“Beauty”

Last night at the Peace Center in Greenville, S.C., I was privileged to accompany my wife and daughter to a performance of “The Nutcracker”, performed by the International Ballet.  International guest stars including Adiarys Almeida and Taras Domitro (from Cuba).  The Greenville Symphony, led by Conductor Maestro Edvard Tchivzhel (who defected from Russia), performed flawlessly.  If they missed one note of Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s grand story, I could not hear it.  The Trebles of the St. Mary’s Youth Choir of St. Mary’s Catholic Church accompanied along with other local talent.

For two hours and a little more,  all of us in attendance were transported to a land of beauty so indescribable and full of joy, as to become inexpressible.  For the first time, I began to understand why benefactors as Jack and Sandy Halsey and so many others invest in the Performing Arts, nurturing talent of all ages.  As I watched those at the height of their artistic expression and read the resumes of their past performances spanning years, continents and peoples, I was reminded of the significant effort of so many who work together to make something so beautiful it is long remembered and not easily forgotten!

The human family, as we know it today, is a rather curious lot.  We invest a lot of energy and time in discovering new ways to kill one another.  We are so anxious and afraid of being overrun by Huns, barbarians, or blown apart by terrorists that a great deal of our time is devoted to our own survival.  We also invest a lot of our energy and time in making a great deal of money, for which we can buy things or accomplish important tasks.  We desire to create and build and find our legacy in things we have made.  Or, we may choose to invest ourselves in our children.  Schools of many types, Pre-school to University are developed so we can nurture our little ones into adulthood and to their becoming productive citizens of society.  Medicine is another large endeavor, to heal the wounded, the sick and to care for the dying and those of anguished minds.  It takes a great deal of effort and time to do any or all of these things.

Then there are sports, religion and the Performing Arts.  These are our past times, what we do when all our work is done.  Our first past time is sports, as many spend a great deal of time and considerable energy in the large stadiums of excitement, “for the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.”  (Howard Cosell)  Religion serves as another past time for us in this world.  We educate ourselves on the nature of God and upon our response needed to gain acceptance into the afterlife, or at least to find meaning in the here and now.

The Performing Arts are another category entirely.  Not even mentioning the actors and actresses, video games, the entertainment industry and rock bands, we find a small niche of persons who do what is called “the Performing Arts.”  Ballet, orchestra, plays on Broadway, local theater are all in this collection.  Perhaps we might even include the local high school band.  What is it about the human condition and our human psyche which compels us to do the arts?  Why do we have those as Adiarys Almeida and Tara Domitro who dedicate their whole lives to the performance of such beauty, reminding us of our own human story?  Is it because they can do nothing else?  Or is it more that they choose this path and persevere on it until they can perform at such a high level as to transform our human experience from the mundane and coarse to the profound and the beautiful!

In “The Nutcracker”, Peter Tchaikovsky takes a simple story of a young child’s Christmas and transforms it into an epic drama of good vs evil, Clara and the toy soldiers defending her Nutcracker from the Mouse King and his mice minions.  The Mouse King is defeated. In celebration, angel ornaments on the tree greet Clara and her prince, showing them the way to the Kingdom of the Sweets.  The dolls are so grateful to Clara, special gifts are given, Spanish Hot Chocolate, Arabian Coffee, and Chinese Tea.  Others join to dance, including the Candy Flowers and the Dewdrop Fairy and several others.  The magical journey ends as Clara awakens on Christmas morning.  She is home again, beside her beloved wooden Nutcracker.  (The Nutcracker Synopsis, Act I, Act II)

It is heartening in this Christmas season when we are daily greeted with so much that frightens, dismays, terrifies, saddens, depresses and mollifies, that for at least an hour or two on a Saturday evening in December we can find a place to awaken again the child within us all.  For a time we can wonder, stand in awe, appreciate, enjoy and reflect on the beautiful parts of our existence.  For an hour or two, we can be transported to another place through transcendent music and ballet, where good vanquishes evil, where children dream, dance and play all through the night, only to awaken to find all is right with the world and Christmas has finally come again.

Bill W.