King of Sloth

Dancing serves as a motif for Maintaining a Balance Between Control and Laxity. To master dancing, it is necessary to let go of the need for control and accept that “not everything […] has to be perfect” (210). Just as Xavier’s carefree attitude is a positive influence on the rigid Sloane, his dance lessons also illustrate the importance of loosening up and embracing spontaneity. During one of their early dance lessons, Xavier tells Sloane, “Dancing is about movement. You can’t move properly if you’re imitating a petrified piece of wood” (65). His statement illustrates Sloane’s tenseness and perfectionism, and he attempts to teach Sloane that dancing does not require flawless movements. Instead, dancing requires embracing the flow and spontaneity of the body. Sloane soon learns that when she does not “hyperfocus on moving exactly the way [she] should” (71), her movements flow much more easily. Ironically, only by abandoning her need for control does she finally find a sense of ease and grace.

When Sloane receives the news that her sister is pregnant with Bentley’s baby, Sloane resorts to alcohol to ease her churning thoughts and ends up dancing on a club’s tabletop, utterly intoxicated. Although her drunkenness makes her dancing more natural and allows her to dance “in a way that ignite[s] every cell in [Xavier’s] body” (84), it is clear that this version of dancing comes from a place of pain rather than freedom.