Chapter 237: Von Doesn’t Need Training...
<🎧 Song Recommendation: Steady by Bella Kay>
...
Tobias Grant was waiting at the center of the top floor with a rolled towel over one shoulder.
He was a tall man in his fifties, lean the way old dancers stay lean, with silver hair cropped close and a pair of black jazz shoes that looked like something he wore everyday.
"Stage movement," he introduced himself, shaking Von’s hand and bowing lightly. "It’s an honour, Mr. Varley. I’ve watched the all your videos about four hundred times, you’re really talented."
"Von’s fine. What’s the plan?" Von cut to the chase without much pleasantries.
"I assess, then we build. An arena is a different animal. Everything has to read from the seats and survive fifty nights without your knees filing a complaint."
Tobias gestured toward the open floor. "I’d like to start basic and find your ceiling. No pressure. Most artists at your level start around a five."
Max cupped his hands around his mouth from downstairs. "GO EASY ON HIM, TOBIAS! HE’S FRAGILE!"
The first drill was a sixteen-count isolation sequence at ninety beats per minute. Tobias demonstrated it once, calling out intentions instead of steps.
Von watched. Then Von did it.
It didn’t even look like a copy, instead it felt like Tobias was the one trying to copy him.
His weight in the right foot, the delay through the ribcage, the head arriving a hair after the shoulder, exactly the way Tobias himself did it.
Then, without being asked, he ran the whole thing again mirrored, leading from the opposite side.
Tobias’s eyebrows climbed in surprise. Even with everything he heard and watched, he didn’t expect this level of talent.
"...Right. Let’s move that up."
He pushed the tempo to a hundred and forty and layered double-time footwork underneath. Von hit it on the first attempt.
On the second pass he moved one of the accents so his arm snapped on the snare instead of the kick.
Tobias stopped the music himself. "Why did you change that?"
"The snare’s louder in this room," Von said after telling from [Director’s Eye]. "The kick gets swallowed under the seats. Hit the kick and the back rows see a guy moving. Hit the snare and they feel it."
There was a long pause.
"That’s a note I usually give in week three," Tobias said slowly.
He walked to the speaker and scrolled to something else. "One more. I keep this one in my back pocket. Thirty-two counts, three level changes, a floor transition, and a turn sequence that takes professionals about a week. Please I’m not showing it to embarrass you. I’m showing it to find the wall."
He ran it. It was ugly, complicated, and beautiful.
Von watched it once, then he ran it perfectly. Then he ran it backwards. Then he ran it a third time holding his right hand up at his mouth the entire way through, because a real performer would be holding a microphone.
It was only expected that [Rhythm Master] could let him do that much.
Somewhere behind them, a water bottle hit the floor.
Tobias didn’t speak for several seconds. He pulled the towel off his shoulder, wiped his hands very carefully, and looked over at David.
"David. I’m going to save your budget some money."
David walked over. "Meaning?"
"Meaning there’s nothing here for me to teach." Tobias spread his hands. "I was hired to build a performer. He’s already built. He doesn’t need coaching, all he needs is reps. Spacing, sightlines, where the lifts are, where the pyro is so he doesn’t lose an eyebrow, and how to save his knees over fifty dates. That’s the whole job."
He shook his head with a rueful smile. "You don’t coach this. You get out of its way and make sure the lighting director can keep up."
"I’d still like the reps," Von said, offering his hand. "If something goes wrong on night one, I want it to be the pyro’s fault, not mine."
Tobias shook it, grinning now. "And he’s humble. That’s very unfair."
Von simply laughed because he never considered himself humble, but there was a good relationship between the two as they continued training.
Two hours passed in a flurry of tasking drills and micro-adjustments. Tobias pushed Von through arena sightlines, mark transitions, and spatial geometry, testing how well he could project his presence to the furthest seats.
By the time Tobias finally called a break, the instructor’s clothes were drenched in sweat while Von’s breathing remained clean and controlled.
The situation made Tobias fearful at heart. He’d heard that some superstars had something going on with them that made them different from normal people. But everything about Von just went beyond everything he’s heard.
’He’s a monster...’
"That’s a wrap on movement," Tobias declared, wiping his own forehead with his towel. "You don’t need coaching, Von. I can’t even believe you’re not tired, it’s like I’m the one who needs this break and not you."
"Rest well then, you deserve it," Von commented with a chuckle.
Down below, the rest of the thirty-person crew was wrapping up their own staging block. Dancers were unlacing shoes, grabbing energy bars, and collapsing onto floor mats for their long afternoon rest break.
Except for Max.
Max had spent the entire two hours pacing the edge of the lower floor like a caged hyperactive cat, keeping his phone stream alive by doing impromptu Q&A, running mini-polls, and hyping up the impending showdown.
The second he saw Tobias step away from Von, Max’s eyes lit up.
He sprinted across the floor, holding the phone high like a torch.
"HE’S DONE! REHEARSAL IS OFFICIAL ON PAUSE!" Max yelled to the camera. He turned toward the resting dancers and clapped his hands loudly.
"CIRCLE UP! HISTORY IS HAPPENING!"
To Von’s disbelief, thirty professional dancers immediately dropped what they were doing and formed a circle.
Max planted the tripod at the edge, checked the frame twice to make sure nothing but the black curtain sat behind them, and spun to face the lens.
"We are LIVE. Five hundred and ten thousand people. Say the number, Von."
"I’m not saying the number."
[lollipopNoSuga: I WAITED TWO HOURS FOR THIS AND I WOULD DO IT AGAIN]
[FraulC: 510k?? bro it was 41k this morning]
[Vigilantly: my whole timeline is in this chat rn]
[PineappleSugarEnjoyer: THE DANCERS ARE CLAPPING A BEAT OH MY GOD WE’RE ABOUT TO WITNESS SOMETHING EPIC]