Dutch audiences and the devaluation of the standing ovation

I am really puzzled by a phenomenon I encounter in Dutch theatres increasingly often. Normally, when you appreciate the performance of an artist, you applaud. When you are really overwhelmed by the performance, you might even give the artist a standing ovation. Wikipedia's definition of a standing ovation is as follows: A standing ovation is a form of applause where members of a seated audience stand up while applauding. This action is done on special occasions by an audience to show their approval and is done after extraordinary performances of particularly high acclaim. Mind the words "special occasions" and "extraordinary performances of particularly high acclaim".

The problem is, that in theatres in the Netherlands, it has become common practice to stand up for every performance, the standing ovation has devaluated! The difficulty with this new tradition is twofold. First: what do you do when you liked the performance, but didn't think it was brilliant enough to stand up? All the other people around you automatically rise to their feet, because that has become the normal thing to do. When you stay seated, you might send the message that you think the performance was very bad, which you don't want to do. So the only option seems to be standing up as well, but that doesn't feel right either! Peer pressure in practice... Second, what do you do when you think the performance was outstanding? Standing up doesn't show this anymore, since this has become the normal way of applauding. So how can you show the artist that you are really very much impressed?

I wonder, is this a typically Dutch phenomenon? Am I the only one who is bothered by this? How did this happen? Can we stop this devaluation, or can we think of new innovative standing ovations?

Ana Moura: a fabulous concert

Tonight Eise and I went to a concert of Ana Moura, one of Portugal's youngest and apparently also one of the best Fado singers. I have never really been into Fado, and I had my reservations before going to the theatre tonight, but is was unbelievably beautiful. What a voice!

In my mind, Fado was a very sad kind of music, depressing almost. But I was wrong. Fado is the genre of Portugese songs of life, and of course life is not only sad. I should have known better! The songs I heard tonight were mostly happy (as far as I could interpret, without being bothered by any understanding of the Portugese language) and Ana Moura's voice is simply very, very beautiful. She sang both traditional and more modern Fado and without exception, all songs were lovely to listen to. Even for me, as I am bored pretty quickly. I have been listening with awe all night.

Especially impressive was the un-amplified song to show the audience what Fado in a traditional Portugese Fado House is like. I immediately wanted to go to Portugal! One other song worth mentioning was "No Expectations", originally a Rolling Stones song. Ana Moura has recorded this song with the Stones for the Rolling Stones Project, a project where singers from all over the world cover a Stones song in their own genre.