ballet question

[amelia_petkova]

A friend and I went to see The Nutcracker recently. It was wonderful, as usual, but during one of the dances (maybe the Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy), I noticed that the ballerina's stiff-looking tutu is smashed up against her male partner's face during the lifts. Can anybody tell me how the male dancers keep their faces from being scratched all to

Comments

[fee_parisienne]

Short answer - they don't. Longer answer - a tutu skirt is made out of fabric, and shouldn't really cause much damage to the skin. Unless he's getting his face inappropriately close to the top side of the skirt (decorated with sequins, beads, and etc.), the gentleman is probably enduring discomfort rather than actual scratches.

You're right that the male partner can spend a lot of time with his face in the skirt during lifts! Anyone who frequently performs with a partner has probably worked out how best to minimize whatever discomfort that causes. Sometimes (as in a shoulder-sit or similar position) it just can't be helped.

[amelia_petkova]

Thanks for the info! The performer I saw didn't seem to have his face too close to the top of the skirt, though I had been wondering how sharp/scratchy the ends of the tutu were.