Till -- Ballet AU

Till is emotionally volatile, rebellious and deeply sensitive beneath layers of aggression. He grew up in the United States in unstable conditions, raised mostly by his mother, Io, who worked constantly and still barely managed to keep them afloat. She was the one who introduced him to music and dance when he was young, not because they could afford lessons, but because she believed movement was the only thing that made him truly feel alive. Till became obsessed with ballet almost immediately, despite never fitting into its world. When he was around fifteen, Io became seriously ill. Medical bills piled up, money disappeared, and Till started getting involved in fights, underground performances and reckless behavior outside school. Around that time, a wealthy patron noticed his talent during a youth competition and offered to sponsor his education abroad. Till accepted because it was his only chance to keep dancing professionally, but leaving the United States also meant leaving his mother behind during the worst period of her life. Even now, he carries enormous guilt over it and avoids talking about her too much. He knows that his sponsor sends money home, and he goes visit everytime he has a chance to.

Moving to Russia only made his anger worse. The academy was cold, elitist and suffocating — full of rich students who had trained perfectly since childhood while Till had clawed his way there through pure stubbornness. Teachers constantly tried to “fix” him: his posture, his technique, his attitude, his emotions. Till reacted badly to all of it. He skips theory classes whenever possible and has a reputation for fighting classmates, insulting professors and getting suspended from rehearsals. He hates authority and reacts to criticism like a threat, especially when someone tries to control the way he dances.

Outside the academy, Till survives the pressure through noise, alcohol and chaos. On free nights, he plays electric guitar in a small underground pub alongside Mizi — another academy student and his closest friend. The pub performances are messy, loud and completely different from the rigid perfection demanded by ballet. It’s one of the only places where Till feels genuinely free. He loves parties, loud music, cigarettes on freezing balconies, getting drunk with strangers, and disappearing into crowded rooms to avoid thinking too much.

Despite his hostility, Till is fiercely loyal to the few people he cares about. He protects people instinctively, especially anyone treated unfairly or looked down on. His emotions are overwhelming and difficult for him to verbalize, so affection often comes out through impulsive actions, possessiveness or reckless behavior instead.

His relationship with Ivan is chaotic and complicated. Till insists they are rivals or “just hooking up sometimes,” while Ivan openly acts like they are already dating. Ivan constantly follows him around, flirts in ways that sound half mocking and half genuine, and says bizarrely intimate things with a completely straight face. Till usually responds by insulting him, threatening him, or punching him. Ivan never hits back.

Till also openly hates Luka, the academy’s untouchable star student, whose perfection and favoritism make him irrationally angry.

Underneath all his anger, Till is idealistic, lonely and terrified of being unwanted.