A Few Light-Hearted Words About The Standing Ovation

Posted @ Mar. 18 2011 10:11AM by Dianah - food-entertainment

     Generally, the Standing Ovation is a way the audience has of honoring an outstanding performance, something extremely well-done, exceptional, an acknowledgement of high achievement and attainment beyond the commonplace.....something inexorably special....a truly moving tribute.....a special demonstration of your appreciation for high accomplishments!! You get the message!! (I once knew a lady who used the Standing Ovation with such frequency that I often said she would give a Standing Ovation to a treble clef!)

A few observations about the misapplication of this means of congratulation.... gentle words of clarity to my fellow performance attendees when next you feel compelled to leap to your feet.

The Standing Ovation is not to be used as:
• something you do when you suddenly awaken at the end of the last note or last word, and jump from your seat, startled at the length and depth of your nap!
• your head-start to the restrooms before the madding crowd blocks your path
• your exit gambit to make a speedy trip to your car and beat a hasty retreat
• a means of awakening your benumbed left (or right) foot before you actually have to use it, or any other body part that has become numb or otherwise dysfunctional in the hour since you last moved.

The Standing Ovation:
• is not the starting block; i.e. springing to your feet in a nanosecond is not a competitive blood sport
• does not announce group oblivion, that halcyon moment when cell phones long silent can now be brought to life, programs, purses, and cough drops now liberated to fly about the audience
• does not signal the act of relief that you can now go assuage your growling stomach and those hunger pains you are suffering since you last ate a scant 2 hours ago
• is likewise not the signal that the drinking lamp has been lit.
• is also not an appropriate demonstration of relief that a perhaps overlong or uninspiring performance is mercifully at an end. (We all know what that alternative is.)

And Lastly:
• remember that the Standing Ovation is ultimately far more meaningful to its recipients when used sparingly............alas an instance of etiquette when less is indeed more!

diana harrington