Over the past few decades, the performing arts have lost appeal from younger generations. While the reasoning is still up for debate—shorter attention spans, lack of appreciation, etc.—it is abundantly clear that performing art forms of all kinds need to be protected or else they will not survive.
Because of this, comments made ridiculing dying arts are incredibly irresponsible and should be addressed as such. Take for example actor Timothée Chalamet.
“I don’t want to be working in ballet or opera, or … things where its like, ‘Hey, keep this thing alive,’ even though … no one cares about this thing anymore,” Chalamet said during a 2026 interview.
Chalamet has an extremely large following, making him responsible for every word he says. If he posts about not liking brownies, half of his followers will never eat another brownie. All this is to say that this comment could have detrimental effects on the performing arts—making people question whether ballet is still the breath-taking activity it once was, or rather the waste of time Chalamet implies it is.
While often ridiculed, performing arts in all styles gives people healthy and beautiful ways to express themselves. Anyone who has ever been in a musical, choir, or on a dance team can advocate for the feeling of ‘the muse,’ or when one’s emotions are fully tied to the performance and their entire body and soul is put into an experience. This feeling is at stake and cannot be protected forever.
Ballet and Opera are not dying art forms, but rather their appreciation is dying. This is not at the fault of the performances themselves, but rather the current generation’s tendency to not care about things that are not modern or “trending.”
I challenge whoever is reading this to watch a live performance—a play, a concert, anything—and ask yourself if the unitive emotions felt by the audience are worth throwing away based off of a single celebrity’s stupid comment.
