Words by Giordana Patumi.
“In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have taken the decision with a heavy heart to close the theatre to the public and cancel all performances with immediate effect up until …”
Dancers, musicians, actors, dramaturgs, singers, visual artists, cultural operators, teachers, students and the general public are seeing the immediate closure of every cultural institution around the entire world.
On my 11th day (and counting) in quarantine in Italy, my spirit was relieved to see our beautiful, international dance community coming together to be proactive during these times.
We live in extremely strange days, but none of us are losing our will to keep moving and connecting with our bodies. But now, and most importantly, we are sharing it with other people.
We have to remember how strong we are when united, both as humans as well as artists. Let this hard moment be a starting point to reflect on our system and learn to make new choices.
We are now seeing dance companies around the world stream warm-ups and classes live from the teachers’ homes. I wanted to list some suggestions for you which you can either watch or join.
A big thank you to the entire dance community. Stay home, stay safe and keep dancing!
- Merce Cunnigham Trust: Jennifer Goggans will be leading a 30-40 minute Cunningham warm-up via Instagram Live Thursday3/19 @ 1pm EST and Friday 3/20 @ 1pm EST
- Gaga: 6 classes per day, 7 days a week, live-streamed from Tel Aviv and New York City. Each class will be ~30 minutes.
- Ballet: Many ballet dancers are gifting us with live ballet class from everywhere, like for example today the two principal ABT dancers James Whiteside and Isabella Boylston
- Graham: CRDANCE company live stream Graham classes from 8:00am-3:00pm. Classes range from 1hr30 to 2hrs.
To watch: Peeping Tom has posted their first trilogy! Watch Le Jardin (2002) Le Salon (2005) and Le Sous Sol (2007).
We will be waiting like Degas ‘little dancing to go back to our studio and stages. Dance always win!