Meaning of 'World'

The concert began with traditional dances from countries outside of the United States.  Before I saw any dancing, I glanced at the first few dances in the program.  They backed up the belief I’d had from the time before I’d purchased my ticket.  The production was defined in my schema: World of Dance would be an exhibition of the world’s dances.

Barefootin’ put a dent in my preconceived notions.  While I sat there, loving what I was seeing, I became passively confused.  I say passive, because I was so attentive to the performance that the quiet thoughts in my head were not important.  I was being entertained.  Yet, in the back of my mind, I remembered my thoughts before I’d even arrived at the Harris Fine Arts Center.  I had been expecting Dances of the World. 

With each new, engaging performance, I was being changed.  The pieces slowly altered my reality.  I had made an assumption about the thesis of the concert, and it was wrong.  Somewhere along the way, my mind released the definition of ‘world’ that meant ‘international’. The more suitable definition arrived, shaking its head at me with a dainty aura of knowing better, and slid neatly into its place. 

‘World’ meant ‘microcosm’.

I saw the world within the world.  I saw the individualisms that populated that world.  I saw the structures that made it its own.  I saw traditions and creations. I saw precision and adaptability. I saw stories and satires. It was a meeting place, an atmosphere. 

It educated me. Once I had the proper definition of ‘world,’ I was given the meaning of ‘dance’ as it defined by those whose world is Dance.

The concert was great for that reason.  The efforts and emotions of the many performers culminated in a truly spectacular performance.  The work was great because it housed a new world, and it did so with confidence and passion.

Bravo.