The most sublime spectacle I have ever seen was a performance of Aram Khachaturian's ballet, Spartacus, performed in the Cypriot coastal town of Limassol four summers ago by the Kirov company (to which Rudolf Nureyev initially belonged).To me, there is nothing more breathtaking visually than the human body in motion - particularly the sculpted heroic bodies of dancers. And it doesn't get much more heroic and inspiring than Spartacus.
Of course, the music was wonderful, too, and it didn't hurt that one of my favourite films from childhood was Stanley Kubrick's 1960 film of the same name starring Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, Peter Ustinov, Jean Simmons, Charles Laughton and Tony Curtis.
Tonight, I happened to watch beautiful ballet performed by leading dancers from the Paris Opera.
And as I sat there watching the results of formidable discipline and dedication, not to mention, the artistic director and choreographer's compositions, it occured to me that while art and artists - performing or otherwise - feed our souls, they might be swept away as so much human debris or flotsam if a worldwide war over resources or global starvation due to crop (and land) failure occured.
Those elegant dancers, as well as all the actors, filmmakers, singers, songwriters, composers, visual artists, designers - even writers, could be reduced to being mere flesh, desperately craving food, shelter and safety for their loved ones in such a nightmarish event.
For those of us who are creative and were lucky enough to be born in the developed West, does it ever occur to us, we could ever be reduced to nothing more than desperate human beings?
With no other purpose in life, but to survive?
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