The Importance of the Arts
The arts are commonly grouped into four categories, those of dance, music, theater, and the visual arts. Dance is the human experience translated by physical movement. It can be anything from the classic form of ballet to ballroom. Music is sound, how pitches relate to one another-composed to convey the wordless of human expression. In the broadest sense, can be defined as including everything connected with dramatic art--the play itself, the stage with its scenery and lighting, makeup, costumes, acting, and actors. The visual arts include sculpture and painting. Each of the arts is a reflection of the culture that produced it as well as capable of transcending its own specific category to complement any of the other categories. For example, in the dance category-river dance is a type of dance that is a cultural reflection of an Irish tradition. And hip-hop is a type of dance that complements the similarly named musical genre. The arts as a form of expression is a form and a vehicle of communication, of outreach, indicative of the common plight of humanity to be part of community. Each story communicated by each of the arts combines to create a more complete, more complex, more fully and unconsciously honest picture
of the society that created it. Every generation commonly defines itself by the arts. Perhaps most importantly, each of the arts can transcend time and retain relevance even to modern ages and audiences. An example of this would be the works of Shakespeare. Written hundreds of years ago and in an archaic and often difficult to decipher language, the themes found in Shakespeare's plays and other writings are still relevant and still applicable to modern interpretations. The arts demonstrate the common themes of the human experience. William Kohlberg of the National Alliance of Business stressed the economic impact of arts education when he said this: "The creative genius of America is the result of our investment in our creativity. Large businesses depend upon it, and small businesses will surely close their doors if they can't compete through innovation . If there were ever a community perfectly equipped to meet our challenge, it is that of the creative arts." For us as individuals, the arts promote self-awareness and self-enhancement. Poets, artists, playwrights, and composers are often sources of truth, order, harmony, and meaning. Artists can unlock our imagination and stir us to pause, think, and reflect. According to an article written by the president of Whitman University, the critically important role of the arts in the academy, as in life, is to enable us to see the world and the human condition differently, and in seeing the world through a particular work of art, to see a truth we might not have understood before. Artists raise questions and compel us to think. The best of poets, f
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Approximate Word count = 1089
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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