- Why are you here, Mr. Johnson?
- Because I's young and single...
- ... and I loves to mingle.
- Speak English.
- I speak like I likes.
- This is my room. You'll speak as I like.
I teach English. Now, if that's
a foreign language, you're gonna learn it.
This is no Mickey Mouse school. You
won't get off easy because of talent.
- I don't care how well you dance...
- Bitch run her fucking mouth.
...or how many colored tutus you have.
If you don't give academic subjects...
- ... equal time, you're out.
- Bullshit.
You have to arrive earlier
to get dressed and warmed up.
You have to take outside classes
in your major field...
...and study ballet, modern, folk,
jazz, tap and historical dance here...
...as well as dance history,
supported adagio...
...variation class, makeup, hairstyling
and even acting for dancers.
50,000 people call themselves actors,
and maybe 500 are making a living at it.
Most of those do commercials to
pay the rent. The rest wait tables...
...clean other people's apartments,
living on welfare and hope.
Don't think talent's enough
to get you through.
You gotta have a strong technique,
a good agent, and most of all, thick skin.
Now you're part of an underprivileged
minority, and you're going to suffer.
Pulled tendons, shin splints,
swollen toes, smelly tights...
Cattle calls, the humiliation,
the rejection...
Melodic dictation theory, keyboard
harmony, piano, piano literature...
...music history, orchestration,
conducting, symphonic band...
- When do we have lunch?
- Lunch is at 11:30. One half- hour...
- ... and then you'll have everything else.
- What's everything else?
Biology, chemistry, algebra, English,
French, physics, history, et cetera.
Dance is not a way
of getting through school.
It's a way of life, plus school.
The school part is easier.
So you better like yourself a lot.
Because that's all you got to work with.
Use yourself.
Your voice, your experiences.
Wanna accumulate some experiences?
I got plenty of experiences to spare.
You know what?
I live with two chicks.
Dance is the hardest
department in the school.
Acting is the hardest
profession in the world.
Music is the hardest profession of
them all. Isn't that right, Mrs. Tossoff?
Indeed.
Okay.
No fighting. Stay in line, please.
Who's next?
Excuse me.
- I'll be doing my scene Thursday...
- I'll be right back.
Get out of my seat!
- Hi.
- Hi. That's too wild for me.
- I'm in your acting class.
- I know.
Montgomery MacNeil.
- Doris Finsecker.
- Hi. Wanna sit down?
All right. Is your mother really
Marsha MacNeil, the actress?
- That's right.
- She does wonderful work.
- Have you seen her?
- But I've heard.
- I didn't know she lived in New York.
- She doesn't. Officially, she does...
...but she's been on the road forever.
She gets paid to stay in hotels...
...but she stays with friends. Sends her
per diems home to me and Dr. Golden.
- Is that your stepfather?
- My analyst.
What's wrong with you?
It's pretty technical, really.
I have problems.
- What kind of problems?
- With women.
Fine. Swaying with a nice humming
sound, please. And:
Let the arms go.
Good, good, good.
And chew.
Faster.
Speed.
Tongues out.
Down.
Side. Side.
And round, round.
Come on.
More energy!
Do it together, please.
Keep moving.
Much better.
Much, much better now.
Reach for the jetй!
And:
Impulse to impulse.
Relax.
Relax.
Sense the floor against your bodies.
Feel it against
the backs of your legs.
Your arms.
Your shoulders.
Let your senses remember...
...this feeling of heaviness.
Relax and breathe.
Relax and breathe.
All right, let's go. Thank you.
Don't be late. Come on. Don't be late.
- Should you be on this floor?
- I have a note.
- Miss Berg wants a tambourine.
- Fine.
Excuse me? Excuse me?
You speak English?
- Bruno Martelli?
- He's across the hall.
Thanks.
- Hi.
- Hi.
- What kind of music notes are those?
- Laser beams.
- It's a