Thanks to a family friend, Sydney & I were able to see the American Ballet Theater at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center. They were doing a program of Frederick Ashton and Sydney I enjoyed the program immensely. In particular, the last piece called Dreams was just fantastic. A ballet version of Midsummers Night Dream, it was funny, athletic and an excellent telling of the story. Well worth seeing if you have the chance.
One of the nice things about seeing a show at Lincoln Center is that people still get dresses up. Not everyone, but more people then not seem to be gussied up. Sydney picked out a sparkly dress and I had on a blue blazer. Don't get me wrong, I love being in shorts in the summer, but there's something fun about getting dressed for a great performance.
One of our personal rituals is the large Hershey's candy bar that we get to bring with us. Today it was dark chocolate and it's just enough of pick-me-up if Sydney starts to get a little sleepy.
Listening to the musicians as they warm up and going down to the orchestra pit to watch them. There's nothing like the sound of a live orchestra to make the ballet come to life, is there?
That moment when the conducter steps up, takes that 1st bow and taps the orchestra to attention.
Plus, I love the overture. It sets the mood and gets the audience ready for the show. I think in our rush to make everything faster, we've lost something valuable in the overture. How can you create an overture in business? I'm going to have to mull that one over.
I love the fact that the principal dancers can break character to accept applause from the audience. And there's such a clear way it gets done. The female dancer always takes her bow first and remains the center of attention, even when the male dancer is taking his bow.
Then there's the way the roses get brought out to the female principal and she takes one rose from her bunch to give to her partner.
Sadly, one ritual that was still there was the dash to the doors at the end. We're in NYC, why do you need to rush out?
But I also thought all about the rituals of going to see a show at a place like the Met. The rituals of the place, the rituals of the ballet and the rituals we bring as well.
Sometimes I think we're in too much of a rush to throw out all of our rituals and we're not doing anything to replace them with new rituals. I know that not all rituals have value and meaning, but some do. I love our candy bar ritual and I also love watching the ritual of the ballet. Of course, it helps when it's an excellent night of dance, like it was tonight.
Are there rituals that would help your business create a deeper connection with your audience? Take a few moments to think about it and explore the rituals that you enjoy.