Laughing with Leonie Pony of ponydance

Lauhing with Leonie Pony of ponydance - For a reason that will become clear shortly, I recently became curious about why it is that we go see performances. As a dancer, I wonder what it is that drives people to fill seats in the audience, and, as an audience member, what is it that compels me to purchase a ticket to a show? So with the help of some handy crowdsourcing (i.e. Facebook), I decided to turn to the collective mind (you) for responses to my quandary. Here are some of the things you said (thank you to everyone who responded to my text, Facebook message, email, call, etc.!) in response to the question: When you attend arts events (i.e. musical, visual art exhibition, theater piece, dance show, opera, movies, Tuvan throat singing, etc.), what do you most hope to get out of your experience? I received responses from 30 individuals, distributed as follows (size of the word corresponds to how often people cited the word as a response):

Though hardly a controlled, representative, or well-orchestrated survey in any conventional sense, the 30 respondents shared some insights with me that I hadn’t expected. In reviewing responses, my own motivations to see art became clearer. I began to realize that, generally, when I go to an arts event, I am looking to experience some sort of renewal, whether through provocation of new thoughts or ideas, transportation to another place or time, or deep emotional movement, all of which leave me with some sense of new vitality. Which brings me (finally) to ponydance. Read more...