Today my children and I joined our homeschool group to watch two amazing live shows. They were part of an international event in Seattle titled The Giant Magnet.
The first show was a juggler from Québec Canada: Jamie Adkins in Circus Incognitus. Fabulous! The second was the world-renowned group Black Violin. Amazing!
These shows were nothing short of spectacular. We all left the shows raving about what we had just seen, wishing we could have stayed for more. They were two completely different shows yet both filled us with feelings of delight and enjoyment.
As we left, I wondered what made these show so exceptional. Why did I and the group I was with proclaim these shows as “amazing” rather than “pretty good” or “not bad”?
Was it because the performers were so highly skilled in their talents? Yes, that was definitely one reason. They clearly had worked hard to master their skills and performed their tasks with precision! But I’ve seen my share of performances where the skill was definitely there but I was left feeling less than satisfied.
Was it because of the whole setting of the show: the lighting, the stage, the props, the marketing and presentation? Yes, that also had much to do with it. Our expectations had been set from the layout of the poster, the description of the show, the way the stage looked. We entered the auditorium expecting to be wowed to the Nth degree.
But what made these performances exceptional was above and beyond the technique and the skill in marketing and stage layout. What made these shows resonate with us was the COMMUNICATION which took place between us and the performers. We were meeting at a point of shared understandings.
These performers spoke to us. They communicated with us. They engaged us in a two way discussion – back and forth, back and forth. They enveloped us into a dialog in which we were willing and active participants.
Language is more than just words. It is meaning encapsulated in sounds, gestures, eye-contact, intonation, movement, facial expressions, energy.
Here are two Merriam Webster definitions of language:
A systematic means of communicating ideas or feelings by the use of conventionalized signs, sounds, gestures, or marks having understood meanings.
The suggestion by objects, actions, or conditions of associated ideas or feelings.
Speech is but one part of what we mean when we say “language.” Communication is taking place whether we are speaking or holding a hand. We us expressions such as “the language of love” or as Shakespere said, “language in their very gesture.” Language takes place when nothing but silent eye-contact is made or when we cheer out loud.
