Hello all you Boomer gals! I thought I'd share with you my daughter's first experience as a spectator of Avant-Garde Performance Art...

A Saturday night...Young mother out with friends for what she believes will be a culturally stimulating evening...Dinner at a posh restaurant runs a bit long, and these young women arrive late to the out-of-the-way theater, wherein they believe they are to view a presentation by an important, independent, Underground Filmmaker, presented during the Atlanta Underground Film Festival. The lobby is empty, and they rush to purchase their tickets, and hurry in to take their seats.

Immediately the lights dim, and up goes the curtain. My daughter and her friends are greeted by the sight of a line of chairs ranged along the length of the stage, and upon these chairs are seated nude men and women, none of whom are under the age of sixty. Buck-naked Baby Boomers! No film that night! It was to be an evening of uplifting Performance Art. Seems the young women had made a mistake as to the date for the film presentation.

On the stage, a woman, wearing nothing but a pair of bright red stiletto heels, rises from her seat, and moves to the front of the stage, and begins to recite poetry, as her onstage companions rise and begin arranging themselves in various poses. Each line of her poem is punctuated by a few notes from saxophones, played by two nude men, who first contort their naked bodies into some odd posture.

My daughter sits in utter disbelief, as the performance continues...She darts a look at one of her friends, seated next to her, who is staring in wide-eyed disbelief at the stage...My daughter can not move...though she knows it's ridiculous, she does not wish to appear to be so unsophisticated as to exhibit any shock at what she is viewing, by hastily exiting the theater...It then begins...the almost uncontrollable desire to burst out laughing...She clamps her mouth shut, tight...but she feels the guffaw coming...she is beginning to perspire, and tears begin streaming down her face. She endeavors to pay attention to the poetry, to concentrate on the speaker's face, but it's like some awful event that you don't really want to look upon, but you just can't look away! Her shoulders begin shaking, with the effort to stifle laughter, as the performers arrange and re-arrange themselves onstage...Her friend leans close, and manages to whisper Sh! Sh!, though she too is barely in control.

One of the women on stage lies on her back on the floor, and lifts her legs up, and a man sits on her feet, and the woman raises the man into the air, as other performers adopt equally liberating poses, and contortions, and my daughter holds her breath and her laughter inside, bringing on unbearable ribcage pain...then, as the recitation ends, another woman addresses the audience, telling them that at this time, anyone who so desires may disrobe, and join the performers...My daughter bolts immediately from her seat, stating to her friends as she does so, 'Okay! We're outta here!'

Ladies, as my daughter stated to me, 'Mom, I guess I'm just not the cultivated, sophisticated type! I'm sure there was deep meaning in the performance. But I just couldn't get past the manner of presentation!'

www.intouchwithjeannine.com

Hi, Jeannine: What a spectacle it must have been! And how admirable of your daughter to have stifled a guffaw! What a strange, strange show. Funny!

Hi Lola. My daughter had me in stitches, as she told the story! To be honest, I don't know if my own reaction might not have been the same! I did tell my girl that her reaction was in part due to the fact she had no idea what she was about to witness. She replied that had she known what was showing, she wouldn't have been there at all. And she made sure to state that she wouldn't have felt any differently, had the performers been younger adults.

www.intouchwithjeannine.com

Another opportunity to use that old saying about someone beign completely surprised, and not knowing whether to s--t or go blind...too funny.

Too funny! As a Fine Arts major back in college with arty friends, I went to many experimental things, most of which were pretentious and boring after you got past any initial shock value. I suppose there was a point to this latest performance -- that older bodies are just as artistic as younger ones -- which is 10x more valid than some of the zzzzz stuff I used to attend.

Tell your daughter that the Important Underground Film presentation might not have been any better.

This is hysterical, and I have to say that I would have probably reacted as your daughter did...except I would have disrobed and joined the performers...of course!

How old is your daughter?

Dotsie my daughter is 32, intelligent, fairly worldly-wise, and by no means a prude, but this particular live performance just struck her as hilarious. I asked her if she remembered any of the poetry she had heard that night. She said no, not a word. But, the visuals of the performance, emblazoned on her memory, would probably stay with her the rest of her life.

www.intouchwithjeannine.com