The Impresario as Seducer

Seduction is a field where most of us tread lightly. We look askance and shrug our shoulders, we don’t venture into that forest, because, well, we are afraid. We have a vague idea of seduction being some kind of manipulation, something that is ethically wrong.

Seduction is not ethically wrong. In fact, if you are friends with somebody, anybody, it is because you and that person seduced each other, and still are.

When a musician puts on a concert for an audience, if it is a successful concert, he is seducing them. If a marketer succeeds in selling something – he seduced the buyer. If two strangers start to engage each other in conversation, you guessed it: seduction.

We are being seduced constantly, by friends, family, influences, and interests. Seduction is so common that it abounds everywhere without us even being aware of it.

So what does being an Impresario have to do with Seduction? Everything. An Impresario’s most important tool is Seduction. He uses it not to manipulate, but to facilitate a space: a space where other people can interact and share what matters to them. An Impresario knows how to do this because he thoroughly understands how to make people comfortable. He’s been in the social trenches – he knows how to introduce himself to strangers, and to introduce a stranger to another stranger. He is a connector. He is a Seducer.

It’s unfortunate that the word “Seduction” has been handed such a negative reputation. There is nothing in it that implies control, or acting against the will of another. Quite the opposite, actually. True seduction works through both parties. A piece of music, a work of art, even a conversation, is most enjoyed when the musician, the artist, or the converser allows him or herself to be swept up into an energy, a feeling, that is bigger than them. It has nothing to do with control – it’s more of a Surrender.