A few weeks back I was sick with the flu and spent nearly ten days in bed. While I mostly slept, caught up on some reading, and slept some more, I did find myself falling into Amazon/Starz new show Flesh and Bone. Haven’t heard of it? That’s not really a surprise.
Flesh and Bone is ostensibly about dancers, ballerinas more specifically, at a company here in New York. I say ostensibly because unlike Mozart in the Jungle, the art form is more of a backdrop than the main course. There are some beautiful dance scenes, and the cast is mostly comprised of professional ballet dancers, but as far as the plot, it’s simply a clever device to follow a bunch of half naked men and women about as they do all sorts of fucked up things.
Naked ballet dancers just being naked in the dressing room.
So, what makes it hot and creepy and twisted all at the same time? Well, there’s a major incest plot line that’s far more complex than it first appears. And alongside the casual nakedness of the dressing room, Clair’s (the main character) roommate has more sex on screen than almost anyone I’ve ever seen. And none of that is to diminish the amount of gay sex which is fairly explicit, and at least one scene which is less than consensual.
In a serious drama all of those themes might feel complicated, difficult to watch, or offensive, but in this soap opera of an excuse for soft core pornography, I found I could roll with the punches and enjoy the creepy sex for what it was. My emotional investment was just enough to keep me interested, without making me horribly upset when bad things happened to characters I like. Which for me, is a rare and delicate balance that both surprised and enticed me.
It is clearly not a show for everyone, but if you enjoy typically taboo erotica (incest, non-con, big age differences, anal, etc.) or you simply fetishize ballet dancers (the women are hot, but the men my god) then I suspect you’ll enjoy this delightful bit of trash, cliches and all.
Here are a few more screenshots, which only dip into the amount of nudity and sex this show has to offer. It’s available to Amazon Prime members for free.
Claire walking in on roommate having sex on the couch.
Claire in a hotel room with a donor to the Ballet.
Claire looking at her naked boy in the mirror.
Clarie’s roommate Mia getting in over her head.