Should it?  Really!?  Is it THAT important?  I mean, it’s not life or death.  It won’t help advance the research in anything that really matters.  It won’t help your aunt, mother, father, sister, lover, husband, child who has or will suffer from cancer.  It will not prevent them from dying.

These are the first thoughts that ran through my head when I thought about why people should donate money or support the performing arts.  I mean, it’s not life or death.  But, ahah!  Death it isn’t, but it is indeed life.  It is about exploring life, all aspects of it when we are here on this earth.  Posing that question that you just can’t explain in words.  Maybe not fully answering it, but giving it a little more insight.  Something to make you fee alive.  Some art isn’t pleasant.  It isn’t entertainment.  But it is valuable.

But cancer research is important.  And it is also (as art is) always seeking more funding.  People who work in the field are advancing techniques in treatment and being able to understand the disease that affects almost every single family.  Someone you know is or has been affected.  It’s a life cut short, scathed or compromised.  It’s valuable to make sure people are working on beating this ugly thing that has claimed so many.

Now, for instance think about how the performing arts has affected you.  You listen to the radio.  It’s there.  You participated in the school play when you were 10.  It was there.  Now your son/daughter is participating in one.  You go to a concert (gasp!) .  It’s definitely there.  Maybe the caliber of the different places you find performing arts are not all the same, but there are “professionals” working, researching and exploring every day so that you can have the performing arts in your life.  Maybe they are not researching your ‘type’ of music, dance, etc.  but one avenue always affects the other and some how they all are interconnected.

So, no the performing arts are not life or death.  They ARE life.  Professionals working in their field should be compensated for their time so they can make the time to research and make their contribution with their mind, body and spirit.  It is not a hobby.  It is a profession.  Talk to me later if you would like me to explain why.