STATE OF THE ARTS

every night of the darkened theaters and concert halls come to life with live performances-comedy, tragedy, dance, music. Intricate pirouettes, impassioned soliloquies, exhilarating crescendos borne of untold hours of preparation are offered to alternately hushed and frenzied audiences. Some of Dallas on stage is great, some is good and some lacks that essential spark. But in the vital range of performing arts in Dallas we define our character and we begin to discover our soul. The lively arts presented this season offer both maturity and the exuberance of youth. The Dallas Symphony celebrates its 85th anniversary, and, flushed with the success of its first European tour, stands poised to break into the top tier of big-city orchestras. Competition between ballet troupes in Dallas and Fort Worth, and a continuing array of imported talent through TITAS, offers great opportunity for lovers of classical dance. Ditto for aficionados of opera, who will thrill to ambitious programs in this and in seasons ahead. And pop music fans can rejoice that Dallas is now a regular stop on the circuit for the world’s premier rock, blues and country acts.

But perhaps no branch of the city’s performing arts offers more promise than theater. The Dallas Theater Center’s concroversiaJ Adrian Hall, despite his detractors, inspired other established theaters-and thea-ter-goers-to shun safer plays for productions that stretch and stimulate us. Stage #1 continues to spotlight the finest American playwrights and the New Arts Theater comes forth this fall with a new artistic director and a burst of new life.

With this expansive look at all the performing arts in Dallas-theater, dance, opera, symphony and pop music-we offer challenges along with celebration. Local critics offer frank assessments of various performing companies while arts activist Philip Seib urges us toward a continuing commitment to the arts.

Dallas is not the arts capital of America. But our performers reach for more every year- and as surely as the turning of the autumn leaves, each year they grasp more of what they seek.