Halleluia! Someone finally said exactly what I have been thinking for years. I think we even had a thread about it here. Show your appreciation people: APPLAUD.

I'm so sorry I missed that.

Maybe you people shouldn't be so judgmental...Did it ever occur to you that obligations other than "getting to their cars" might be the motivation that necessitates their leaving? I find interesting your imputing motive in so cavalier a fashion. Do any of you have to care for an elderly parent? Do any of you have a baby sitter at home to whom you've made a time commitment? Just a thought. Not everyone has the freedom to express their "appreciation" in the same manner that you seem to think is the "correct" one...Some of us show our "appreciation" by a note of thanks...or a bouquet of flowers...is that o.k. with you?

People make excuses, but we're not talking about hours here - just a few more minutes to express your appreciation (or non-appreciation, depending upon the performance). I can understand the once in a while need to really run for a train or bus (with few late trains, it's a big problem here), but normally the length of the programs are usually clearly stated on a company's website so you can anticipate when you will be back home. And if you really must leave early, you can often find an extra unused seat along the aisle to sit in for the last act so you can make a speedy retreat. This is a common tactic in NYC.

Remember that those are real, live human beings on stage and the appreciate your appreciation. Dancers DO notice 'dead' audiences.

Kate

Thank you, Kate. Well said.

And I'm afraid it needs to be said, too: even in NYC as recently as this month people were leaving early, climbing over and blocking the view of those who were expresssing their appreciation to the dancers. It's especially painful in an art form in which dancers are trained in manners as well as technique, and offer a "reverance" to their teacher at the end of every class. It's actually moving to see how dancers respond to applause. Do any performance artists do it more gracefully? (It's one of Diana Vishneva's most charming gifts, the extraordinarily generous way she acknowledges an audience at the end of a performance. But all dancers do it beautifully in their own way.)

Art is about the interaction. Without that, it dies.

I think that whole episode is pretty epic, both the crotchety old guy and the Craigs List poster. More power to both of them!

Of course there may be a few people with business so urgent they can't wait 5 minutes to leave the Opera House. And it is possible the person getting a cell phone call is a doctor whose patient has a sudden emergency that can't wait. It is possible that the person arriving late to Stern Grove and parading up and down the front aisle blocking everyone's view is a firefighter who is late because he/she got called to a fire and just finished putting it out prior to arrival.

But I'd be willing to bet that 90% plus it is just someone rude.

Having once been an EMT, I can say that if you are on call, you do not go to a performance if you would have to leave early and it would cause a disturbance. There are few doctors these days who go out when they are 'on call', and outside of residents/interns, most doctors are not on call that many nights per week and from experience I know that they tend to make their situation known and sit in the back so they can leave quietly if needed. I don't think they are the problem here. It is illegal to use mobiles in NY theatres (though often flouted during intermissions), so doctors on call must work out some other system - like the old, letting the usher know, which was the way it worked for so many years.

As to coming is late - there is NO excuse - if you are late, you wait outside until the next appropriate break. Theatres should NOT permit patrons to enter the theatre once a performance has been started, except at designated intervals or intermissions. I've had that happen as a critic, so no excuses for anyone else. Most theatres are very strict about this and many have TV screens set up so you can watch the performance before you are allowed to enter the theatre. I had a horrible experience at a NYC theatre where inexperienced ushers created a major disturbance and blocked my view for a long time trying to seat late patrons, complicated by the fact that the ushers had allowed people without tickets to sit in seats that were free at curtain, but actually belonged to the late-comers. During the interval I made it quite clear to the manager that this was completely unacceptable and that it was going to be very hard to review a performance I was unable to see!

I applaud that fireman or that doctor for their work, but sometimes you have to draw the line. The fireman can wait until a pause or an intermission - Stern Grove I believe is outside, so he/she could have waited in the back and still seen the performance. The doctor could have either made the choice not to attend the theatre when he/she was on call or made his situation known to the theatre and gotten a seat up and back where an exit would have been less of a disruption.

Kate

I'd bet it too.

I like the idea of finding an unused seat near the exit. I will remember this the next time, should this ever happen again (which I hope it doesn't).
Great piece of advice, thanks...Should have thought of that myself

We've had this debote before on another thread. And what I said then I will say again. The dancers/ performers can see you leave. It upsets them. They talk about it afterwards. They have just given you a big part of themselves and they feel you don't have the decency to stay for even a few minutes and applaud which is their reward. In the grand scheme of a life, do 5 minutes of applause really make that much difference to the audience member, when it makes such a HUGE difference to the emotional health of a dancer?

I've known a few dancers over the years and agree with LMCTech. Not to get too dramatic, but most dancers seem to be in fear of "the injury." Although they have their nagging aches and pains, they know someday they might do something that will end their career. And it is sometimes stupid stuff: a partner knocking you off your leg and breaking an ankle. Slipping on a pile of Nutcracker 'snow' and twisting a knee. Going for it in a 5:00pm rehearsal and pushing through the 8pm show with nothing left - only to tear up a hip. In the matter of a few weeks, SFB lost Joan Boada, Nutaree and Tina LeBlanc to injury.

These dancers literally put their bodies and careers on the line for us every night. Can't we audience members at least have the decency to sit for 5 minutes and show our appreciation?

Well stated, Saratoga. Thanks.