Influences

Reflecting on what the dance community has lost during COVID-19

Reflecting on what the dance community has lost during COVID-19 by kathleen rea

The Inspired List: World champion hoop dancer Lisa Odjig

We first heard about the COVID-19 pandemic through Instagram, Facebook and the news. And then suddenly, its impact arrived at the doors of our dance studios. Within the space of one week, drastic changes occurred at a speed our psyches and hearts had no time to process. Collectively the dance world braced for impact, closed our theatres and studios and postponed or cancelled shows and classes.

We lost our income and held our breath, uncertain of what would happen next. For some, this also involved the loss of loved ones or teachers. This worldwide collapse of the dance community was unprecedented in our lifetime. There was no map to tell us how to do this well or even how to just make it through. The dance world changed. We’ve had losses and there will be more losses to come, and we do not know what the dance world will look like on the other side.

Weeks have passed and we have released our collective breath as we realize we are in this for the long haul. With this exhale comes the challenge of moving from crisis mode to the process of grieving and building our new reality. Most likely these next steps are already occurring, depending on where you live while still in some form of COVID-19 isolation.

For dancers who process their lived experiences through movement and connection with others, their very means of coping has been temporarily cut off. Dancers face not only a unique set of losses but also a loss in the trusted way we usually make it through. I do not seek to minimize the suffering of nondancers but to instead name the unique situation dancers face.

Dancers are left to process the impact of COVID-19 by moving their couches to the side, rolling up their carpets and dancing alone in their living rooms. Yet, for many, the online dance events and classes do not provide the real-time connection we crave.

Some dancers remain still as they wait for a better time to work through their grief. Yet sore muscles, a twitching eye or a feeling of sadness push against the mental wall that’s meant to protect us from what’s happened. It’s important to acknowledge that these reactions are all normal and expected given what dancers have lost.

The job of dancers in the world today is to find a way to return to the thing we do best: to let feeling flow through us via movement and give this gift to the world, creating room inside our collective body for us to feel alive and find meaning in our new lives. When our stories are shared, we are no longer alone in our loss. We return to our body-home because we no longer fear the grief that lives there. Even if this coming-home is painful, it is a relief after having been away. This is the job of the dancer – to go through this process themselves and, in so doing, lead the world.

It is no small task.