What performing arts teach

Performing arts offer communication, catharsis, and outlets for expression. Holders of purse-strings—parents, administrators and others—sometimes need reminding that performing arts also teach skills that are valuable in all kinds of work:

To know your raw materials intimately.

To perform to a high standard on demand and in real-time.

To tolerate not knowing an answer—not knowing the correct interpretation of a Beethoven sonata, say—until the solution comes together irresistibly after careful study. (Nobel-winning physicist Richard Feynman pointed out how important this quality is for scientific work.)

To be objective while intensely involved. (When we practice or perform, our involvement is four-fold: physical, mental, emotional and spiritual.)

To re-create your understanding with every performance.

To respect your audience.

And, for ensemble performers, to know how to cooperate intimately.

For performers, these values are goals!

Copyright © James Boyk 2013. All rights reserved.
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