In March I took someone I’ve known since I was thirteen years old to a Paul Taylor performance during its closing weekend. She’s someone who’s seen a lot of performances in her time. When Taylor himself came out for his customary bow at the final curtain the audience sprang to its feet and she said, as she did too, wasn’t it nice to stand up for something that really deserved it? Because today, as she and I know only too well, audiences stand up at the end of almost every live performance you find yourself at –a reflection of the increasingly less discerning audience that can afford to patronize live entertainment.
Of course saying something like that means that media apologists for the ruling class could very well hurl the epithet “elitist.” Shucks, you could even be called an art historian.
And since I won’t fall into the occupational malaise of progressives and Democrats, i.e. playing defensive, I won’t say a word to that–for now.