Standing O

A few weeks back I went to the touring show of the Houston Ballet here in Emporia, KS.... 

I LOVE going to ballets.  It is the perfect magical atmosphere of attending a show.  People still dress up nice for them, the casualness of clothing has not set in as it has in the theatre realm.  It's different from opera in the sense that everyone can truly appreciate ballet.  Sure, opera singers are insanely talented, but their talents are not appreciated by everyone today.  Music still plays such an important role in our world's daily life - but everyone has their own style they like.  Only true music lovers are open to the idea of different genres of music.  Dance, however, is an art form that is making a comeback.  For the longest time it was pushed out of our lives, no longer deemed necessary.  Recently reality television shows have have helped to bring a resurgence of this at form and its multiple facets.  We can all easily embrace the difficulty of moving one's body in such controlled ways that practiced dancers can.  In my opinion from my observations, it is easier for people to accept, embrace and enjoy dance...

My favorite part of a ballet is seeing all the little girls come in before the show wearing dress they wore for Christmas or Easter, their hair up in buns, a little bit of make-up on their faces to make them feel grown-up like mom, finding their seat only to trade with mom and adjust themselves on their knees to see better.  One such little girl sat by me in the back row.  They had gotten there kind of late and there were no more seats near the front - on top of that, the mother didn't want to sit that close.  Why person after person came into the theatre that night not wanting to sit in the front two thirds of the auditorium is beyond me....  This little girl had taken ballet for two years and tap for one.  She informed me that her tap shoes are kept up high though.  Her mom explained she liked the noise they made so much that she would wear them every where so now they are kept on the top shelf of the closet...

With all these children there, the dreams and hopes they generate are almost tangible in the energy of the air....  

At the end of the show, the ballet company full of 16 year-old dancers who were fantastic received a standing ovation.  My initial thought was, do these dancers really deserve a standing o?  They were good, yes, but they are young and not the best and this is small town Kansas.  This was a once in a lifetime opportunity for many of the people there....  A standing o?  Really?  Attending theatre performances here at ESU has raised that question in my mind when a production will get a few people standing up at the end if not the entire audience.  Really?

But why am I so skeptical?  This performance touched these people in a way that moved them return what they could to the performers.  Isn't that our goal?  To move people?  To plant a seed of thought or motivation?  If one person stands and claps at the end of a show, making a fool of their self, it's worth it.  It's what you came to do as a performer.  Never again will I judge the validity of a standing ovation...