Phantom Staccato

Music Box Dancer.

Almost everyone recognizes this tune, even without ever knowing the title. I didn't know the title of that familiar song until someone requested it, forcing me to look it up.
The moment the right hand kicked in at the beginning of the tune, I knew it. I knew that I loved it, I knew that it was an iconic piano piece, and I hoped I could learn it.
So I found the sheet music online and immediately printed it off.
Overall, while looking at the piece, I was intimidated. The left hand does quite a bit of jumping and it also is in constant movement - as much as the right hand.
This would be a challenge.

To add to it - it looked like each note bore the dot of Staccato.
Wait, what?
Mastering staccato means not using the sustain pedal, and somehow playing the song to make it sound choppy and yet still smooth. To be able to define the movement in the song without any of the notes blending into one another.
It can be difficult to play an entire song like that.

So I began practicing. The right hand has come pretty easily, and it actually surprised me how I was able to learn the left hand pretty quickly as well - essentially it's just chord work. I am still working on it however, but I am hoping to unveil it at the live streaming home concert in December, if not beforehand.

Then, I decided to look up videos of others playing the tune. I noticed something odd immediately.
No staccato.
I proceeded to listen to the original recording.
No staccato.

What in the world?

I took a closer look at the printed sheet music. I should say: the faint and faded sheet music. They weren't staccato dots. They were numbers. On most of the music there were fingering suggestions on each note to show the most efficient way of playing the piece.

Suddenly the music became a little easier to play and sounded much more like how it is meant to sound.
I'm not there yet. I may never get it just right. I may not emphasize the melody properly in the right hand (I have some trouble with that in pieces like these). But I will learn it as best I can and then start polishing it.
With no staccato.

I love My Musical Life!