Wearing our Hearts on our Sleeves

I read with great interest in today’s New York Times that Lincoln Center will launch a new festival of performances next fall, titled “White Light.”  In addition to the festival’s spectacular line up of artists, and the deeply thematic programming (including several vocal and choral works!!), what struck me was that it had been a while since I’d heard someone in the performing arts business talk so honestly and openly about the motivation for and meaning of their work.

The new festival is the creation of Lincoln Center’s vice president for programming, Jane Moss, who is quoted in the article, explaining that the festival “grew out of a sense that modern urban life was increasingly being dominated by digital multitasking…We actually have been entering what I consider an era of distraction,” she said. “People are searching for greater meaning that all the text messages in the world can’t provide.” At a concert, she added, “you’re outside the concerns of your own ego, and there’s some larger universe inside yourself where you enter…I actually feel an enormous responsibility in my job and, needless to say, in my life to learn how to wear my heart on my sleeve every day.” 

My last blog talked about role models and mentoring, and the need for guidance in our working lives. Today I’m rejoicing that there are still those in the performing arts who work for a purpose other than the easy box office buck (though the savvy impresario always considers both, of course). What matters in this business is passion and heart, and I believe that thoughtful audiences can smell phoniness and “phoned in” programs a mile away, and will consequently stay away, regardless of a performer’s quality or reputation.
So, we come back to the eternal question in the arts.  What is the purpose of live performance?  Is it to distract and entertain for a moment (like another tweet or television program)?  Or is it to move and challenge us to think, feel and live more deeply?