The Onion Twins

Tonight I took a friend to see The Onion Twins. We get seats at all the events Quimper Sound sells tickets to, and this one looked the most interesting to me. A dance opera? It was fun. I missed some bits and the ending was flat, but we had a good time. Apparently the little scrolls that were handed out at the beginning by the performers held the key to the major plot points. We didn't get a scroll. I was glad I wasn't the only one going, "What happened?" at the end.

I don't go to many "cultural" events, mostly because I'm afraid I won't understand them. I enjoy live theatre (and understand it, usually) so I'm not sure why I don't indulge in that more often. Priorities, I guess. I went to one real opera, in Seattle, and liked it. But I felt like I was lacking the proper education to truly appreciate it. Mostly I liked the high drama of it all, and getting dressed up.

Music, now there is where I get really lost. Living with a music guy, who has lots of friends and relatives who are musically knowledgable, I often feel like a complete clod. Everything from the performers to the music to the language used to describe it is pretty much foreign to me. I'm sure there are things I talk about that seem that way to other people, but I feel more judgement about my ignorance of music, art and literature. I mean, who really cares if you don't know the difference between whisking, folding, and stirring? Or you don't know whether gender is a risk factor or a protective factor? (My lack of knowledge about music is so complete that I cannot even think of an appropriate analogy here -- see my point?)

So, can one be progressive, elegant, and intelligent without a good understanding of art, music and literature? Or am I truly a backwards, dimwitted clod?