The Arts Today

As participation around the live arts wanes, here are some ideas on how to break down the barriers to "understanding" more classical forms of art while redefining what they mean to our generation.

Do you ever feel like art is pretentious? Like when you go to a museum and look at a lot of art that doesn’t really “make sense“ to you and you just think to yourself, “it’s cool I guess”? Or have you ever gone to a ballet or an opera, or even listened to a symphony that you just didn’t “understand” and you fear that you missed the point? If so, don't worry, you are not alone. In this episode, let's think about art through a different, more flexible lens.

Tune in to the third part in my series with Andy Blankenbuehler to get a sense of what challenges arose from this pandemic and how those challenges are being faced, as well as to hear Andy’s perspective on how the societal shifts that we have seen over the last year are changing the way we tell stories. Please enjoy

It seems that so many issues have come out of the woodwork over the last year. Some were new, others, not so much. No matter what the issues are, it seems that we have choices regarding how we respond to these issues, and the information within them. We can either turn a blind eye and say “everything was working fine before this issue was brought to light, so why do anything about it?” or we can confront the issues head on by acknowledging their complexity and magnitude, and ultimately learning and understanding what kind of change is possible. Tune in this week to “out of sight, out of mind” to ponder our responsibilities to self and society while confronting new or resurgent issues in this crazy time. Also, mark your calendars for This Friday, the final episode in my series with Tony Award winning choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler will finally release! Be sure to spread the word, you and your friends won’t want to miss it.

In this weeks episode featuring my conversation with Tony Award winning choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler, I wanted to learn a little bit more about Andy's choreographic process. Tune in to hear about Andy's process while choreographing a show, and you might be lucky enough to get some behind the scenes information and knowledge surrounding the inner workings of "Hamilton". Please enjoy. 

 To understand and connect with an artist, we must first understand the processes and experiences that helped shape their artistic and creative identity. In this sense, I felt that there would be no better way to get to know Andy than to hear his story first hand. “Andy’s Story” is just that. Tune in to get a sense of the processes, people, and experiences that helped Andy find himself as an artist, dancer, choreographer, and story teller. If you like this episode, please consider sharing it with at least one friend. Over the next couple of weeks, I will release the following episodes of this series, so make sure you subscribe to this podcast so that you don’t miss an episode. Please enjoy.

This week, an exciting series comprised of three episodes releases. My guest? None other than director and Tony Award winning choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler. You may be familiar with Andy's work if you have seen a little musical called "Hamilton", or if you have seen the broadway shows "In The Heights" and Bandstand". Even if you aren't an active musical theater patron, you may recognize his work on the major motion picture adaptation of the legendary musical "Cats". Tune in to get a sense of what this past year has looked like on Broadway, what reopening theaters for live performances will entail, and how Andy sees the future of storytelling through choreography. Please enjoy. 

Many of us know that the arts can be used to convey ideas, influence public opinion, and empower individuals. But what can be said about the power of art to inspire young minds and initiate the process of rebuilding communities affected by war, and the traumas that come with it? My guest today is Okurut George, a yoga, meditation, and dance instructor who is taking his knowledge and passions for dance, mental and physical health, as well as fitness across Africa to teach communities of children how to connect with their minds and bodies, and the beauty of being able to express one’s self through dance and movement. Okurut’s story is truly fascinating, and offers and intriguing perspective into the powers and importance of art and mental wellbeing. Please enjoy.

Over the course of this historic pandemic period that has now engrained itself into our definitions of normalcy, sometimes it feels like all we can do is watch the events of the world from the metaphorical passenger seat. Whether we are talking about the damage that has been done to the global live arts and culture industries, or the social events happening within our societies that cannot be ignored, it can be easy to feel like we are just an unwitting passenger on this journey of uncertainty. How can we take a primary position of action in the middle of all of this? Join me as I sit down with Dylan Gutierrez, a principal dancer with the Joffrey Ballet, and co-founder and director of Action Lines, a new ballet company that Dylan helped create. We discuss how in the middle of so much chaos, Dylan was able to take a position of action within the arts world, and the potential of his new company to redefine how we see the arts. Please enjoy.

So much has happened in the world since my last episode. We are seeing an increasing number of people being vaccinated against covid-19, ballet companies and museums among other organizations are able to reopen in some capacity, and the general feeling is that we can't wait for everything to be back to normal by summer, right? Let's ask ourselves, what kind of normal do we want to come back to? Tune in to hear my thoughts on how we can create an even better "normal" than we had before. Please enjoy. Don't forget to check out The Arts Today's new website by heading to theartstoday.wordpress.com.