Will the Show Go On?
I cried walking by the Denver Performing Arts Center this weekend.
I cried for the artists, stage crew, musicians, administrative staff, company directors, bartenders and janitorial crews.
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I cried for the silence that would have been the sound of murmurs, of an orchestra warming up, of shouts of joy at the end of a performance, of the street musicians helping celebrate on the sidewalks.
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I cried for the excitement of a show, of a new role, of a last retirement performance — all evaporated in an instant.
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Right there on Speer Blvd. It was a palpable, lump-in-throat kind of a sadness 😭
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But I believe all creatures have an incredible superpower to adapt to even the most terrible of circumstances. So I know there will be a silver lining to it all, because we are human, because we are resilient.
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🌟Maybe the silver lining is gratitude. Gratitude for what we took fore-granted.
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🌟A newfound desire to appreciate the arts, having them taken away.
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🌟Finding new ways to connect with audiences, enabling performances to be more accessible to those for whom going to the theater was too high a barrier to entry.
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🌟A deep understanding of a shared experience that can be used on stage to express what we all feel.
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A performance is a snapshot in time, a way to move an audience, and share what’s in your heart. Without all the fancy accoutrement of a theater, we can still do it — we can share, connect and express together.
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While our own spring show was postponed too, I’m looking forward to a virtual performance at our Adult Ballet Festival — to share our hard work, our expression, and ourselves in a new way. To adapt to our situation. To rise above it, to perform anyway.
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Our studio’s mission is to bring ballet to adults who might not have had access in the past. To invite them into the ballet world and give them a place to call home. This home may be on the Internet now, but we can still make it our own.
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Is it the same? No. Is adapting painful? Yes. But we look for joy in the new, find the silver linings, and relish the new ideas and experiences that life brings us.
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I hope you’ll perform with us, dance with us, laugh and cry with us 🩰👏🤣😭
