Browsing through You Tube at the end of a long work day, I found this deliberate video. I never heard of the dancer, Sergei Polunin or the songwriter of “Take me to Church” (Hozier) or David LaChapelle, director. At first I thought it might become seedy but as I watched, my eyes appreciated body moves I had never seen before in classical ballet. Sergei has his own mild erotica dance blend. The flesh vs. church became the main of many contrasts.
The first time viewing, I found the contrasts jarring. The song selection I found close to painful. Words like “sharp, knife” against ‘amen” and expressions: “my lover’s not human…she could giggle at a funeral..at everyone’s disapproval, I should have worshiped her sooner” were so difficult to hear against the sweet gentle lines of the dancer.
I stopped listening to all the words when I was studying the tattooed flesh of this young dancer. His torn tan capri tights bore a sense of an impoverished soul in turmoil. Yet the tickle of those tights and the many crotch shots made me feel this was a body-show for the dancer. He knew what his body was: a pinnacle of male fertility.
This type of sensuality reminded me of Aaron Taylor-Johnson in his “Anna Karenina” role. Both Sergei and Aaron are the male version of being pregnant with its wholesome sensuality and passion. Like Aaron’s character, Sergei’s dance draws in this female to what seemed like the first passionate bursts of tormented love.
Not every man can elicit such sweet and serious sensuality. In the news is the blow-out book-turned-movie on modern sensuality : “Fifty Shades of Grey”. Jamie Dornan, the actor in “Fifty Shades” is adorable and a hunk but there’s an absence of that instant recognition of pregnant sensuality. That allure, Dornan’s director, Sam(antha) Tayor-Johnson likely found in her spouse, Aaron. Her directing dilemma was that she couldn’t hire her spouse who had all the right angsts and ahhhs. Dornan doesn’t shout “sex” even though the movie is full of it. He’s a flat board by comparison to Sergei the dancer or Aaron the actor. First look at Aaron at the train station in “Anna Karenina” was enough to know this youth was lovely and passionately appealing. First look at Sergei in his raunchy impoverished church pants proved not enough. Multiple replays were needed to watch those crotch shot twisting into aerial and ethereal spirals which sent my mouse into more instant replays.