The response earns a frown from Kurt. All too often, he's had the idea of song, of dance, of being part of a glee club tossed in his face, like it's just a chance for him to be gay, or like it's an entirely frivolous activity that has no bearing on real life, that moving beyond high school in that respect is out of his reach entirely. Even on the island, he's encountered a couple of people so dismissive of the act of song that it very truly angers him, makes him feel defensive. He doesn't suspect that this girl falls exactly in line with all of them, but there's still something about her attitude that rubs him the wrong way. It's one thing to have experienced a great deal of trauma, and to be hesitant as a result. It's another thing to be entirely dismissive, and the latter is what Kurt can never personally tolerate. Everyone has problems. Everyone can be hurt, and the only thing that will keep a person continually weighed down is the inability to acknowledge the pains of others, and the inability to work past one's own.

"You don't know that," he says first, before trying to answer her question. "Look, I will fully grant that Fred Astaire isn't everyone's cup of tea, crazy though that may seem to me, being the fan that I am. Just like your original choice of song strikes me as incredibly depressing. But that doesn't mean you should just shrug away the idea that watching someone have fun just with his voice, just with what he can do in a pair of good shoes. You might find yourself surprised, and it's worth a shot. The most you lose is a couple of hours."

Pausing, he sighs, tilting his head. "But yes, I sing. A lot. So I'm kind of defensive when it comes to that, and the theater."