Fury of a Blind Date Scorned
From an email I received regarding last night's performance of
Blind Date, the Bill T. Jones and Arnie Zane Dance Company performance that boldly questions the meaning of patriotism in today's society:
Have you seen Blind Date? ACK!!!! If you missed last night's performance, you missed a telling shouting match/audience reaction that pitted artist against viewer. I thought that what transpired served as a telling summation of how things are going in our country right now.
The shouting was interesting. As the (tepid, on the part of many people) applause was dying down, we heard a rather loud BOO from the balcony. I believe that it was Mr. Jones himself who rushed back onto the stage and demanded "Who is that booing? Who booed?" as he paced across the stage. The man identified himself (I think with the "aid" of someone else in the audience) and the shouting began.
"Come down here and tell me what you did not like!"
"I am not coming down there!"
And so it went for some time. Some audience members thought that it might have been part of the performance, but I feel fairly certain that it was not. After a while Mr. Boo finally said that what he did not like (here I paraphrase for the most part) was having to watch pretentious, repetitive, "third rate" shows that pretend to address serious issues.
ANYWAY, Mr. Jones finished by saying "I'll stay out of your politics if you stay out of my art!" It was telling that he focused on the political issue since, to my mind, that was NOT the issue for Mr. Boo. About half of the audience began to applaud after that comment, something else that I thought was telling.
I believe that any artist (painter, sculptor, writer, choreographer, actor, etc.) who offers something for public presentation should expect that there may be negative criticism of the work. That is part of the deal, isn't it? If artists assume that only roses and champagne will follow each of their efforts, then the emperor really does wear no clothes.
Anyone else want to share their experience at last night's performance? We're all very interested in hearing different opinions regarding the events that unfolded at the end of the night.
Blind Date, the Bill T. Jones and Arnie Zane Dance Company performance that boldly questions the meaning of patriotism in today's society:
Have you seen Blind Date? ACK!!!! If you missed last night's performance, you missed a telling shouting match/audience reaction that pitted artist against viewer. I thought that what transpired served as a telling summation of how things are going in our country right now.
The shouting was interesting. As the (tepid, on the part of many people) applause was dying down, we heard a rather loud BOO from the balcony. I believe that it was Mr. Jones himself who rushed back onto the stage and demanded "Who is that booing? Who booed?" as he paced across the stage. The man identified himself (I think with the "aid" of someone else in the audience) and the shouting began.
"Come down here and tell me what you did not like!"
"I am not coming down there!"
And so it went for some time. Some audience members thought that it might have been part of the performance, but I feel fairly certain that it was not. After a while Mr. Boo finally said that what he did not like (here I paraphrase for the most part) was having to watch pretentious, repetitive, "third rate" shows that pretend to address serious issues.
ANYWAY, Mr. Jones finished by saying "I'll stay out of your politics if you stay out of my art!" It was telling that he focused on the political issue since, to my mind, that was NOT the issue for Mr. Boo. About half of the audience began to applaud after that comment, something else that I thought was telling.
I believe that any artist (painter, sculptor, writer, choreographer, actor, etc.) who offers something for public presentation should expect that there may be negative criticism of the work. That is part of the deal, isn't it? If artists assume that only roses and champagne will follow each of their efforts, then the emperor really does wear no clothes.
Anyone else want to share their experience at last night's performance? We're all very interested in hearing different opinions regarding the events that unfolded at the end of the night.
posted by Ida One at 10:04 AM
3 Comments:
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The cowardly audience member in question began his booing after a long curtain call, just at the end--obviously waiting so he could get his "boo" in and then dart out of the theater. He's a coward, and deserves no respect for his actions--if he genuinely wanted to make his feelings known he would have done it at the top of the curtain call, instead of skulking and trying to undercut the show.
Anyone else want to share their experience at last night's performance? We're all very interested in hearing different opinions on the events that unfolded at the end of the night.
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