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Part of my job at RocketNews24 is providing English titles for the videos on our YouTube channel. So my knee-jerk reaction when stumbling across a clip, from a different source, with the title “flute performance butterfly stop the face” is to point out the capitalization and syntax errors.

But you know what? Full points to whoever thought it up anyway. That jumbled cocktail of nouns and verbs just about perfectly captures what would run through any of our heads if we experienced what the woman in the video did: a butterfly crawling around her face in the middle of an important flute performance.

Flutist Yukie Ota, a native of Shizuoka Prefecture, was in Denmark earlier this month for an international music competition. During her first performance, everything was going well, as the 29-year-old began by producing elegant note after elegant note.

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About 20 second in, though, the camera pans up slightly, and we see that Ota’s acquired a new hair accessory since she took the stage.

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That’s no ornate hairpin or bow, though, but a butterfly that’s decided this musician’s head looks like as good a place as any to stop and rest its wings for a while. Well, actually, “as good a place as any” is a bit of an exaggeration, since it quickly finds and even better spot when it moves to the bridge of her nose, smack dab between her eyes.

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Despite the obvious rudeness of essentially telling someone, “Hey, I’m just gonna chill on your face for a while, don’t mind me,” Ota does exactly that. Not only does the talented flutist neither scream nor fidget, she doesn’t even blast an off-note, as she closes her eyes to put the distraction as much out of mind as she can.

▼ Although at one point when she briefly opens her eyes, they seem to be saying, “Oh God somebody help me!”

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There’s a downside to playing so beautifully, though, as the insect seems so soothed and entranced that it’s in no hurry to take off. Thankfully, there’s eventually a long enough break in Ota’s portion of the piece that she can brush it away.

We’re not sure what happened to the butterfly, but we’re assuming it went on to continue its inconsiderate behavior by flying down someone’s blouse or alighting just above a practicing surgeon’s butt crack. Ota, meanwhile, advanced to the final round of the competition, eventually walking away with the second prize. So all you budding musicians out there, remember that the keys to success are the three Ps: practice, passion, and poise, no matter what sort of creature tries to make its home on your face.

Sources: Yahoo! Japan, Japan Crush
Images: YouTube