The Message and the Mission

Have you seen whats become of the arts? Particularly dance. Have you noticed how virtuosity has become more important than the message? And the message has often been forced to echo popular discourse? There is little room for divergence these days.

The artist, the sensitive one, has at least two major functions in society. One is to reflect current culture. The other is to imagine a potential future. While most of us are laboring at work and in family to survive, the artist is observing, so as to share insight. They have to. It is how they were made. They see things others miss. They accumulate these observations and feel compelled to share them. Whether explicitly or abstractly the observations must be shared. The holding of them is unhealthy. The purpose of the sharing is the key question.

Artists who have recognized this role are not sharing for the purpose of earning money, or garnering fame. Both distort the message and the mission. No, they share because their message has the potential to change the world. And that is their mission.