standing ovations

A few weeks ago, the Mondavi Center closed out the season with a rousing tenor saxophone performance by Sonny Rollins, capping a season replete with cultural highlights and moving classical pieces side-by-side. Sonny Rollins was definitely one of the best performances I’ve seen this year; however, throughout the season, I’ve seen performances that were filled with inspiration and move the human emotion in multiple ways, and I’ve seen performances that were not quite at that level. In both cases, the audience would stand and clap, leading me to the assumption that the standing ovation is overused. Standing ovations used to be a way of expressing approval after an extraordinary performance of a particularly high acclaim. Now we’re just doling it out like candy.

In a triumph of the middling, it seems like we’ve devalued the standing ovation, where after any performance, regardless of how moving it is or isn’t, is rewarded with a standing ovation, as a matter of course. Is this really the way to go? How will we differentiate between the mediocre and the truly great performances? I wonder how many people stand up just because want to impress their date. How many people stood because they noticed their boss standing? Are they simply standing because the guy in front of them stood up and now they can’t see the stage? In the same respect, why pretend that we’re moved by something when we’re really aren’t? Why do people act like they really enjoyed the performance when deep down inside, they’d rather be at home plucking their nosehairs or something?