Why Do You Dance?

Join Emily Brunner as she talks about what drives us to create our art and asks the question "Do we create for our audience or do we create for ourselves?"

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Emily 0:02

You've probably heard this one before. If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? I have a similar question for you to think about today. Would you be motivated to create your art if you knew no one was ever going to see your work? I'm Emily and this is Philly Dances. Why do we do what we do? Why do we do it? Why do you do it? What drives us to work hard and create whatever our thing is, whatever we're moved to do? Whether it's building furniture, painting, dancing, or creating beautiful landscapes, we we are all driven to create. I'd go so far as to say people need to create, to have a fulfilling life and we feel strongly about what we do. We love it and sometimes we even hate it. We're really, really passionate about our creations because we care really, really deeply about them. We care about the work that we put into it. We care about what we're making. But why is that? Is it that we love the very essence of what it is we do? A painter, for example, who, who loves the feel of paint moving between his brush and the canvas could work all day alone in his studio. Is it that we feel amazing when we've finally accomplished what we set out to do? The writer who sat at her computer for three hours a day every day for the past two years would feel so very, very satisfied after making the final keystroke on her very last edit. Is it that we feel even better when when we're acknowledged for what we've created, when our creation makes us look good? A ballerina savors the applause at the end of her variation, knowing that because of her hard, hard work, the audience knew it and appreciated that her performance was really, really good. Is it that we need to communicate something with other people to make them feel something? You know that we have something that we need them to hear and creating our art allows us to accomplish that. The photographer who works tirelessly overseas, away from home for months to create a moving image of a critically endangered animal so that as many people as possible can be inspired to help when they see the photo in the magazine. Depending on why we create, depending upon what motivates us, makes a difference in whether or not we want or need our work to be seen. So there's art for the sake of art. We create what we want with no real regard for how it will be received or how many likes it'll get. We create it because we believe it's good and needs to exist because it's a beautiful, beautiful thing and because we can do it because we love the process and in doing it it, it gives us a great, great sense of fulfillment. And then there's art for the sake of connecting. We create something with the very intent of having other people see it or hear it or read it. We have something we want to express and we need others to receive it for it to matter. We want to be a part of something in our creation, it will allow us to do that. Which one of those is the right reason? Art for the sake of art or art for the sake of connecting? Could creating just for the sake of doing it, be enough for you. Could creating for others rather than just ourselves be seen as a noble pursuit rather than as a negative influence? Does art need an audience? Would you stand alone day after day in the studio, turn on the music and repeat a combination over and over and over again, getting it better and better or maybe improvise to see what, wh at s pontaneous moments and movements you can create? Would that be enough for you? Would it feel unfulfilling to have made something really, really beautiful, something that you loved but without another person to share it with? I don't think there's any right or wrong answer here and I'll bet for you that it's actually a mix of both. I know for me that's definitely the case. I'm betting that you love dancing enough that you would do it alone. That actually you do do it alone. I'm betting that there are times where you move and create with no real regard or care for who will ever see it. And that feeling of getting lost in that moment is it's really, really great. I'm also pretty sure that you are also inspired to dance and create with, with a goal of performing for your audience, that approaching show date on the calendar, that it motivates you to get better and better and that the applause from the seats in the theater mean a lot to you. It's such an interesting question to me, this question of why do you do it? I think that when your why is both art for the sake of art and also for the sake of connecting, that you are in a position to truly make the most of what you do. I hope that today you'll ask yourself, why do I do it? And that after you do , you'll find some very beautiful answers.