I've been trying to find a way to put this for quite some time....and I have been avoiding it because I know it to be a controversial topic among many of my friends and colleagues. As a practitioner of the fine arts, it is hard enough to make friends with people that can so easily be viewed as your competition, and this is in no way a reaction to any one person or group of people, but just an observation that I have made time and time again in both the educational and professional realms.
Students of the arts are trained to be critical. It takes a critical ear to tune the harmonies in the chord, to clean up the notes in a riff (a melisma for you opera folk =P ), to maintain a consistent placement. It is essential that one develops an observant and critical eye for mannerisms, for tension, for characterization. It is encouraged in lessons, studios, labs and classes that we develop a language to deliver these critiques, and in the end, even though it isn't usually said in so many words, we are forced to pass judgement on not only the art or the music or the performance, (or whatever you want to call it) but on the individual as well. In the end, it is as simple as saying if it was good or if it was bad. If it was worthy or if it was unworthy.
The arts thrive on criticism. Without these opinions, there would be no structure; no balance. Pity the voice teacher that doesn't have a discerning ear, but pity their students more, because they are the ones whose future careers, or lack thereof, suffer. Criticism is needed. It is how we teach, and it is how we learn. It is one of the strongest driving forces behind ambition and focus. It inspires some, and strikes fear and doubt into the hearts and minds of others. Careers and reputations are made and broken through opinions. It can be seen time and time again, coursing through all forms of artistry. It is an incredibly powerful form of expression, and thus, it should be wielded carefully. However, at this particular school for performing arts, as well as countless others, one can see and hear critical value statements thrown around every day, as if one was discussing the weather, for lack of a better cliche. Unwarranted praise for one entity and unjustified damnation of another. This need to critique and be critiqued is paramount in our training, but I believe it is equally important to be able to turn off the critical eye/ear/mind and see what is innately good and present.
I think that is one of the most important and difficult lessons I learned in the past five or so years and I still work on it every day. There are many ways to do good. The hard part is recognizing the good and giving it the appropriate acknowledgement. It is so difficult for all of us to stop jumping to value statements, both negative and positive. I mean, when you're in a masters program, there really isn't anyone that just outright sucks, so why are people still passing out that label? Why can't we all just get off our high horses and congratulate each other on our successes and support each other through our failures? Because that is not the way we were taught.
Without exception, each of my performance professors has lectured on the adage that, in the world of professional theater, you can never stop working on yourself because you'll never be good enough..there will always be someone right behind you who is just as talented or as pretty or has just as good a belt as you do. One thing that is rarely mentioned in these lectures, is that continuous self-improvement doesn't have to turn you into an elitist. We're all made to be so terrified at the prospect of someone else blossoming into something more beautiful than we are, that we refuse to give each other the genuine support and encouragement that is not only deserved, but needed.
So often, we jump at the opportunity to demonstrate our musical superiority with negative value statements.
"That (whatever singer) sucks because they've only been in national tours - they'll probably never book a show on Broadway."
"I hate (title of song). Everyone sings it and its not even that well written."
"I don't know why everyone sings songs from (title of a musical). Its just like (title of another, equally brilliant musical) except not nearly as good."
"How did (person in my program) get into this program? It sounds like they've never had a voice lesson in their life."
Who the f*ck do we think we are? Truly. We wonder why theater people are so polarizing to the general population? I think this is the answer. We throw out all of our opinions as facts and we are, unfortunately, proud of it. There is no filter. There is no apology. There is, however, a certain high you get from being apparently "knowledgeable" about the arts. From having an opinion. To know that you have seen more shows on Broadway than any other person in your friend group. To have the power to condemn a performer or a performance or a show or a composer, just for the hell of it. The worst part, is that we're all guilty of it. Myself included.
So I ask myself, where is the good in this? Well, I can seem to find very little. We are certainly flexing our critical muscles, but at what expense?
Alice Ripley quoted John Fitzgerald Kennedy during her Tony acceptance speech for her role in Next to Normal with this statement: "I am certain that after the dust of centuries has passed over our cities, we too will be remembered not for our victories or defeats in battle or in politics, but for our contribution to the human spirit."
Life is far too short and far too beautiful to have so much judgement being thrust into it. There is already enough hate and disagreement in the world; we don't need to contribute to that. After all, our job as artists is creation. We have the privilege and the responsibility to create. The only thing left for us, is to choose what we will be creating and what impression we want to leave.
Happy October,
A
