Thinking Globablly, Acting Locally

Photo (c) Time Magazine

Lest you think our ballet's struggle is something unique to Portland, Time Magazine this week gives us a glimpse of how arts organizations across the country are struggling mightily. Have a look-see.

And, in response to some of the comments left here on Culture Shock about how you can help the Ballet with its current situation, may I direct you to Bob Hick's very fine four-point plan. I can't help but feel like this is all some kind of reverse metaphor for an episode of Grey's Anatomy in which, shortly after a patient comes into the ER, we realize that there may or may not be anything the doctors can to to help. Seriously: he is badly broken, with life-threatening injuries to almost every part of his body, and, for added drama, we learn that the patient has some deep moral flaw that gives some of the doctors pause about whether they should even bother operating with full vigor and resolve. But the code of conduct for this situation, like our own impulse, is always the same: let's get the heart beating first, and we'll figure out what to do with the patient if and when he recovers from the immediate trauma.

Clear!