Why are the arts important?

Phew!  Now that the holidays are over and my business travels are complete, I look forward to getting back into the regular swing of things.  I know I have missed talking with you in the “Music in Van Wert” column the past few weeks.  We just returned from New York City and are now ready to do the work of the people in the world of music and arts.

Today was actually a day of jumping right back into things with the Russian Ballet’s performance of “Cinderella.”  I am writing now between the afternoon matinee and this evening’s public performance.  Winter has returned with more snow, wind and frigid temperatures, but it was definitely warm inside the Niswonger today with about 600 children being entertained by a dance troupe from Russia in an art form we rarely see in these parts.

Thanks to Family Medicine Associates Inc. and The Motorists Insurance Group represented by Henkle Insurance, nearly 600 school children had the opportunity to witness a ballet, performed by world-class Russian dancers.  As I was sitting in the balcony watching the matinee performance, it really hit me as to why it is important to expose young children to such an art form.  I expressed my thoughts immediately afterward in a TV interview with WTLW Channel 44 of Lima.  We hear from politicians who tell school administrators, who tell teachers, who tell parents and students just how important math and science are to our education.  And they are right, but … one thing this performance of the ballet made students do today was use their imaginations. Anymore, we rarely offer the opportunities for kids to imagine and dream.   Remember when you were a kid?  On a sunny, warm day, you could sit in the grass and imagine, looking at clouds in the sky, sunbeams through the air, wind blowing and birds singing; these were all things we had time to do.  Kids today (and adults too) don’t have time for this “frivolous” activity.  We are too busy doing what others tell us we need to do.

Think about all the great inventions over the past century or two.  I am sure they started with imagination.  Even the things we’ve created now that take all our time, were started with imagination; the “what if” question.  Employers today want and need mathematicians and scientists, but the world also really needs people who dream, imagine and create.  This is what music offers.  This is what the arts offer.

The children today watching the ballet may have had some idea of what the story of Cinderella is about, but they needed to use their imaginations to fit the dancing, music, movements, scenery and beautiful costumes together to make the story of Cinderella come to life for themselves.  There were no words spoken or sung.  Where else are we going to nurture this than in the arts?  So the next time you hear someone talk about the arts as a frivolous or extra-curricular school activity, I encourage you to think about what I have just said.

There are many students who are rarely challenged on the creative side of the brain.  That is a terrible oversight and disservice to their development.  I applaud the school administrators who gave their students the opportunity today to attend a world-class ballet… and right here in Van Wert.  Like I just told our Executive Secretary as he was leaving the building, “I’ll see you at the ballet tonight.”  How cool is that, that we can say something like this in the town of Van Wert!  You know corn and culture both start with the same letter.

FINÉ.