In my travels (in real space and cyber space), I have noticed the cyncial, jaded attitude most of us technically inclined personnel have towards performances (and really everything else, too).<P>How do you think we all get that way? Is it because we see so much that all of our illusions are shattered?<P>Not to say I don't enjoy it. I have had some of the most amusing dinner conversations with other crew members while we rip apart the production we are working on.<P>Has anyone else noticed this?

Well, in some ways I think it is hard to be in awe of something or someone when you have seen it naked, shall we say.<P>Afterall, you know how everything works, you've seen it warts and all, and though you love a good show, it's the bad ones that work well in the bar.<P>As well, I sometimes have trouble making some artists realize that though they spend a month or more learning and perfecting their parts, I sometimes get two rehearsals to actually rehearse all that I do, yet perfection is expected all the time by others and by myself. And, given the same situation, it's not surprising there aren't more stories of huge problems!

I have to say that I am shocked by this revelation LMCtech. You would do well to heed the ever-positive approach of Salzburg, particularly when it comes to musicals.

Is it because some technicians dont have patience w/those who arent technically inclined?Unrealistic demands of performers/ADs?Snobbery from or toward technicians?

Good points and questions, Angela.<P>As to Salzburg, I've always found him to be, uhm, very, uhm, charitable, about musicals

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><I>I have to say that I am shocked by this revelation LMCtech. You would do well to heed the ever-positive approach of Salzburg,<HR></BLOCKQUOTE></I><P>Stick it in yer ear.<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><I>particularly when it comes to musicals.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE></I><P>Musically.

It's not that I don't have patience with those who aren't technically inclined. It's that I have no patience with people with flat learning curves. If I have to tell you something more than twice (like "hang up your clothes"), I lose a lot of respect for you as a person, though not necessarily as a performer.<P>But I digress. When I see shows as an audience member, I can usually tell you exactly what is wrong with it and how to fix it. I usually don't, because I have more tact than that. I always thought it was because I had seen too much. <P>I do ususally enjoy every show I see. I can always find something to like.

Yes I would agree with the above. I had an ex-boyfriend who was a lighting designer. And he could most definetly be called "jaded", to put it charitably. I compare this attitude to having "peeked behind the curtain" and seen that the Wizard of Oz is indeed a funky guy pulling levers, not some demi-god. IN other words, the illusion of theatre is gone, and it has become a job, a problem to be solved, a puzzle to be parsed. In a way, I see myself with the same attitude towards dance in a way. After viewing hundreds, if not thousands of performances, and performing in same, it takes a whole lot more to "wow" me than it did, say 20 years ago. But this is simple human nature. Of course, I still have moments of wonder and awe; they're still there.

So when do you get those "wow" moments?<P>The last time I had one was when I saw Cirque du Soliel in Vegas 5 years ago.<BR>Actually that's not true. I went to see Samson et Delila at the SF opera a couple of weeks ago and that was a "wow" production. However the mystery of the temple collapsing was not much of a mystery. I still liked it. I may have even said "cool" out loud.

I can't say that I feel jaded when I view a performance, even though I might know how it was put together. And seen it numerous times before.<P>But the most recent 'wow' moment I had was this past summer when the Paris Opera Ballet came here and did the full length "La Bayadere". There was those wonderful few moments, seemingly suspended in time, when the corps de ballet has finished its entry in the Kingdom of the Shades scene, and at one point they all stand in sculptured arabesque.<P>Everthing was perfect, the lighting, the costumes, the dancers, the music. It was so still, not a leg quivered, not a foot rolled. I was looking at 400 years of theater/dance history - with artists who had spent their lifetimes for that moment.

Sometimes I fell like a jaded old curmudgeon who doesn't like anything. Especially when I know everyone else I'm with likes whatever we are seeing. There are times when I catch myself saying in my head "That old theme again? Haven't I seen this 20 times before?"<P>Other times I find the wide-eyed child again. But that has been happening less and less.

Wow moments and "why" they're wow moments......hmmm let's see. Watching Carlos Acosta (on video, live must be a real "wow"): for his sincerity, integrity and let's face it, sheer animal magnetism and charisma as a performer. Watching Elizabeth Streb's company, for their physical daring, fearlessness and velocity. Cirque de Soleil, for their imagination, melding of theatrical elements, and surreal aesthetic. Stanko Milov (PNB principal): ditto of Carlos Acosta. Well folks, that's all I can think of on this sunny day in Seattle. Gotta run and teach.

But isnt it thrilling to see something that you helped put together come out beautifully and magically?to see an audience thrilled with it? Maybe I'm still young and naive.......

I'm certainly not a pro., but I have probably seen around 200 dance performances in the past two years and reviewed a fair number of those here and for Dance Europe magazine. I've had 4 'Wow' moments in the past month - Vincent Mansoe from South Africa, Mark Morris in London, Ballett Frankfurt and Mark Morris again in Milton Keynes. <P>A number of the dancers and choreographers I know also seem to get a buzz out of quite a lot of what they see. I'm sorry to hear that the 'Wow' factor is so rare for you LMCtech. <P>I don't thnk a knowledge of the technical side should preclude this. In 'Singing in The Rain' early on they show you how a wind machine is used to gain a romantic effect and later on they use this in one of the dance numbers and it's still magical.

I actually have had more "wow" moments in the last few months than I had it the two years before them. I had to go back and really think about it and realized that.<P>Angela, what you said about seeing something you worked on come together is true. But sometimes I feel like we've pulled one over the audience, that it really isn't as good as the audience thinks it is. <P>Of course it may ne the quality of performances I've been to see lately. I saw Mark Morris and SFOpera last month. Both wow moments. I saw a local modern dance company the month before...nothing. So am I jaded or just have really high standards that are not met by companies that are not at the very top of their fields. I wonder...