Snackychocoloate, I think you miss the point. The prime seats are indeed for the elite. They symbolically represent the socioeconomic stratification in this country. The so called cheap seats necessitate binoculars just to to see the tops of heads, while the Bloomerber's enjoy a proximity that 99% of the people will never have. Regardless, there is a more profound distance which distinguishes opera as an art for the well to do. Music education is the first thing to be cut from public school budgets, in order to preserve entitlements for the wealthy. How many public school children in New York City therefore develop an appreciation or understanding of opera, yet alone so called "new music." Indeed, these are peculiar to the 1%, which keep the tradition alive privately at the intellectual expense of the 99%. I doubt a single mother making minimum wage would pay hundreds of dollars on high art. Furthermore, I doubt she would have been exposed to opera, ballet, symphonic music, or art had she attended public schools. Opera, therefore, is the manifestation of social and economic stratification. It is designed by elites for the elites, and funded by elite. The $12.50 nose bleed seats does nothing to bridge the gap between those that have and those that do not. BRAVO to Occupy Lincoln Center. They were the true stars of the evening. Best yet, their performance cost nothing to attend, and is ideologically accessible to all.
On 'Satyagraha' and Occupy Lincoln Center, Last Night
Snackychocoloate, I think you miss the point. The prime seats are indeed for the elite. They symbolically represent the socioeconomic stratification in this country. The so called cheap seats necessitate binoculars just to to see the tops of heads, while the Bloomerber's enjoy a proximity that 99% of the people will never have. Regardless, there is a more profound distance which distinguishes opera as an art for the well to do. Music education is the first thing to be cut from public school budgets, in order to preserve entitlements for the wealthy. How many public school children in New York City therefore develop an appreciation or understanding of opera, yet alone so called "new music." Indeed, these are peculiar to the 1%, which keep the tradition alive privately at the intellectual expense of the 99%. I doubt a single mother making minimum wage would pay hundreds of dollars on high art. Furthermore, I doubt she would have been exposed to opera, ballet, symphonic music, or art had she attended public schools. Opera, therefore, is the manifestation of social and economic stratification. It is designed by elites for the elites, and funded by elite. The $12.50 nose bleed seats does nothing to bridge the gap between those that have and those that do not. BRAVO to Occupy Lincoln Center. They were the true stars of the evening. Best yet, their performance cost nothing to attend, and is ideologically accessible to all.