Songs For The Struggling Artist

The dance piece was genuinely terrible. The dancer couldn’t really dance. The choreographer seemed to have a four movement/gesture vocabulary and the “concept” was cringe-inducing. I could tell you more about it, and I’m tempted to, because talking about terrible art can be very fun, but I think any further details would start to be hurtful and maybe mean. These artists have no real power yet. They don’t deserve a take-down. I spent about a third of the piece trying to imagine what jobs these people would have in the future where they would tell their co-workers, “I used to be a dancer!” And they’ll say, “Really? How wild!” And then they’ll all go see the latest Nutcracker together. If it isn’t already obvious, these artists were young. They had not yet acquired any skill or vision or discernment. They were given an audience and a platform they were not ready for and it was hard to watch. Was I jealous? Absolutely. I’d love for someone to gift me a stage and an audience. I do not take such things for granted