where I stand in the theatre

I thought I went to many different performances related to theatre so that I was very cultured and pretty familiar with the issue in terms of theatre. However, as I took the Asian theatre class, I felt ashamed of myself because I actually did not know anything about one of the longest performing arts, the Bali dance. I was in my little world that I only saw what was available to me and did not search for more.  After the professor asked us in the class, I realized I was standing on the starting line in terms of Asian theatre and there are many forms of theatre that I need and want to learn. I asked myself, “Why I was not cultured in the Asian theatre even though I lived in Asia for almost my entire life”. Sadly, I was ignorant and there possibly was some kind of bias in my mind that western theatre was superior to Asian theatre. It was based off on the availability of the shows and performances that I could see. Since I did not look for it, all I saw right in front of my eyes was all I knew. There simply were more western theatres around me. However, after I learned in the class about how much effort and spirit you have to put into the performance to create art, I valued Asian theatre as much as western theatre and was more interested in finding out about Asian performing art. By figuring out more and more about different theatres in the world, I think I get more cultured and move forward on the metaphorical line I spoke of earlier. With that I expect to at least be standing on the middle point in the world of theatre by the end of the semester. After that I will keep discovering and educating myself on the theatre for the rest of my life. I’ve learned so much and hope I can continue to learn throughout my years even after William and Mary.