Rahm Emanuel’s Tough Talk Born Out of Ballet Background?

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Barack Obama’s administration is groundbreaking not only for African Americans but, as it turns out, for ballet dancers as well. This week, the media is aflutter with the news that Rahm Emanuel, Obama’s pick for White House chief of staff, was a classically trained dancer who could have gone pro but opted for politics over pirouettes.

The Daily News calls the pugnacious Emanuel “living proof that ballet dancer and macho man aren’t mutually exclusive,” while popular DC-area dance blogger Maria wonders whether he is the first White House chief of staff with a ballet background. (We’d venture to guess that he is — unless John Sununu was hiding something.)

Either way, he scores points with us. Current chief of staff Joshua Bolten can play electric bass in a rock band all he wants, but the fact that “Rahmbo” used to be a tights-and-slippers-clad danseur is way more badass.