100 performances

Apr 12, 2012

The E in TED and TEDMED stands for entertainment, and so the TEDMED 2012 program has included a number of artistic performances: dance, music, poetry and singing — including the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, which filled the inside steps of the Library of Congress and filled the hall with their joyful harmonies.

Spoken word artists Sekou Andrews and Steve Connell slammed us with a great poem:

The Montreal-based dance troupe Traces thrilled us with their acrobatics:

MOMIX mesmerized us, Jonathan Mann wrote a song, and the Washington Performing Arts Society’s Children of the Gospel Choir lifted us with their youthful, passionate voices.

Then, I was standing in the very back of the Kennedy Center’s Opera House, and Robert Vijay Gupta came onto the stage, violin in hand:

Somewhere in that beautiful moment, I was struck by how enjoyable life is with performers to entertain us, and how I want to experience more performances. Better yet, experience those performances with my children alongside. And why not make that a project? Why not set off to experience 100 performances with my children?

If I were to look back through the archives of my blog, I bet I’ve already taken in dozens of performances through the years, whether free concerts at the Carolina Inn or Durham’s American Tobacco complex and other venues around the Triangle. So, I’m thinking I’m about to set out to record the next hundred, and to ask Anna and Malia (and eventually, Oliver) to contribute to this 100 Performances project.

My good friend (and best man at my wedding), Joe Cimperman, used to tell me about how his mom would take him to the Cleveland Orchestra at Severance Hall. His memories of those experiences are the types of memories I want to cultivate in my own children. And I want us all to revel in the arts, whether on the TEDMED stage or the porch down the street from us.

Anton Zuiker ☄