Teddy Bear's Picnic

We had a talent show at my school today. I waited for the talent to show up - there was a lot of video-inspired lip-synching and fanny shaking, but not a lot of actual talent. Then one of my students showed up doing a very impressive bit of native Samoan dance. Her traditional costume got most of the attention, since Pacific Island culture is mostly absent from our daily experience. When she was done, there was polite applause - then it was time for another flurry of bass-infused choreography inspired by MTV.
I drifted back to my days as a sousaphone player. My music teacher had me audition for my junior high talent show in eighth grade playing "Teddy Bear's Picnic." The Drama teacher had a clever inspiration after I had finished - why not have somebody in a bear suit dance around me while I played? Wouldn't that be cute? In hindsight, I think it would have been just as cute to have a thirteen year old who was approximately the same shape and size as the instrument he was playing standing alone in a spotlight - but I've never been one for cheap theatrics (unless they involve controlled combustion). But I was in eighth grade, was I going to be a prima donna and miss my chance at stardom? The guy in the bear suit showed up at the first rehearsal. I was used to working as a solo act, and the antics of a kid in a bear suit was distracting, to say the least. The night of the performance, my parents came and watched as the bear suit stole the show. All my friends told me how much they enjoyed the funny guy in the bear suit. Oh yeah - that guy in the bear suit was a riot. The next year I auditioned a piece called "Funeral March for a Marionette." I wasn't asked back.
Talent, it seems, is somewhat subjective.