At the completion of a long- standing legal matter, my attorney and I were finishing up when I said “Well, I guess the only thing left for me to do is become an activist.” He laughed heartily, smiled, and said, “What do you mean become?”

Isn’t it interesting how our community and our friends sometimes know us better than we know ourselves? I knew that over the years I had worked with some success on causes that I cared about, but I truly would never have thought of myself as an activist. Aren’t they hard-nosed go-getters who don’t take no for an answer? Aren’t they people who carry placards and stand for causes that are sometimes on the edge? I thought about it and remembered a presidential campaign when I was a college student in Tennessee. I remembered carrying a Kennedy placard and having farmers in that mostly Republican area say unkind things to me. One even spat tobacco juice at me. He wasn’t a master of the art, so he missed.

The same spirit I felt when I knew someone had to save the Shelton House or when I was too uncomfortably cold performing at the old HART theater was revived when I learned that the Haywood County Arts Council was considering dropping the Atlanta Ballet residency and performances this year for lack of funding. I went to the meeting where the issue was discussed and came away feeling the activist again. I came away an activist for the Atlanta Ballet in Haywood County. I suppose a good part of this experience is that I’m dealing with a cause that won’t inspire spitting. The only way I’m on the edge with this one is that the arts council board is having trouble making up its minds.

The only ballet performances I had ever seen prior to 1991 were Beale Fletcher Studio recitals where my daughter teetered in little soft slippers and feathery tutus. It didn’t take with her and she moved on to other areas. I didn’t think much about ballet until the spring of 1991 when I was asked to help with the initial visit of the Atlanta Ballet. The poster from that first year hangs on the wall in my home. I love it. It’s bold red and black with a lovely, graceful, stark white figure. The art pleases me, but I think I love the poster because it represents an experience that taught me something about myself. I didn’t mind working on bringing the ballet here. But I wasn’t sure I would attend a performance. I did go, though, and I will never forget it. The light, the color, the movement, the music, was sheer ultimate beauty. I sat enraptured throughout. When it was over, I was on my feet with others who probably had a different appreciation based on some knowledge of what they had experienced. I only knew I was touched, moved and uplifted. Because I didn’t know a lot about technique or the composers whose music was played or the progression of the pieces, I was free to simply appreciate the experience. I’m sure those people who are schooled had an even more uplifting experience, but I was thrilled and happy with my own.

I’ve read some news articles about what the Atlanta Ballet residency does for the young people of Haywood County, and how it has inspired some to make it their life. That is such a wonderful thing all by itself that I want the ballet to continue to come back. Young lives are being affected and changed by the cultural experience of having the group spend 10 days here every summer. Is it costly? Consider the benefits.

There is much to be said for the general cultural enrichment this event adds to our community. The members of the company stay in local homes, visit with our children and educate and stimulate them. What a beautiful diversity to be able to attend the county fair or the Smoky Mountain Folk Festival and witness our young people participating in a dance mode that is part of their rich heritage and to know they can also experience a world class ballet performance and meet the people who are part of it. As a child growing up in North Carolina, I had the wonderful, educating experience of the North Carolina Symphony performing at my public school annually. These are the things which form a broad based education for our children.

The first fund-raising event to support the ballet’s appearance this year is March 8. Hale’s of Waynesville has agreed to allow the funds from their annual benefit fashion show to go to the ballet fund this year. At Waynesville Country Club Inn we will offer a hospitality hour at 11 a.m., followed by lunch and a preview of beautiful spring fashions.

This event is always well attended, but we hope this year’s can be the biggest and best ever. We are working hard to make that happen. This is the kick off. This is the beginning of our opportunity to say we don’t want to lose this incredible asset to our community. You can help by purchasing a ticket to the fashion show at Hale’s or Turnabouts and joining us for this rite of spring that will benefit the landmark 10th year of the Atlanta Ballet in Haywood County.

Let’s celebrate Haywood County for what it is and what it is becoming. Every good thing benefits us all. Even us activists! Or is that we activists?

(Sammie Felmet lives in Waynesville.)

 

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