What Work of Art Should Your Friends Fall in Love With?

Do you know the New York Times series “5 Minutes That Will Make You Love …”? Its writers and editors choose the five minutes or so they would play to make their friends fall in love with classical music, piano, opera, cello, Mozart, 21st-century composers, violin, Baroque music, sopranos, Beethoven, flute, string quartets, tenors, Brahms, choral music, percussion, symphonies, Stravinsky, trumpet, Maria Callas, Bach, the organ and mezzo-sopranos.

To find out how this feature works, click on any of the links above, or just check out the example below:

Though “5 Minutes” focuses on music, we’re inviting you to choose any art form you like to answer our question. So: Which television show, painting, book, movie, video game, photograph, dance performance, play, sculpture or podcast would you recommend? Or, inspired by the “5 Minutes” series, you might pick an artist, actor, musician, writer, designer, instrument or artistic tool to recommend.

Which five minutes of it would you show, describe, or have your friends experience to make them fall in love with it? Why?

Next, read and listen to “5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Music for Dance.” In this edition of the feature, dancers, choreographers, critics and others share five minutes or so of dance music. Here is a sampling:

Justin Peck, a choreographer, writes:

What I love about dance music is that it can be anything. It can be a piece that inspires me to choreograph a ballet for the stage, or something that causes me to glide in synchronized rhythm around my kitchen as I prepare dinner. It’s all fair game. In the case of “Become a Mountain” by Dan Deacon, it’s all of the above: the centerpiece of a longer dance that I choreographed a few months ago for the Juilliard School Class of 2022, and also a stand-alone track that gets my blood pumping on these frigid winter days in New York.

Kyle Abraham, also a choreographer, writes:

With its slick grooves, percussion, guitar licks and beautiful vocals, “Betray My Heart,” by D’Angelo and the Vanguard, is one of the rarest love songs I know. I included it in my newest evening-length work, “An Untitled Love,” because it is so pure, honest and sincere that I’m given a glimpse into what the joys of love should feel like. There’s something in the song’s lyrics and arrangement that makes me want to cry, and then get up and dance with the biggest smile on my face. My backbone slips, my shoulders roll, my heart thumps, and my head bops in its declaration.

Charmaine Warren, a dancer and teacher, writes:

I am Jamaican, and I love reggae music. Chronixx, one of Jamaica’s celebrated young singers, known for his rapturous songs, invites listeners to hearken back to the Rasta skank of Bob Marley. In “Smile Jamaica,” he starts off by singing about a girl he’s met; they exchange names and sweetly, just when the beat drops, we find that her name is Jamaica. He sings: “And I said smile, girl, smile. Smile for me, Jamaica.” In Jamaica we say “di music sweet mi,” and so I can’t help but drop my head, drop deeper into my swaying hips, pump my bent arms, smile, and sing along with the chorus.

Students, read the entire article and listen to the audio files of the pieces that seem the most interesting to you, then tell us:

• Which commentaries made you most curious to listen to the music they describe? Why? If you listened to the audio files, what did you think? Did the music match the descriptions?

• Is there music that makes you want to dance? If so what?

• Think about an art form you love. How do you feel when you are involved in it? How does it make you feel emotionally? Physically? Intellectually?

• Now go back to our original question. Which work of art or cultural expression would you choose to highlight for your own “5 Minutes That Will Make You Love …”? Which short section of it would you like your friends to experience?

• What do you think people might misunderstand about the art you have chosen to present? How would you try to change their minds?

Want more writing prompts? You can find all of our questions in our Student Opinion column. Teachers, check out this guide to learn how you can incorporate them into your classroom.

Students 13 and older in the United States and Britain, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.