Limitations bring light in the darkness: A night with Andrea Bocelli
Cheers and applause filled the American Airlines Center (AAC). A choir, full orchestra and one jumbotron flanked by two smaller (not so small) screens set the stage (literally) for the main performer.
Usually reserved for basketball and hockey games as well as an annual Disney on Ice show and occasional concerts, on this evening, the space transformed into an Opera house - a very large one. Dallas’ AT&T Performing Arts Center partnered with AAC to bring renowned Italian Vocalist Andrea Bocelli to Dallas.
My best guess is that the Winspear Opera House within the Performing Arts Center couldn’t hold the magnitude of people who would likely show up to this event. The city’s art and entertainment community planned well by shifting the show to a bigger venue.
The place was indeed packed.
This particular show was only one of eight stops on his American winter tour and the first time he had performed to a Dallas audience in almost a decade.
A true feast for the senses. A sight to behold - for the audience.
Bocelli, was born visually impaired and at the age of 12, became completely blind, following a brain hemorrhage resulting from a football accident. He is now considered one of the greatest singing talents in the world today.
As I sat in the audience in Dallas at the American Airlines Center, a place and space I’ve gone so many times before, I wondered:
Would this man’s gift of music have been so powerful without his limitation of sight and the darkness he experiences? What a paradox. His eyes take in little to no light yet his talent brought tears to my eyes (and to those around me) as the sounds coming out of his mouth with the help of his lungs radiated beauty and coordinated perfectly with the orchestra, choir, painters, dancers and other artists on stage. The room was truly lit!
Emotions were palpable as a feeling of oneness and aliveness permeated the room.
I am here - one of Bocelli’s songs come to mind, making me think - Yes, Lord, you are here. You were in that place. Your children with all of their limitations and places of darkness taking in your light, coming together as the Body of Christ to commune with you and one another through the gift and offering of music.
It was an evening to savor, to go back to. I hope to draw on it, to go within and remember, when I come to a place of limitation in my own life, which happens often. Perhaps I can pause, remember this night and wonder.
What beauty and aliveness might be even more bright and radiant because of my limitation? Also, I think of the dancers and painters and other artists who sang with and escorted Bocelli on and off stage, making the artistic expression even more full through their mutuality. Who in my life might co-create with me and I with them, making the experience even more full and more lovely?
I invite you to wonder with me.
May we have open hearts to receive this blessing!
This reflection was written by Emily Turner Watson. She is a trained spiritual director, writer and partner of Retreat House Spirituality Center.