Art vs. athletics: What’s better?

It’s a long standing and unnecessary rivalry. Which is more important? Engagement in the arts or in sports? Both offer opportunities for development and growth, teamwork, confidence, discipline and drive. It’s easy to put both on level footing, except that through the lens of funding, sports wins the pageant and the arts often take the backseat. I offer that these activities are not mutually exclusive, both are important, and need to be backed the same by our communities and our municipalities.

I was not the most naturally gifted athlete as a kid, but to keep me busy one summer of my teen years, my mother enrolled me in an Olympic training swim camp. It pushed me beyond limits I knew existed. Eight hours a day in the water, four more in the gym and one with a sports psychologist to learn the tricks mental fortitude and psyching out my opponent. I had to walk home and prayed I could make it up the stairs to my bed as there was nothing left and my legs were jelly. Later that year, I landed the role of Desdemona in Shakespeare’s “Othello.” Never having sung on stage, I again found myself completely out of the depths of comfort and safety and did it passably well – because I had to. Others were counting on me, as I counted on them. In either lane, of sports or in art, you do what must be done whether you feel equipped, inspired, motivated, rested – or not. There are times when you may ascend beyond the norm of everyday experience. There are names for these things – a runner’s high, for example. This happens when the endorphins and adrenaline are so high after an extended period of physical performance that the body enters a euphoric state. The same can happen during a performance. The “fight or flight” response onstage is a real phenomenon and takes a lot to push through.

It may be generally said that entertainment in our culture has gotten out of hand as we idolize our athletes and star celebrities to the extreme, and they are beyond handsomely compensated. Whether they should be earning more than a teacher or an emergency room doctor is a different debate. The good news is that we are maintaining a platform for appreciation that engagement in these industries is important to us culturally as a reminder of the strength, fortitude and genuine chutzpah that it takes to be successful within the parameters of a production of any kind, be it basketball, DEVO, presenting a painting in an exhibit or performing on stage. And why? Because these activities are intrinsic to our expression, both of self and of our collective communities.

Buy tickets, donate, become a member and register for classes at DurangoArts.org.