ANST - Audience Disdain?
karl muller
apophysis at hotmail.com
Mon Feb 22 08:07:00 PST 1999
>Date: Fri, 19 Feb 1999 11:15:26 -0600
>From: Gunnora Hallakarva <gunnora at bga.com>
>To: ansteorra at Ansteorra.ORG
>Subject: ANST - Audience Disdain?
>Reply-To: ansteorra at Ansteorra.ORG
>
>NOT a captive audience, trapped and forced to listen.
i agree. the audience should not ne forced to listen when they don't
want to. but when an area is reserved for performances, and an
announcement is made that the performances are about to begin, those who
stay in the area should at least have the courtesy to be quite during
the performance. i saw one gentleman get anger and loud simply because,
as he put it, 'i was sitting in this chair first and i don't think i
should leave just because you want to do your stupid songs.'
>
>It is up to the performer to accurately judge the atmosphere -- there
are times when ANY performance is inappropriate. If the
>audience is in no mood to listen, the performer has no business
performing. Being sensitive to the mood of the audience is the
>biggest and most important skill any performer must learn.
if we are supposed to recreate all to good thing about the middle ages
like honor and chivalry, shouldn't we also be recreating things like
courtesy and good manners? if the performer is bad, we should sit there
politely, applaud when they're finished, then afterwards offer some kind
words of criticism and try to direct them in more positive direction. if
we turn our backs to them, they'll never know what's wrong or learn how
to do it better.
>
>Furthermore, if a performer's piece is boring, or just plain bad, well,
having backs turned on one is far from the worst that can
>happen.
no, the worst we can do is not try to help them. turning our backs and
not learning what's wrong doesn't help us help them.
>
>A GOOD performance will captivate the audience. You could have heard a
pin drop when Thomas of Tenby staged his dramatic presentation
>of "Maldon" a while back. If a performer isn't good enough to capture
the audience's attention and keep it, then that audience
>reaction is a clear message, too.
i've seen great bards try to perform before an unruly crowds, and seen
them die. not because they couldn't perform, not because their piece was
boring, not for any other reason other than the audience would not give
the performer the courtesy of listening.
>
> if the performance
>is not good enough to enforce silence on its own, then that's a more
accurate assessment of the performer's skill at guaging the
>audience, and their skill at performance, than any Laurel's judging
form could be.
i once went to a fighters event. there was nothing but fighting going
on. at feast, they had a belly dancer perform. she was attractive with a
nice shape and wore a skimpy outfit. and she danced fairly well. but as
the music started, the voice volume in the hall increased. and as the
music got louder, the voices got louder. i was sitting in the second row
of tables, and even though i could plainly see the dancer, i could only
hear about half the music. the next day i saw her again and told her i
had enjoyed her performance. (i use to date a girl who danced
traditional middle eastern dance so i know some of the finer points of
real belly dance even if i'm not an expert.) she refused to believe me
and said she wouldn't dance any more. i don't know if she carried though
with her statement, but i would hate to think we lost a dancer because
the audience didn't have to manners to watch quietly.
km
>
>::GUNNORA::
>
>
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