As participation around the live arts wanes, here are some ideas on how to break down the barriers to "understanding" more classical forms of art while redefining what they mean to our generation.

Tune in to the third part in my series with Andy Blankenbuehler to get a sense of what challenges arose from this pandemic and how those challenges are being faced, as well as to hear Andy’s perspective on how the societal shifts that we have seen over the last year are changing the way we tell stories. Please enjoy

It seems that so many issues have come out of the woodwork over the last year. Some were new, others, not so much. No matter what the issues are, it seems that we have choices regarding how we respond to these issues, and the information within them. We can either turn a blind eye and say “everything was working fine before this issue was brought to light, so why do anything about it?” or we can confront the issues head on by acknowledging their complexity and magnitude, and ultimately learning and understanding what kind of change is possible. Tune in this week to “out of sight, out of mind” to ponder our responsibilities to self and society while confronting new or resurgent issues in this crazy time.

Also, mark your calendars for This Friday, the final episode in my series with Tony Award winning choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler will finally release! Be sure to spread the word, you and your friends won’t want to miss it.

Over the course of this historic pandemic period that has now engrained itself into our definitions of normalcy, sometimes it feels like all we can do is watch the events of the world from the metaphorical passenger seat. Whether we are talking about the damage that has been done to the global live arts and culture industries, or the social events happening within our societies that cannot be ignored, it can be easy to feel like we are just an unwitting passenger on this journey of uncertainty. How can we take a primary position of action in the middle of all of this? Join me as I sit down with Dylan Gutierrez, a principal dancer with the Joffrey Ballet, and co-founder and director of Action Lines, a new ballet company that Dylan helped create. We discuss how in the middle of so much chaos, Dylan was able to take a position of action within the arts world, and the potential of his new company to redefine how we see the arts. Please enjoy.

So much has happened in the world since my last episode. We are seeing an increasing number of people being vaccinated against covid-19, ballet companies and museums among other organizations are able to reopen in some capacity, and the general feeling is that we can't wait for everything to be back to normal by summer, right? Let's ask ourselves, what kind of normal do we want to come back to? Tune in to hear my thoughts on how we can create an even better "normal" than we had before. Please enjoy.

Don't forget to check out The Arts Today's new website by heading to theartstoday.wordpress.com.