Letter from the Editor

For all of my fawning and analysis, it pleases me to finally come to the purpose of Art. No where else do the mediums, messages and experience of the Arts become so blurred as with performance. People create Art, they move to Art, they ARE Art.

This is not relegated to any particular medium or execution because the human element of Art is necessary on every level from conception to consumption. Jackson Pollack made a career of paintings that were nothing more than an account of his actions and movements over a large canvas, trails of drizzled paint the only bread crumbs left behind. Who can deny the profundity of the Impressionist movement as being an account of brushstrokes registering the capacity of the mind to render perception, not just the imitation of reality.

Did Art really begin with the manipulation of matter around us? Most likely Art and beauty itself were first recognized and explored through sexuality and attraction, through the seduction of the body and allure of the spoken word. The human element most likely is the impetus of creation, not for functionality’s sake, but for a more internal sake: one that communicates, attracts and “moves”.

A body in motion and the traces of its journey are among the most moving [yeah, I’m over killing this double entendre] because of its immediate accessibility to empathize.

Why then do the performing arts suffer in a city as large as Phoenix if it is so innate in our very society and psychological construction to experience Art and beauty through one another? Or are they? How many performances have you been to recently?

There is a plethora of opportunities, whether at a local poetry slam at your favorite coffee shop, a Broadway Musical at ASU Gammage Auditorium, or a beat box performance by a street performer next to a deli in downtown Phoenix. Pioneers such as ShowUp.com have brought smaller stages closer to their audiences at affordable prices: a noteworthy and encouraging accomplishment in a city such as ours.

Earlier this year I helped promote and produce a small play at one of the new local stage and gallery spaces, Soul Invictus. With the assistance of such supporters as ShowUp.com and the cheap accessibility of new resources like MySpace and local publications, we were able to sell out before we had even finalized the cast. This to me gives hope for the reach and potential expansion of our performing arts scene.

With support enough to produce a small play and receive the coverage and attendance that we did does have its counter edge: why would such a small performance, however highly I thought of it [on a biased level] did we receive the support of such a hungry press and audience? Is there a lack of coverage or events in general, or is there really that much need for good performance?

Either way, the outlook is good. There remains a healthy possibility for explorations in performance, room for growth in human creation, and a distinct optimism for a continuing expansion in stage and performance art as well as audience.