know it when we see it

     Last week I was surprised to read some of the hostile Comments about the Super Bowl half-time show, featuring Shakira and Jennifer Lopez.

     Reading and analyzing some people's responses prompted deep complex ponderings, such as -- "Yikes."


     A few theories suggest themselves.  When people get organized to watch the Super Bowl, they are primed for a certain kind of entertainment experience, and -- singing and dancing is not it.  Football is Competition.  And when you insert music or any kind of art in the middle of that, you're kind of asking the audience to shift gears in a major way -- when you think about it.

     When I recall the musical exhibitions I've attended -- rock concerts outdoors and in; nightclub performances in venues big and small -- none of them offered football as an entertainment during a "break" in the middle of the show.
      And if they had, it would have seemed kind of jarring.  Sort of off-base.  Like -- not what you came to see.


     Another aspect I've been contemplating is something I have noticed at different times over the years of my life -- there are some people who are made uncomfortable if they see a dance performance.  They don't know if they like it, or how to relate to it.  I've heard the comment -- in various versions, from a couple of people -- "I liked the singing, but -- all that dancing around, I don't know..."

______________________________
     In schools they used to sometimes have a class called "Art Appreciation."  I took it, my freshman year in college.  It's the idea that people need some knowledge and perspective to understand how to appreciate art.  How to approach it, and understand or evaluate it.

     I wonder if some people in different age groups just never took Art Appreciation, or never had the chance to take it, or took Art Appreciation but it didn't have anything about dance, it was strictly  paintings and architecture.


     And there are probably many people who could see a dance performance, even if they had never taken an Art Appreciation course, and automatically, naturally say, "Aahh!  That's beautiful!"
     While someone else might see the same dance and go, "Oh my gosh!  What was that?!"  (Outrage.)

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