By Kate Mueth

Theater, dance, music, spoken word - the act of performing before an audience of one or an audience of 5,000- all are a breathtaking leap of bold courage, honesty, raw storytelling and human yearning put to spoken and written word, vibration of notes and voice, movement - expansive outreach, an unfettered releasing of human expression. The Performing Arts are, even in the best of days, a plaintive cry to the Universe pleading for immortality, for belonging through shared experience, they’re a prayer of gratitude. In the worst of days they are a tender salve in the wounded heart, a well for the raging spirit to scream into. In performing, we supersede all languages to bring audiences with us on a journey to the heights of imagination; we lead them to a place where all things are possible, all things are centered, worthy. Through this act we are peace personified. We place all the world’s active sufferings into suspension for a moment. Through the gesture of an extending arm, a breath taken just before the high C takes flight, the emotions of an actor at play - we wrap audiences from all walks of life into a cocoon of family, understanding, and warm welcome. Together we process silently, personally, the incomprehensible, senseless, self-inflicted wounds humanity makes. We shriek expulsions of laughter. We mourn. We wonder. All in collective unison. The audience becomes the dance, the play, the music- at one with the creators.

When I ponder the arts as international act and practice, it reiterates for me why I have no affinity for flags demarcating land borders created by the historical or present-day fear-addled imagination of men. Nation-identifying flags and ideologies pitting us against one another make little sense to me. Knowing there is a rich human company of performing artists around the world melting away false discriminatory and political differences dispels the darkness. This comfort situates snugly into my senses, drives my curiosity and thirst for a broader, richer knowledge of our shared humanity. My heart beats faster at the thought of sharing our stories. True artistic creation is an equitable energy that moves us forward, in beauty, together. Our language, culture, and privilege fall to the wayside, powerless one over any other. We swim, all buoyed, in a pool of recognition.

Where I call home right now is a dangerous place. It’s always been dangerous for some folks. It’s grown ever more so today, piling story upon story of the abused, as we find ourselves on a rising mountain of dampened voices as chaos and fear take hold. 

Those of us in the arts inherently know we stand upon this mountain of silenced stories. Our responsibility and promise to dig up and set free this range of voices lets the light in, centers each life for the world to bear witness so none go forgotten.

Artists, we know. In our expression we give testimony to the courage it takes to live a story in this world. We fathom what a life means. We respect the source- the life lived when we dance, sing, write, perform. Whether it’s our own or our interpretation of another’s story, it needn’t matter. Our skin is in it. Our heartbeat. Our doubt. Our worry. Our joy. Our resistance. Our sweat and blood and fear and rage…. It’s all in there- the human experience. This act of creating binds every one of us upon this planet because we are echoing sentience back to ourselves. The Performing Arts confirm our existence. We feel the voices under our feet. And we understand that what gets silenced- covered by dirt and history and our contemporary footsteps - is an undeniable thread contained within all of us. 

Please read these writings mindfully. Take your time. Wonder about the writer. And the next time you are present before a performance- be it theater, dance, music, poetry, mime - may you invest yourself fully in the realm of generosity and curiosity. Peel away the layers to recognize the echos of the voices below and below and below…. Upon which we stand and from which we draw hope, wisdom, inspiration, and guidance for the way forward. 

I wish to thank Mia Funk and the formidable, imperative work she is doing with The Creative Process. This has been a delicious opportunity to reach out to some magical folks -some whom I am lucky to know, others unknown who have, through their work and writings, deeply affected me. Amplifying their voices is a gift and an honor. Each are an artist working/playing in one genre or another. Some are incredibly multi-faceted. Some are young and just starting out. Some are older with substantial experience in the arts. Some have passed on.

I read their reflections and expressions on the Performing Arts for this International Performing Arts Day and I feel deeply connected in our life love to perform. Thank you to all who have taken time to write, to share, to wonder, to put ideas down for us all to apply as a salve to our hearts, our minds, our tired spirits. Create! Connect! Keep courageous the world over!

Photo credit: Owen Benfield

Tell us your thoughts on the importance of the arts and humanities and how this project resonates with you.
Creativity is the power source of human expression and the engine to move us closer together, to discover, to celebrate our experiences in the most sublime of ways. Centered with light and goodness, creativity holds the potential for human enlightenment.

What was the inspiration for your creative work?
Being invited by the lovely Mia Funk

Tell us something about the natural world that you love and don’t wish to lose. What are your thoughts on the kind of world we are leaving for the next generation?
I love and am connected to all the earth elements- the air, water, foliage, fauna, topography of mountains and valleys. We ARE nature and how we treat the earth, how we protect her, tells us everything about how we know ourselves, love ourselves, and derive our intelligence- or not- from this oneness.

Kate Mueth is the founder and artistic director of The Neo-Political Cowgirls dance theater collective based in East Hampton, NY. She conceives, directs, and choreographs new works for the stage and in nature that is "mind-bending, provocative and wild." She's toured works internationally, nationally, and Off-Broadway. She is a multi-hyphenated theater artist who wraps creativity and compassion together in her professional performances, arts education, and community placemaking initiatives around the world.

Interviewed by Mia Funk - Artist, Writer, Founder of The Creative Process and One Planet Podcast. Listen on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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