Nutcracker Musings

     This past Tuesday I had the pleasure of attending The Nutcracker, put on by the Royal Winnipeg Ballet.  One of the amazing things about Winnipeg is how artistic the city is.  The Ballet is a case in point -- it's the longest-running ballet company in North America, and one of the best known!
     In case you've never been to a ballet, it's a very unique form of theatre which has no dialogue. Instead, the story is given to you to read at the beginning of the performance.  One of the most interesting things for me were the effects and set design.  The set design was absolutely extraordinary -- changing from the inside of an early 20th century house to a majestic Greek courtyard.  The outside scenes were believable with falling snow and a magnificent wilderness in the background.  To say nothing of the dancing!

     Watching the ballet got me thinking about the arts.  CMU is a school which focuses on the arts.   We live in a world which seems to put a lot of emphasis on specialization.  It's best to be very good at something -- a marketable skill -- in order to get a high-paying job in that capacity.  Statistics do show that a university education will help you get a higher-paying job.  But if you were looking just to get education to land a good job, you could go to college and get out quicker.  In my experience, a university education is more general -- it teaches you how to think.  The skills you learn in university can help you in all of life.
     I go to university not only to get a good job, but to educate myself, to develop individuality and to grow into my own person.  Studying the arts helps you learn who you are, who you want to be, and how to express that person to the world.  That expression may be in writing, art, ballet or theatre.  It can be communicated in countless ways.