Is Mise,

I grew up in the Western suburbs of Sydney.
I was a Westie. And I still remember the time
that our Music teacher took our class to a
Saturday matinee in the city of the ballet
"Les Sylphides." We all gasped when the curtain
went up. There was a blue smoke-filled haze that
filled the stage. And slowly the dancers began to
move. The females wearing the long classical white
tutus. It was stunning. We had never seen anything
like it.

Exposing young people to something as beautiful as
that is indeed an experience that should not just be
kept for the select few. It opens up one's eyes.
And broadens one's outlook. And being taxpayer
funded it should be something available to all.

Equity demands that user pays be applied to all "the Arts" & the hangers on.

Taking city kids out for a days work on a small crops farm, or a dairy would make a much more useful contribution. Some of them might actually learn that milk is not produced in a factory somewhere, & vegetables do not come frozen straight from another factory in china.

Foxy,
Did the teacher tell you of the damage done to young girls feet, particularly the toes by ballet?
She should have told you so that you’d realise that the graceful dancing came at a price.
Note that male ballet dancers are not so stupid and don’t dance in a way that nature never intended.
Parents who send their daughters to ballet practice should be charged with child cruelty.

But then what would one expect from people who wear high heeled shoes?

Hi Foxy,

Thanks for the reply, the question; "I can't help wondering how really diverse are our institutions and organisations in this country?" If you look at the CEO's of Australia's largest 100 businesses, the vast majority are male Anglo-Saxons. That is no accident, it begins a long time before their appointment, its privilege from the outset that leads to such positions of authority. If you look at the diverse institutions around the place, they tend to be those that wheel little power and have little authority in decision making.

Even though I believe in egalitarianism there is a case for the support of what is elitism in such areas as the arts, encouragement through schooling, and providing access to children to the arts, children who otherwise would not have such access is desirable.

Hi Issy

Are you going to include 'Clay Pigeon Shooting' as elite, with $5.5 million of public money given to the Wagga mob for that purpose, was that elitism? Daryl and Gladys didn't think so. BTW when you mentioned football you left out that fine cultural pursuit of jelly wrestling down at the local on a Friday night.

Hi Hassy,

"Taking city kids out for a days work on a small crops farm...", Mussolini liked to do that. El Duce can be seen in many a film, shirt off, manly chest in all its glory, El Duce bring in the harvest. Hitler had similar ideas for children with his 'Hitler Youth'. Its not such a silly idea, in NZ Maori kids from Auckland are bussed up north for an outing, and they are introduced to those sorts of things, along with culture, something they enjoy, and are not normally exposed to in the city.

Dear Paul,

Thanks for your comments. There's so many issues involved
here and of course challenging things does take time. We need
the leadership to be able to achieve change - and thus far it's
been slow in happening. I believe that education at all levels
is the answer - followed by action. More words (blah, blah, blah)
we don't need. Look at what's happening at the climate conference.
And where Australia stands. Have you seen the program -
"Incarceration Nation?" I couldn't watch it to the end. It left me
numb. I could not believe this was happening in Australia.

Anyway, I really have nothing further to add.

I think I'll go and spend some time with my grand-kids. They always
give me hope.

Paul,
No, I wouldn’t include clay shooting as elite going on the performance of a couple of failed politicians.

Foxy,
Always good to spend time with the grandkids; hope none of them are deforming their feet with ballet lessons.