RA-NDOM THOUGHTS - DANCING RICHARD

Saturday night. I'm watching "Ballando con le Stelle"on TV,  Strictly Come Dancing here in Italy . I'm sure my friend Karen/V. is rolling her eyes and turning up her nose. But what can I do? Even the best have got flaws. Mine is watching people dancing. I just love it. And if they are good, I can't resist. It's admiration, envy, for these lucky individuals doing something which I've always liked and thought magic. Dancing!

This week I've spent some time watching Richard Armitage dancing. I've discovered these clips (thanks to RA fans posting about them on facebook) from a musical staged in London in 1994 in which he danced and sang, Cats. I couldn't believe my eyes. I  had read  he had been in that show from 1993 till 1995,  dancing and singing as Macavity /  Admetus (see picture on the left)  before enrolling at LAMDA,  but seeing it with my own eyes was ... unbelievable pleasure. Richard is very young  in these videos and wears a trendy pony tail, sexy blue undershirt and sweats, with a jumper tied at his waist, he is in the foreground downin the shadow  on the right of the screen at the beginning. Later, slowly and sinuously he starts moving and,  incredibly for such a giant,  he moves all  around the stage , light and agile as a feline. He's playing a cat, in fact. Just have a look. Once you focus on him, you won't lose contact with him among the crowd of dancers. He's stage presence is unique. This is a clip from a rehearsal.

Well, he's good , isn't he? In this interview by Allison Pearson  there are several references to Richard's skill at dancing:

"Aged 22, he enrolled at drama school. It is at this point that he casually drops into the conversation that his best dance was the Argentinian Tango. Omigod. The thought of Richard Armitage doing the tango is too much to bear.

I am acting on behalf of the entire Armitage Army when I squeak, 'Go on, do some dancing for me. Pleeeaase.'

'You must be joking,' he says, that soothing baritone rising a few notes in protest.
But you'd be perfect on Strictly Come Dancing, I insist.

'One thing I can promise you is that you'll never see Richard Armitage on Strictly Come Dancing.'

Why? 'Because Richard Armitage will never appear as Richard Armitage on TV.' 

And there we have the conundrum. The all-singing, all-dancing star who hates the spotlight for its own sake"

If only he changed his mind  ...

 So you see? No hope to see him dancing for now. We are going to see him singing with his fellow dwarves  in The Hobbit, it seems. But as to dancing,  he promised no public performance , no Striclty Come Dancing.

The dwarves sing, they don't dance.

However,  he has recently danced on stage  at The Old Vic, acting in “The 24 Hour Plays” on November 21st, 2010. Richard played the role of Dennis in The Third Wish, by Stephen Beresford.

Simone, the lucky lady who was there among the audience and later on sat near him on the bus leaving the theatre, tells in her blog:

"...Didn’t know RA can do comedy! He was hilarious! He then goes to Debbie and they start a dance routine that left the audience practically in stitches. I remember reading that he studied dance in LAMDA so this must be all second nature to him."

Shall we dance?

They are going  on dancing on TV. Usually they go on till very late at night. I've  been a bit distracted in the last minutes. Never mind. I've been dreaming of seeing someone else dancing. Oh, how much I'd love to actually see RA dancing now, an Argentinian Tango or any other dance of his wish. Oh! By the way, some time ago, I even dreamt of going to a masked ball with him! At a masked ball with Lord Armitage. Not as myself, of course, but as young beautiful  Gaia De Blanche. Ok. Dreams cost nothing and colour our lives. I'm off to dream. Also because it's almost midnight. Have a great weekend! MG

If you click on this image, you'll see RA dancing.
Thanks to Bluecabochon who created this!