also, thanks for the ballet recs! I picked Spartacus for Gabin because I needed 2 strong male leads so I can shove him together with Matthieu again (I'm a sadist at heart and find their petty disputes hilarious). Miami is doing a series on Justin Peck right now, so I'll have to check that out.
        > Manon is a classical ballet choreographed by Sir Kenneth MacMillan

        Wat. 😂

        Ok, but girl trapped between two lovers and deported to America? Mishi for sure!

        > lost inside it for nearly three hours trying to leave

        Cannon Louvre event, lol.

        Thanks for commenting, I so enjoy these conversations with readers, you have the best ideas!

        Last Edited Sat 01 Nov 2025 12:12PM UTC

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