background
(CW: abusive relationships and physical domestic abuse; family dysfunction)
Claude has never been good at being alone. He was born as the youngest child out of three, growing up with his two older sisters (Céline and Catherine) doting on him as the baby of the family. After his Canadian father left the family for his new wife and moved back to Canada, Claude furthermore developed a close bond with his mother, being seen as the man of the family now. She nurtured his interest in dance, mainly because it curbed his hyper-activity and made him calmer and more sufferable to be around. Until he was eight, he danced only ballroom, but a scout from the local ballet school saw him at a tournament and asked him and his mother whether he'd be interested in trying out ballet. Not knowing what exactly she said yes to, Claude's mother agreed 'as long as Claude is happy'. Claude took to ballet as a fish takes to water and showed great promise, something his teacher was very aware of and when he turned ten, she referred him to the Paris Opera Ballet School's yearly try-outs, telling Claude's mother that he could no doubt get in on a full scholarship. And he did. However, suddenly the choice was between not letting the boy pursue his dreams or allowing him to travel to Paris, to live in dormitories alone without her. Heart-broken at once more having lost the man in the family, Claude's mother agreed. Claude left for another life.
Between the age of 10 and 18, he lived alone in Paris in the dormitories belonging to the Paris Opera Ballet School with other children from all over France, and received rigorous ballet training, having to pass tests and exams every school year to advance. He aced through every test and was seen as one of the next big stars of the ballet. Claude just loved dancing.
In the meantime, he'd come to the realisation that he was into men and travelled back to Marseille one weekend, intending to inform his mother and expecting no problems, seeing as she'd been so supportive in every other respect. However, as soon as the words were out of his mouth, I'm gay, his mother seemed to change personality. Going from a nurturing, supportive parent to a stubborn, jaded woman who accused ballet of having 'ruined' and 'emasculated' him. Completely taken aback, he defended himself, but she was impossible to talk to and he left for Paris, getting a lift to the train station by his older sister. That would be the constellation of the family from there on out - Claude versus his mother, his sisters standing in the middle and trying to buffer. As the years went by, Claude would give up seeing her altogether.
Back in Paris, once he'd passed his final exam, Claude became an apprentice with the main company and after a year in that position was hired into the main corps of the ballet. He quickly caught the eye of many ballet fans and was propelled into named roles relatively quickly, his big break coming when he was made understudy for the principal who danced Armand, the male lead, in Neumeier's The Lady of the Camellias. He rehearsed the role, but of course didn't expect to get to dance it on stage, when suddenly the principal got injured and had to pull out of the rest of the run suddenly. Claude was given two days notice to prepare and then, danced the whole ballet for a full audience. To raging applause and shouts of bravo.
Not only did this bring him in the spotlight with the administration of the ballet, but the prominent ballet critic, Rainier, also took a shine to him and when they met a couple of months later at a benefit, Rainier immediately set out to seduce him. Only 23 years old, Claude was still naive enough in love not to question his motives and although the man twice his age showed signs of problematic behavious early on, he made up excuses to stay in a relationship where he was doted on and praised in every possible way. However, after some months, Rainier began acting very jealous around every man he perceived a threat and Claude began feeling increasingly uncomfortable with him, but shrugged it off until, one day, it escalated and Rainier was threatening and violent towards him. Then, Claude backed off and broke up with him, but the other man started a smear campaign towards him, giving all his performances bad reviews and letting it reflect on his opinions on the dancers who danced in Claude's casts. The Paris Opera Ballet began showing reluctance in casting him in prominent roles and after a couple of years, Claude had to realize his career had hit the wall.
Needing to get away from Rainier, Claude started looking for work elsewhere but it wasn't until the artistic director of the BG Ballet in Luxembourg reached out and invited him to become principal dancer with them that he was finally ready to give up his dream of dancing in Paris. He accepted and was ready to move out a couple of months later, when the season ended. Over summer, he prepared to start with BG Ballet and rehearsed much of their repertory, including The Lady of the Camellias which became his return to the stage. Although it wasn't what he'd envisioned for himself, Claude is happy in Luxembourg and happy with his new company where he's currently making a new start and a new name for himself.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
