Warrior of Light | Editorial by David Benaym

Feb 25, 2008 No Comments by David Benaym

I never fell for once-upon-a-time’s and happily-everafter’s. I demanded a certain messy humanity even in the fictional characters that drew me into their worlds. When I was growing up, Disney had already evolved their fairy tale style into more contemporary films like Pete’s Dragon and The Rescuers. These socially conscious movies set some sort of foundation for me; their heroes dealt with war and peace, poverty, and other social issues. Fantasia also moved me when it was re-released for its 40th anniversary. It succeeded in conveying classical music to my curious mind, and beautifully interpreted sounds and melodies into magical dreams. Mickey and hundreds of new characters showed me ballet and rhythm in ways I had never experienced before. I will always remember the hippos taking a bath while dancing on La Gioconda’s Dance of the Hours.At eight years old I was introduced to Antoine de Saint Exupery’s The Little Prince. I am from the south of France, where Saint Exupery is a local hero. The prince’s quest is very similar to Dorothy’s adventure in The Wizard of Oz, but with philosophical elements very much like those found in Lewis Carroll’s Alice In Wonderland.At age fourteen, I realized that real life personalities also had amazing stories to tell. I neglected fiction and turned my attention to hard news. However, I also discovered Messiada, a political novel that dealt with the Middle East. With an extremely well-handled imagination, author Andrea Soussan wove real news-making personalities into the story, and gave it a certain credibility and almost prophetic feeling. The line between fantasy and reality seemed thinner than ever to me.

A warrior of light [...] is someone capable of understanding the miracle of life, of fighting to the last for something he believes in and of hearing the bells that the waves set ringing on the seabed. [...] Everyone is capable of these things. And, though no one thinks of themselves as a warrior of light, we all are.

Paulo Coelho, The Manual of the Warrior of Light

It was only a few years ago when literature hit my reality in the gut. I discovered The Manual of the Warrior of Light by Paulo Coelho. I couldn’t believe it; it was literally as if someone had analyzed me for years and wrote about my personality, mentality, sensibilities, goals and demons.Then last summer I encountered a brand new phenomenon: when some of the real life people around me became part of a television storyline. It is never easy to write about people you know very well and interact with on a daily basis. So when we decided to dedicate this issue’s cover to Sabra Johnson, Neil Haskell, and Danny Tidwell (with whom I cofounded movmnt), we reached into fantasy to tease out a certain reality that many have not seen from them yet. The result is a magical photo shoot, as well as an in-depth conversation with all three filled with elements that TV viewers, journalists, bloggers, forums, and the rumor mill may have missed. Or shall I say, misinterpreted.Just as all of these stories and characters taught me about the wonder and beauty of life, movmnt hopes to bring the worlds of pop culture and the performing arts alive for our readers. This is why movmnt is launching Keep It Real, a nonprofit initiative designed to give back to the community in various ways. Look for much more about this in future issues and at movmnt.com.

David Benaym

Warrior of Light and Editor in Chief of movmnt magazine

6 - Spring 08, DANCE, From The Editor, NEWS, POP CULTURE, So You Think You Can Dance

David Benaym

About the author

David Benaym is a journalist, author and publisher, currently Editor in Chief of Movmnt Magazine, a quarterly he co-founded in 2006 dedicated to cover dance and pop culture together as a lifestyle. Based in Manhattan, Benaym was born in Nice, France. His journalistic debuts started early, when at 11 he had his own weekly radio show that lasted 4 years, conveying news to kids his own age. Serious journalism came along at 24, after studying at the Paris school of Journalism followed by a graduate program at American University based in DC. Benaym has always been covering stories in innovative ways: in Washington DC, where he was the first online only journalist to be credited as a US Senate and Congress Press Correspondent for fednet.net and e-press.ca. In Brussels, Belgium where he launched the first free weekly magazine, 168h, or back in the US where he syndicated his work as an independent journalist for several european publications such as La Dernière Heure, La Libre Belgique, L'Officiel, Strategies, or L'Optimum. During this time in New York, Benaym approaches celebrities as if they where not famous. After an extended series of stories on Socialites' life, his seems realize his path and start a quest within the entertainment world: finding real talents over fame junkies. at 30, he created his own publishing company, e-maprod. He already conceptualized, designed and produced three books; "Moving Still, a life performance", a state of the art tribute to dancers captured in motion; "Profile: Nicola L." an artbook on the life and achievements of french artist Nicola L; and "Festival", a coffee table book that celebrates 15 years of performances captured by Rosalie O'Connor during the Fire Island Dance Festival, benefiting Dancer Responding to Aids. In June 2006, along with performer Danny Tidwell, David Benaym launch his own magazine, Movmnt, convinced that dance as an art form is under rated, and over protected by elitists, he works on bridging the gap between arts in motion and pop culture, always looking for innovative ways to develop his ideal, through printed material, online digital editions, all in total interaction through social networking and a very personalized approach towards his readership.