OPERA wonder when the show will go on

revenue. It later launched a fund-raiser to help pay the bills during the pandemic, noting that its board leadership also pledged significant contributions toward keeping the place afloat.

The Met also laid off its unionized employees, who have not seen paychecks since March 31.

“I have no idea what I am going to do,” said dancer David Gonsier, 37, of Park Slope, Brooklyn, noting that all Met dancers are contract employees hired per production. “I lost every gig I had for the next year in the span of three weeks. That story is not at all uncommon.”

For Gonsier — one of the co-founders of Dance Artists’ National Collective, which advocates for safer, more equitable working conditions for freelance dancers like himself — the shutdown is an opportunity to rethink their position within the arts world.

“There are so many hurdles we will have to clear when we come back to rehearsal. We are all going to need [time] to adjust,” Gonsier said, adding that most dancers do not have the space or proper flooring to practice the leaps, jumps and turns required of peak performance.

“No one is doing grand allegro at home. How do we negotiate the landscape of what we’re expected to do and what we expect of ourselves?” he said. “That’s going to be a big part of the tale of the dance community during this crisis.”

In the meantime, many Met artists have practiced and performed together virtually. The organization hosted an “At-Home Gala” last month, and dancers continue to take part in online classes as a group.

Hanlon said he looks forward to weekly Zoom meetings with his chorus colleagues — a space for them to share just how hard things have been off-stage.

“I’ve had trouble singing [during quarantine]. It’s just hard to make myself practice,” he said. “I love singing live partly because of the people feeling their reaction to me.

“We’re used to spending months working to get ready for any opera — but you know when the performance is going to be,” he added. “It’s hard to work towards something when you don’t know when it’s going to come back.”