Ballet Needs Your Help to Survive COVID
“Its ok to take a break or quit dancing due to COVID. Ballet will always be there for you when you’re ready.”
I am conflicted with this statement, and I’m here today to talk about a potentially unpopular perspective on it. The advice I see online is that it’s ok to just stop dancing and wait until the pandemic is over.
By then, it’ll be too late.
First, I’ll talk about why we should keep fighting. Then I’ll talk about solutions.
On the one hand, no, classical ballet the old art form isn’t going to disappear in 2020. We can still shape our body into an arabesque or do a pirouette ourselves no matter the state of the world.
But on the other hand, if we all quit dancing and quit supporting the arts, ballet as we know it may in fact NOT be here for us when we are ready for it.
Broche Ballet Denver is gone. And there are countless stories of studios around the world closing. Many of the big companies are canceling their winter seasons, where they draw big crowds and much of their funding for the year. Fundraisers are sprouting up, and for hefty sums. They’re struggling. We’re struggling.
Studios, performers, companies, theaters, artists and all of the supporting jobs only exist because of our dedication and support. Without an audience, they do not exist.
It is not my goal to make you feel guilty or threatened, or shamed into support, because that’s not the way to create sustainable and joyful support. One-time guilt makes a one-time payment, but we are talking about a year or more that the arts needs to be supported. That means we need to find a way to make it work consistently, which only happens if we each have a genuine reason that we can feel good about and rekindle our love for it.
I’ve experienced the other side of it, so I am here to talk about why you should care, even if it’s a little bit of a messy conversation. It’s on my heart and I think it’s worth wondering about in the open.
On the one hand, we lament that artists and the arts itself are undervalued, but then our behavior tells a different story.
Are we actually willing to keep paying for digital classes and digital seasons?
Or do we complain about things not being the same now, and therefore want to just quit entirely?
Or take a break through the hardest months for the organizations we care about?
Or grumble about having to pay a little more for the mostly-empty in-person class when they’re available?
Or do we think to ourselves that digital seasons of performances should be free, or that ballet classes should be free on social media?
So do we really value art and artists if we expect to have it for free? Or if we feel like it can be thrown from our lives and our budgets at the first hint of hardship? What does it mean to value it and how much are we willing to fight for it?
From the organization’s perspective, it’s impossible to operate on 30% revenue with 100% of the expenses. Rent doesn’t stop. Employees, staff, and team members still need a paycheck. Insurance bills are still do. Imagine you took a 70-90% pay cut at work and how you’d still pay your bills without the ability to downsize.
That’s an uphill battle and requires motivation, support, and community effort.
From the side of the organization with constant angst and bills to pay every monthl, hearing over and over that “I just need a break right now, please cancel my account, I’ll be back in a few months” is really hard to hear from your community.
Seeing this message echoed in countless forums with the encouragement as validation from others that “it’s ok to lose motivation, or to stop trying right now; ballet will be there when you’re ready”
The artists don’t get to “lose motivation and take a break” if they want their job to be there when “this is all over”. The teams at arts organizations don’t get to “lose motivation and take a break.” The bills certainly don’t “lose motivation and take a break.” The artists, staff, companies and studios are under tremendous stress to keep something alive while you “wait for this to pass.”
“Good luck,” the customers say, “I’ll be back when I feel like dancing again,” or “when the world is back to normal,” or “when there’s a vaccine,” or “when I have a bigger apartment,” or you name it. Oh and I’ll go ahead and cancel my membership for now.
With a smile, we reply “take the time you need, see you in the fall!” but with a heavy heart, yet another statement withdrawing support continues to chip away at the motivation and mental state, will to fight, and money in the bank.
And one by one, dancer by dancer, the community disappears.
So what does it mean to value the arts? Are they worth fighting for?
Maybe right now, just as ballet has supported us unconditionally through each of our hard times, maybe we need to muster the courage to keep dancing in an imperfect environment, find ways to continue supporting our favorite organizations, and find the will to continue fighting to keep the arts alive and well.
If we think about a world without ballet companies and theaters and shows and ballet training, and we are ok with it, then yes it’s ok to make that decision to let it slip from our lives and fade into the distance. But if we truly hope to “be back in the fall” or “return when there’s a vaccine,” or “see you in 2021,” then we need to put in the effort.
This is a critical time for organizations, and our decisions in the coming weeks will have lasting impact.
Sometimes we need ballet after a long hard day, but I think ballet needs each of US individually right now.
You matter to the ballet world.
Each individual spreading positivity and showing a willingness to fight makes a difference to keep it alive.
I know you matter, because I hear your messages. Every message of support and love matters. Each and every one matters. Each is one more reason for me to keep fighting and not “lose motivation and take a break.”
Organization leaders, artists, and the like all need a reason to keep fighting. So let’s give them a reason to, and show them that we are willing to fight, too.
Let’s find a way to help each other keep showing up for the organizations and the artforms we care about most.
Let’s ask those hard questions about why we are not motivated and look for solutions, not just encourage each other to give up.
I know from running the studio before COVID, that once dancers give up on ballet, the barrier to re-entry is so high. Inertia is massive. We give up for “just a month” while we get through a busy time at work or travel, but then we become out of shape. Discouraged. Disheartened. There’s every intention of returning, but they very rarely do come back. And if they do, it’s years. I can count the times on 1 hand (maybe 2), that a dancer returned. So don’t stop. Don’t let that inertia build.
We know we love ballet. So let’s work together to keep it in our lives.
What you can do:
Consider that right now ALL arts organizations are pouring over spreadsheets counting the days they have left to get more money, cut expenses, or close down. Everything you do right now, today, helps them build signals for how much demand remains. The clock is ticking on the cash.
Talk about you dancing!!
Dance, and tell people you’re doing it. Try to grow the ballet audience now while it’s on the verge of dwindling. Get your non-ballet friends to try a class. Teach them a few things yourself!
Keep dancing at home
Seriously. I’m not saying this because I’m running an online ballet school. Dance anywhere. Use YouTube, Instagram live, your local studio if you had one. But don’t make excuses for giving up. Are you worried about bad habits? Injuries? Bad flooring? Getting distracted by kids/babies/other? Are you sad, anxious, etc? Grieving? Then let’s work through that together. Let’s not give up on ourselves or on the art form we love. Let’s find a way.
If you’re safe to dance in a studio, take a class!
Show up to classes and make your presence felt. Offer a smile to the studio staff (or smile with your eyes if a mask is worn).
Include a smiley face emoji in an email to your dance studio or organization.
Donate to your local ballet company
They need your support. Badly.
Take a free class and donate to the instructor
They appreciate it and it boosts morale in a time when being a performer is so hard
Buy a piece of dance art or a new dance outfit
It’ll help support someone!
Post a video of yourself trying to dance online
Encourage your friends to keep trying!
