How To Show Appreciation (But It Doesn’t Seem Enough)

Jeanne Marie Laskas goes to the ballet and is wowed. “Do I sound wowed? No, I do not. In other arenas, when people are wowed, they shout: ‘Wow!’ Sometimes they stand up, whistle and make loud ‘Woo! Woo! Woo!’ sounds. But this is not appropriate behavior for a gloriously baroque performance hall. Instead, you are expected to sit here and watch a woman move her stunningly elastic body with a motion that is pure emotion, a bend and a twirl and a leap that has you close to tears, and you are supposed to wait. You are supposed to wait until she is done with this twirl or that twirl, and then, when an audience response is permitted, you may gently put your hands together with a respectful, though reticent, clap, clap, clap. This is bothering me. This is bothering me in a way I have never quite been bothered…”