After all what's in a name?

Names, they mean everything to us right? It's how we identify and connect things to one another.
Ok so, I went to a dance showing called thieves the other night at my old home SFCD (SF conservatory of dance)
Now I don't know who exactly choreographed it and what not, all I know it was basically some some woman who talks with her teeth always shut together (like a smile)
So the piece itself was ehhh. Some original moments that were never expounded upon and the boring to death parts repeated over and over. Wonderful dancers though that's for sure.
I'm not even quite sure how to explain the piece except for that there were a lot of animalistic influeneces and feelings that reeked of war-time emotions (I don't know how else to put it...)
The unique thing about these dancers was that they both shared masculine and feminine energies. The guy looked quite fem but there were moments where he was actually quite masculine, in the animalistic instict moments. And the gal looked rather butch but had some soft feminine qualities as well.
The thing that bugged me was during the discussion as afterwards my friend pointed out to me (since I honestly couldn't understand hardly anybody) was that a guy in the audience had asked why she named it thieves. There was nothing at all in the piece that connected with that word. And she got rather defensive about it and basically ended up saying its not the name that matters its the piece and how different people have different connections to words especially from different parts of the world (this company is based in amsterdam)
But that really bothered me. It showed her lack of experience and maturity. For the piece itself was rather inexperienced though it had some beautiful moments, it definitely had that feeling of this was the first piece she's ever choreographed.
But it bothered me so much that she got defensive and a bit angry because first of all lady, that's an honest question. For you present this title of your piece and then the word has nothing to do with nothing. It would have been better to call it unamed or in progress for then that leaves more of a blank slate for people as oppose to leading us to believe some thieving is going to take place. I feel like that you should take time to accurately name a piece. We take time to name our kids for what they're named gives a presentation, a preconception to the world. Even Alex Ketley (one of my favorite choreographers of all time) as random or obscure his title of the pieces may be, they connected, they made sense. So her lack of insight or whatever turned me off even more to the piece.
Now on to more pleasant things.
My friend Joy Prendergast recently debuted a work in progress of her choreography so naturally I went to go see it.
It was quite beautiful. I knew it would be. Joy has the most gorgeous of movements and she can take the simplest stuff and make it absolutely golden, it flows together like water. The underlying tension of everything was fantastic, it left you wondering why. To me it felt like a bit of a take off (not rip off but I mean like going down another path of the same broad idea) of Project Bust which she is a dancer in for it related to 2 females and underlying tension in dealings with each other. I look foward to seeing its progression and seeing the intentions coming through more clearly.
As I went to the show I had to laugh and say to myself, this is why I don't go to just any random showing of dance. Because you NEVER know what you will get.
Joy's piece was one of many different pieces that were showcased at the Garage in SF. The garage is quite a venue. Tons of people have started out there but I have seen the most random obscure mishmash of stuff there. Some highly interesting albeit disturbing and some simply good/entertaining but not rich in meaning and some pure absolute crap. The garage I feel is a bit of what I call an honest venue. You can be your absolute self and everybody will see/hear/know it. My polite way of showing that I hated the piece more than anything is by not clapping. I will refuse to clap. For that was crap. It's not worthy of my applause and you should've saved yourself the effort.
Here's my conundrum - I understand the work the effort the time and everything else that goes into making a dance. But some are just pure horrifying and disgusting to me. And I feel bad because I know they poured every fiber of their being into it and I know it provides such a sweet relief in a way but man, spare me.
It reminds me of an article I read on the Bold Italic (google that suckas, you'll LOVE it!) where the guy is basically saying the same thing I'm saying here but about the music scene. He says you know what? enough of the polite applause after every band's set regardless if they sucked or not. Bring back the booing, let them know they suck!
Which I agree with. Does that make me a hardass? A Cynic? I don't know. But I like to think of it as reality. We need to know when we suck at stuff. Ok maybe we like doing whatever it is we suck at, but then enjoy it in the privacy of your own home. save the effort and the humiliation and just stay home with it.