Goosebumps

This past weekend was my first Nutcracker of the season (Houston Ballet Theatre) - the show was a great success and I'm excited about the next two Nutcrackers I've been hired to do (City Ballet of Houston and Woodlands Civic Ballet) although admittedly, I'm still not completely comfortable getting paid to dance.

As is the case with every Lebanese ballet dancer, I had to shave my legs in order to wear white tights and have them look - well, white. I'm getting used to the feeling of bare legs, but I never realized that getting goosebumps with prickly legs hurts. A question to the girls out there - is there a critical hair length at which the pain stops, or is this just the price you all pay for being beautiful?

Incidentally, I discovered this phenomenon while watching this video of two dancers from the Bejart Ballet in Switzerland dancing Marius Petipas' original choreography to Grand Pas de Deux classique from Casse Noisette (The Nutcracker). It is among the most beautiful things I have ever seen.

P.S. For those who have been asking, here is the text and translation of the speech given before the dance begins:

Bonsoir. L’auteur, ne voulant pas touché à la chorégraphie du grand pas de deux classique de Casse Noisette, il vous sera donc danser ce soir strictement dans la version originale de Marius Petipa.

Good evening. The director, not wanting to touch [alter] the original choreography of the grand pas de deux from 'The Nutcracker', he would have you see danced this evening, therefore, strictly the orginal version by Marius Petipa.