The Parable of the Admirers of Wind Turbines

One day while teaching, Josh was asked, ”Teacher, a hundred years after its debut, watching the original choreography for The Rites of Spring and listening to the music, could you explain how something that primitive could still be so modern?”

Josh spoke thus:

A group of people were looking at a video screen.  On the screen was a coastline dominated by giant wind turbines.  Considered an eyesore by many, they were a tourist destination for many others.

“They look almost organic,” a group member said, “Like a line of great white sequoia.”

“It’s like they’re lining an avenue,” another group member said, “Row upon row of giant plane trees.  Imagine the size of the manor house they would lead to!”

“Truly gargantuan,” a third group member said.

“They’re Norse giants,” a fourth group member said.

“They’re Titans,” the first group member said, “And here come Zeus et al to bring them down.”

“Not to tear them down, to tilt against them,” the second group member said.

“They’re only windmills, after all” the third group member said.

“For Don Quixote, the windmills were giants,” the fourth group member said.

“Cervantes’ windmills were giants, and these giants are windmills,” the first group member said.

As the first group member had pointed out, figures were congregating.  They were Lilliputian in comparison to the wind turbines.

The figures were gathering around a single turbine.  Their movement seemed uncoordinated at first.  They appeared to be just another group of tourists milling around, taking pictures with their phones, taking video with their tablets.  One was setting up an easel.

Almost imperceptibly, one person was setting up a boom box.  Once the boom box had been put in place, the video frame began to zoom in on the crowd at the base of the turbine.

When the music began, it could be heard to be a sample from the Sacrifice portion of the Rites of Spring by Stravinsky, laid over a hip hop beat and mixed with Motown brass.

The figures spread out and danced an Adoration of Windmills.

The group watching the video, all members of the group dancing on the video, applauded energetically.  At the peak of their excitement an unexpected figure joined the scene, dancing unclothed across the background of the dancing scene.

“Hey!” the first member of the watching group shouted, “A streaker!”

The second member of the watching group replied, “Our flash mob has been video bombed!”