Milton Frank has come back to the studio after a twenty-five year absence, but under no circumstance is anyone to call it a “comeback.” This is just for fun. A lark. A whimsical experiment. And whatever other terms BB has approved for use in earshot of Milton’s sensitive genius.
Gary, the venue manager, inflicts a series of absurd safety drills on the team. Milton acquiesces artfully while BB, Luke, and Anna debate the fine points of the scandal that sent Milton into hiding 20 years earlier.
While Milton indulges in a familiar kind of meltdown, Anna’s domestic duties are quickly interrupted by a surprise visit from her ex-husband and his new partner. BB uses spin to coax Milton out of his spiral, and Anna is thrown off by the common ground she shares with her “replacement.”
Despite Milton’s protests, it’s time to bring in more dancers. BB is alarmed to find out that the gender wage gap is embedded in the ballet world as much as anywhere else. Adamant about equal pay, she inadvertently causes tension between Anna and Luke.
Two new, young dancers arrive full of drive and talent. Milton transforms into a choreographic master, fully inspired… Until the glow of the dancers’ youth casts shadows across the rest of the team, and Milton suddenly realizes he isn’t a 21-year-old prodigy anymore.
Pas-de-deux quickly becomes foot-in-mouth when Milton meets – then promptly forgets – BB’s partner, Casey, over and over. Consumed in a hypochondriac fever, Milton learns Casey is a physician. Now he’ll never forget her, or let her leave without a proper medical diagnosis for his terminal angst.
“Deconstruction” is the creative process of taking apart a set sequence of choreography and rebuilding it in a different order. Alarm bells go off as Milton takes this process a little too literally, visibly unravelling. Anna’s deconstruction occurs mainly in the knee, as Milton’s incessant demands exacerbate her old injury.
This is the part of the process where you quit the process. Milton is gone, unreachable. Gary creates a one-man search-party. BB and Anna quietly rebel with a five-minute hiatus from fixing Milton’s messes, before promptly getting back to saving the day.