THE ARTS MAKE AMERICA GREAT

Cynthia Miltenberger,dance educator and founder of artmovesonline.com I wouldn't be the dance educator, arts advocate, and woman that stands today without the arts! Those of you that feel the same, get on the bandwagon and get yo ur shirt today! Thank you  Lois Saperstein  for your advocacy in a time when it's most needed! PLEASE SHARE and get your shirt here    https://theartsmakeamericagreat.ecwid.com 👉

In September of 2001, I was the Production Stage Manager for the hit Broadway musical CHICAGO.  At that time, our regular day off was on Tuesday, so that on Tuesday, September 11, we were all looking forward to a relaxing day that promised wonderful weather, with clear blue skies and mild temperatures. Little did any of us know that our lives would be turned upside down and the world would change forever.   New York City and most of the country was in lock down. Bridges, tunnels, air travel, sea travel, all were shut down. From my apartment on the Upper West Side, at 102nd Street and Broadway, just seven miles from ground zero, sirens screamed nonstop from morning until late that night and there was an awful, sickening smell of burnt rubber, chemicals and death. Time stood still. People were paralyzed by fear and could not stop watching 24 hour news coverage of the events as information slowly trickled out. All Broadway shows were canceled Tuesday and Wednesday.  It w...

Finish the sentence: The Arts Make America Great because...

Karen I sang for my mom at her funeral. She always told me I was a good singer, I just never believed her. But I sang for her. It was the first time I ever sang in-front of family members besides her. She knew though, so I sang. Amazing Grace. It was a real tear jerker... for everyone else.  I never gave myself a grieving period. I didn't even cry. Does that make me a terrible daughter? I mean, there was my mother laying in a coffin and I couldn't shed a tear. I mean don't get me wrong it hurt. I knew she was never coming back but I also knew that no matter how hard I cried or how long I wore black, she was NEVER coming back. So, what was the point in crying and grieving? I felt my blood boil just looking at the lilac coffin, looking at all the flowers, the pictures, the tears. She was gone, she left and she was NEVER coming back. There I was, a 13-year-old girl, a 13 year old motherless girl.  The night of the funeral I couldn't sleep. I went downstairs...

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Two different stories, one that shows the empathetic nature of theater and one that portrays the impact of theater and being on stage for a high school student. 1. The Arts in My Life  My grandfather was a milkman. Salt of the earth.  Working class.  From Cleveland, Ohio.  So proud that a Witter was in every war.  Outspoken. Patriotic. And he was a racist. My grandfather used the "N word" so often, it was part of the vernacular of his household. I knew that it was not a nice word.  That there was a subtext to this word that as a child I could not begin to comprehend. My grandfather's racism was fear-based and ignorance-fueled.   Sadly, racism was passed on from my grandfather to my father. I remember hearing my father say "that word" around our house, not understanding why that word was used to describe some people, but there was no other word in our house used to describe other people. I knew I did not like this word and would never say it and no...

The Power of Theater Lin-Manuel Miranda Touts the Power of Theatre in These Times The Hamilton creator tells NBC’s Tom Brokaw why theatre heals. “I think that there’s a healing effect to theatre,” Miranda responded. “I think that it’s not an accident that in other parts of the world, people put on theatre and expect to be arrested at the end of the moment.” “There’s something about everyone being in the same room and having the same experience that is powerful and increasingly rare,” he continued. “We curate our reality more than ever. We unfollow people we disagree with, and it’s easier than ever. Even in the news, we can get a different set of facts from a different network. So I think that the power is in everyone being in a room, putting down their phones, and theatre is one of the last bastions of that as well.” The Top Ten Reasons Why Theatre is Still Important in the Twenty-First Century by KEVIN BROWN #10 Human Beings The performance of theatre is a un...

We are Initiating:  The Arts in Health Project of THE ARTS MAKE AMERICA GREAT Campaign Healthy Individuals, Healthy Communities Through The Arts The ARTS are vital to a healthy society, they inspire and empower. They help heal individuals and communities. We want to reinforce and create an ongoing dialog - the utilization of the arts as a prescription for health, wellness and our future possibilities. Quite simply, art is good for you and should be as important to your individual health as balanced nutrition and regular exercise and as important to society as reading, science and math. The arts are exercises for your mind, body and spirit-they are energizing. When used as a community tool will help to heal the community and society. We want to share the stories of individuals, families, caregivers, medical professionals, artists and community workers as to how the arts have had an impact on their lives and or those around them. We want to create a humanistic valu...

My name is Tee Jay. I'm 43yrs.old and I'm living proof that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. I'm a survivor of many things I'm predisposed to drug addiction and mental illness . Both of my parents were alcoholics /addicts my mother was bipolar as am I, among st other diagnoses. At 19 I was incarcerated, I was angry and emotionally immature to the point I didn't know how to talk about how I felt. I wasn't allowed to talk about my feelings as a child nor ask for help. So naturally when I got older I carried that with me. I began writing poetry at age 7. I also began cutting myself, these were my outlets to deal with my feelings of frustration and anger. All I knew was to write my feelings down and keep them to myself. My thoughts were forbidden as were my experiences so all that emotional pain I either kept inside, wrote about or cut over...     In 1996 I was sent to solitary confinement and later put in administrative segregation. That time alon...