questions not to ask

Last night, we attended another dance performance in our summer series. I hit a bit of a wall. The piece was called "Partial View," and apparently it's about how you can never get the full picture of anything, regardless of your point of view. The first part was a solo improv-looking section done on just one side of the stage. The second part, which seemed totally unrelated to the first, featured four dancers, some video clips, and live video taken from different angles.

It went on for about forty-five minutes or an hour too long -- a little bit of it, shown with a few other pieces, would have been fine. It seemed boring, dull, repetitive. Unfortunately for the dancers, the performances were great, and I hope the performers have long successful careers. In other companies. Also, the videographer is apparently famous in New York, so his presence was supposed to be a Big Thing.

I was sitting watching this thing, yawning louder and louder (I was fairly tired) and feeling like a philistine for not appreciating it. But at the question and answer session, some of the questions revealed that others got it even less than I did -- questions such as "what kind of story were you thinking about?" (My answer: duh, there was no story. The actual answer: Even though there wasn't a narrative, there is a story, just presented visually instead of in words.) and "were the primary colors in the costumes intentional and part of some message?" (My answer: duh, they weren't even primary colors, good theory though. The actual answer: The colors were chosen to show up distinctly on video.). I was especially impressed that the choreographer was gracious in his answers. He kept saying that everyone has their own experience of the dance and that everyone's experience is valid. Very sweet.

Questions I would have liked to ask, but didn't for fear of hurting feelings or revealing my true, unappreciative nature:

• Did your costumer actually think she was contributing anything to the dance, and if so, what?
• Why is your videographer so famous? (It wasn't apparent from this experience.)
• Is it ok for your dancers to have more fun than your audience?
• What kind of reaction are you hoping for from your audience?
• What is the typical reaction of your audiences so far?
• If there isn't a story, what are you trying to say?
• What would you like to have done differently, and do you think you'll change the dance?
  

And then,

• How do you support yourselves?
• Is dancing a full time job? And if so, is it full time with one company?
• What will you do in a few years when you can't dance anymore, at least credibly?
• How many years does a typical "one-person's-name Dance Company" last? And then what?
  

In some ways, I don't mind seeing things that I don't particularly appreciate or like. The experience leads to interesting conversations, it stretches me a bit, and it helps me appreciate things I actually do like. But I don't think I'll be rushing out to see this guy's work again.