Do you understand operas and the like?

[ilovetochat87]

I was watching dancing with the stars tonight and when they were dancing they were telling a story on this particular episode that had to do with their life. the judges were telling the girl that went second how awesome her story was and how inspiring and all that jazz and I didn't understand her story I didn't understand what the story was telling us about I didn't understand the bed and then picking her up and I didn't understand the sadness I know it had to do with her parents I think that's about it. the same thing with operas and similar type performances where you have to watch the characters and you read the story through their dancing . I don't understand dancing stories or whatever you call them I don't understand that story that's been told and it's hard for me and kind of boring although it's beautiful and I love to watch people dance because dancing is so beautiful but beyond that I'm not picking up what the story is. Is that because I'm not able to read nonverbal communication very well? Is that because I can't read body language very well? And can anybody else relate to this? Does anybody else have trouble with this ?

 

[Katleya]

I don't understand it (unless I'm reading the story along, understand the lyrics, etc.), but I think it has a lot to do with the fact that every creation is very personal, and that's the way of one person, and possibly only that person, to convey a message in a non-verbal manner.
It doesn't mean I won't feel some emotions, though, it's just that I won't be able to give a "translation" of the movement or melody into text.
Right now, I'm thinking of Swan Lake. I saw a classical version on TV as a teen, and it was, as you'd expect, very academic. I was more interested in the technique than emotions. A few months later, I saw a contemporary version of the same ballet. Same music, which I liked, but a completely different use of movement to express whatever it was that they wanted to express through bending in half and frenetically shaking their upper bodies in half, back and forth, up an down. Oh, I sure felt some emotions, but I'm pretty sure laughter and confusion were the intended ones. It's been 20 years and I still occasionally chuckle about it (and then try to imitate art, and then stop before I get a commotion or knock myself out). Anybody saying this kind of shaking is a universal language to express the feelings of swans or whatever is making crude generalizations. I also wouldn't be surprised if, among those people who talk about the story they watched and supposedly understood, some were not telling the entire truth.

 

[FreeDiver]

Is that because I can't read body language very well? And can anybody else relate to this? Does anybody else have trouble with this ?

I deal with the same situation. I absolutely love choreography and understand it very well. But you're right about the story thing. I can't pick up on it at all and I wonder if it has to do with not being able to read body language.

 

[Ambi]

I can understand opera, but not dance that is supposed to convey stories or emotions.

 

[AspieWatchmaker]

I am quite enamoured with Die Fledermaus at the moment, but I have a rudimentary understanding of German, and I would listen to it just for the music. I also like English opera a lot. Never been able to appriciate Italian, since I don't understand a word. If you can get a DVD they often have subtitles, and the opera in my area does supertitles during the live performance. I recommend doing one of those things if you want to get into it.

I don't read the dancers or anything like that.

 

[Streetwise]

I was watching dancing with the stars tonight and when they were dancing they were telling a story on this particular episode that had to do with their life. the judges were telling the girl that went second how awesome her story was and how inspiring and all that jazz and I didn't understand her story I didn't understand what the story was telling us about I didn't understand the bed and then picking her up and I didn't understand the sadness I know it had to do with her parents I think that's about it. the same thing with operas and similar type performances where you have to watch the characters and you read the story through their dancing . I don't understand dancing stories or whatever you call them I don't understand that story that's been told and it's hard for me and kind of boring although it's beautiful and I love to watch people dance because dancing is so beautiful but beyond that I'm not picking up what the story is. Is that because I'm not able to read nonverbal communication very well? Is that because I can't read body language very well? And can anybody else relate to this? Does anybody else have trouble with this ?

You've hit the nail on the head I think I try to avoid things so I forget the word autism but that is what I am partly I have to accept it

 

[SusanLR]

I never found opera able to hold my interest.
The physical movements and artistic ablilities needed
I really admire and the settings plus costumes very interesting and pretty.
But, the story and the singing, no.

I don't care much for the Broadway type musicals either.
The only two I enjoyed was Cats and Phantom of the Opera movie version.

 

[OlLiE]

i guess emotion can influence creativity

people make sad songs about loss,
i guess here that the sadness inspired movements rather than thoughts

i understand the process, not the expression

when i comes to classical art, i appreciate the talent, disciplined skill and creativity required,
the story generally is quite light when it comes to ballet and opera

but i prefer this to modern art, where often to me all that seems to be required is creativity

 

[dragoncat16]

Operas and ballets are very different in the way they convey the story. However, at both types of performances, members of the audience have access to notes about the plot and what each scene is named, etc. If the whole story were meant to be conveyed purely through the music and dance, and everyone is supposed to pick up on what exactly is happening, the notes would not be needed.

I don't think it has much to do with nonverbal communication or reading body language, because those are much more subtle in ordinary situations, and that is where we tend to have trouble. Once you know what is supposed to be going on in the plot, I suppose it is easier, then, to figure out what the gestures mean. However, if you just go for the beauty of the movements and don't care about the plot, that is perfectly fine too. I'm sure there are many people who appreciate that part of the performance and don't care about the story.

Personally, I mostly enjoy the music, and the libretto (opera lyrics) or dancing is of secondary importance to me, but I still usually read the notes so I know what is going on in the plot. Everyone appreciates art differently. It is more about one's own perception and emotional response than the message the artist(s) intended to convey.

 

[xudo]

I've never had an interest in opera, and I'm not usually able to follow a story through the medium of dance.

 

[ilovetochat87]

Yeah sometimes not very often but there are sometimes when I watch like interpretive dance or operas or ballets and I can figure out what's going on in the story in situations where you don't have footnotes to tell you what each thing is you gonna have to guess for yourself like on dancing with the stars when they had interpretive dance or whatever with the song in the background and you just had to watch the beautiful dance and you know the story being told based on their movements it was a woman I assume it was her parents because it kinda made me think of her parents when she went to hug them in the audience I kind of thought maybe it was supposed to be portraying her parents and there was a scene where she sat on the bed her parents sat on either side of her and then she looked sad and then there was a scene when they picked her up and she was kind of floating and kind of kicking in the air and then they put her down and danced around a little bit and at the end she looked sad and I wasn't really sure what the story was but everybody thought the dance was beautiful and thought that the story behind that was beautiful and I thought what was the story supposed to be they didn't tell you . Because I didn't have any way to know what the story was about so I had to just guess based on her movements and going with the music they chose so that was a little bit harder for me and I didn't understand it I'm not very good at that but once in a while I can pick up what the story is but not very often like Sia think that's how you say her name she has good music good singing and I love to listen to her music but I don't always understand what it's about . When I'm listening to the song and watching the girl dancing in all her videos I have to sometimes ask in the comments what the song was about so that I can figure out and then go back and watch it again the second time then knowing what the whole thing was about and then I think it makes more sense but in the beginning when I didn't know what it was about I wasn't picking up what the thing was about. Like why was the girl running around in it out of an apartment and why was she grabbing on the doors in the hallway walls and running past other people and in and out of different apartments and up and down the stairs and I didn't really understand it didn't make any sense to me and then someone explained it and then I was able to go back and watch it again and I was like oh that makes a lot more sense okay and that I appreciated it better . But I did think that the girl danced really well and the singing was amazing I just didn't know what the story was about until it was explained to me. so I'm not very good with going toskits like thatwhere you just kinda have tofigure out as you're watching it what's happening and you have to pay close attention so you don't miss anything so you can figure out what's happening.Like especially when it's in a different language and you don't know what the language is you can't really understand the lyrics as wellso that makes it even harder and then you have to just kind of gas based on the movements that person is conveyedand it makes it harder to watch because I don't pick up on that very wellbut that's okay it is what it isI justwanted to see how everybody else fits on that.