The octogenarian U.S. veterans who attended the D-Day memorial service on Sword Beach in Normandy, France today could not figure it all out … nor can I … particularly the slow-motion modern dancers' miming soldiers falling in combat. See the whole sorry show here: C-Span Video (it's a little long). Even our gum-chewing President seemed bemused.
Interpretative dance has always left me gelid. As a young
man, I saw the last ballet personally danced by a creaky old Martha Graham and I could hardly
believe what I was seeing. The artsy-fartsy audience was in awe and I was in
awful. And I got exactly this same feeling during this dreadful attempt at remembering
all the untold sacrifices of D-Day. To me, solemn occasions cannot be
prettified. (I think Abraham Lincoln felt the same way.)
Perhaps Japan might next remember Hiroshima
with a rock concert?
