Star Power and Pointe Shoes

They are haggling like there’s no tomorrow: "I need a charismatic dancer — I want Antoine Guillaume," he says, and promptly a ballerino crosses the screen with Grands jetés en manège; "I want Anna," she replies, and a fouetté-ing belle whips in via insert ... "We'll promote her to soloist, that'll make a great story." From the head of the negotiating table, a gray-haired man in a lilac shirt speaks up. One party considers him the devil himself, while the other celebrates him as a powerful financial magnate: "That's a really great idea!" And the haggling is already moving towards the next climax: "I need a young, exciting choreographer — you have one. Tobias Bell, we want him," she demands.

Cut to Mr. Bell at rehearsals, armed with gigantic earphones, which he only removes to deliver ...