"Parterre"

       I knew I wanted seats in either the orchestra or parterre for the Mark Morris dance concert the other night.  I was able to get good central seats in the parterre for son David and myself.

       David posed the question what does it mean, "on the earth"?  French in origin, exactly these two words par and terre, "on the ground" is probably best translation.  It's "the part of the ground-floor of the auditorium of a theatre behind the orchestra" (OED).

       In France in early 18th century, the parterre was the ground level where people stood and stood ready to "critique" the performance.  Some say seats were added after a time with the aim of discouraging demonstrative behavior and utterance.