Would this annoy you?

[byarbrough]

I saw Ingrid Fliter the other day, and during one of her pieces this huge fly landed on her shoulder (she was wearing a sleeveless dress) and would not fly away. It walked around for probably two minutes or so. If I were performing in front of an audience, I would need all the concentration I could get, and I feel like a fly on my shoulder would drive me nuts. She let it sit there, and at one point swung her shoulders out during a big chord, but I don't know if that was to get rid of it or her style of playing. She did a great job too, I was very impressed. Would it look unprofessional to slap at it during the middle of a performance?

[m19834]

ha ha !  That's kind of funny.  I think that ideally, the performer would not even notice the fly.  Also ideally, if something like that is noticed by the performer, I think it's best to maintain as little distraction as possible for the audience.  If that means that you get rid of the fly (which may come back) so as not to distract from the playing, okay, but if it means to deal with the distraction and keep playing without slapping, that's probably better.  Performers need to expect distractions and train themselves how to cope with them and ultimately not be distracted, or at least not have the distraction throw the performance off.

This last season I spent a bunch of time singing in all sorts of situations.  Bells going off in the middle of the performance, kids running through the stage to get to the bathroom in the middle of us singing, teachers interrupting the performance in order to dismiss their class and a couple of times I accidentally inhaled my wig in the middle of a big breath between phrases !  Argh !  There is almost always something "new" to distract the performer !  Distractions have to be expected, to some extent.

[m19834]

Okay, I have to confess that during "my" choir's last performance, I was pretty sure I had a tick crawling around on my arm under my long sleeves.  It did annoy me, but it actually scared me more than anything  ... I am not fond of those things.  I did weigh my options at that point.  I could either sacrifice myself and risk the tick biting me, potentially contracting lime disease and having to deal with digging a tick out of my body, or I could try to shake it out of my sleeve in between pieces.  Since I was hidden behind other people and was not in the front rows, I chose the latter, and I think I managed to get it out of my sleeve.  Since it wasn't coming out of my sleeve right away and we were on stage for quite a while, I was hoping I might just forget about it but I never did !  However, I noticed it actually made me sing better ... hee hee. 

I might not be able to handle a spider crawling on me either, and I am not sure what I would do in that case .... it may actually stop everything   .  I was practicing at the piano on stage one time, and I was in the middle of a pretty long piece, only to have a big brown spider scurry across the wooden floor right to my feet.  I was only practicing but I was pretty invested in the piece at that point (it was about 35 mins long and I was about 2/3 of the way through it), but I went ahead and stood up 

[rc]

I wish I could remember who, but I heard a story on the radio of a pianist who had a fly start crawling up his nose   I think he farmer-snotted it out, all caught on video

[m19834]

Oh my goooosh !  That whole thing just sounds awful !  I wouldn't want to watch that on video or in real life !

[general disarray]

Would it look unprofessional to slap at it during the middle of a performance?

Absolutely . . . unless the score indicated a fly-swat. 

[Bob]

I say swat.  It makes the venue look bad, not the pianist.  And if everyone is noticing the fly, they're not focusing on the music.  Swat away.

Same as if the page isn't turning right during a performance.  It happens.  Fix it and continue on.

[pianistimo]

feats of heroism!  she kept playing.  i'd attempt it - but it wouldn't work. i'd have to stop and say - 'excuse me, i need to kill something.'

[rachfan]

Seems like Ingrid Fliter allowed that fly to flit around on her shoulder.  Had it been a large horsefly bent on taking a large, painful bite out of her, it would have made the scenario far more intriguing.   

[learner of liszt]

I would probably do what she did: shake the fly off and look like you're just interpreting the music by flinging your arms. On a side note, what should I do if I have an itch during a performance? It bugs me to have to worry about accuracy and scratching my nose while
playing. Hamelin has no problem with this, if his HR2 video is anything to go by. 

[Bob]

Would it be annoying to have a few hundred people running around you in green with bright lights on them? 

[quantum]

Would it be annoying to have a few hundred people running around you in green with bright lights on them? 

Plus a little girl sitting beside you on the bench?

[Bob]

She's taking lessons for a year.  Probably a genius too.  Haha.  It did look like the girl was in the way too.  I didn't see her playing at all.  I thought it was supposed to be a duet. 

[pianisten1989]

It would be, and sound, very unprofessional if she lost her concentration during a concert because of a fly.

[lau]

it would be nice to see if she tried to slap the fly but then she farted then immediatly the bench broke and she fell. it would also be enjoyable if lang lang did that.

it would semi-annoy me. if it was a spider then it's a different story

[Bob]

Maybe we should all put on some bug spray if we perform outside.  Or inside for that matter.