Lead Clapper

I went to Rinako's daughter's ballet performace today. It was a pretty big affair. The school is pretty large and has all levels of talent. They actually performed on the main stage at the Act Tower stage. This theatre seats over 1000. It wasn't packed, but it was pretty full. I'm pretty sure the male dancers were professionals or semi-pros hired for this gig. And the dance instructors all performed. They had really great costumes and it was a respectable performance. Unfortunately they did a lot of stuff from the Nutcracker which I abhor. And the girl who played Clara was more wooden than the nutcracker she danced with. But they also did pieces from Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty. My favorite parts though were with the littlest kids. Yeah, they are cute, but they were also enjoying themselves. Everybody else on that stage looked like they were performing with a gun to their head. And the audience was very unschooled. They never knew when to clap, and it was getting pretty awkward. So I took it upon myself to be the Head Clapper and start the clapping at the appropriate places. Unfortunately the director had practiced all the performers to take three bows, and this audience didn't have the energy for that length of applause. And well, it wasn't THAT good. Rinako asked me what I thought. I said it was interesting. She saw right through that dodge.