How the Dance Industry was Affected by COVID-19

We’ve all had our share of loss during the pandemic, and the dance/arts industry is no exception. From school musicals being canceled, to dance studios –and even Broadway– shutting down, how will this industry survive? Well, it hasn’t been easy, but we’re pushing through!

1. No More In-Person Classes

When coronavirus first became an issue in March, everyone at my dance studio was anxious about having to shut down. March is the beginning of our competition season, and we didn’t want all of our hard work (and money $$$) to go to waste. But then school was canceled, and by law, dance was too — at least in-person. For the first few weeks of quarantine, dance classes were on Band. We didn’t work on our actual dances because we thought that we would be back in the studio soon enough. But, as the percentage of people with COVID continued to grow, we knew that the studio wouldn’t be opening up for a while, so we switched our classes to Zoom and started working on our competition dances for the competitions that we weren’t even sure were going to happen.

2. 2020 Competition Season Canceled

Our first competition was supposed to be the last weekend in March, but the venues could only hold half of their capacity. At first, we thought that we could compete just without an audience, but as the competition dates came closer, and the number of cases in the area grew, the competition was canceled. The same thing happened to the other two. This year was also supposed to be our Nationals year; we were going to go to Atlantic City! That competition is so fun because you compete against more people and have fun with your team on the beach and the Boardwalk! Two of the three competitions that were canceled tried to reschedule for July, but at that point in time, it wasn’t clear how to keep everyone safe, so they didn’t happen. But, our third and final competition of the year is still on! It will be so different, though. Instead of a venue, two judges are coming to our studio, our dances will be performed back-to-back, and we’ll all be wearing masks. This way, only one studio will be competing at a time, and our risk of getting corona will be reduced!

3. Reopening Confusion

The stages for reopening in upstate New York started in May. Still, there was confusion on when dance studios were allowed to open. Phase Two states that individual offices can open. Stage Four allows “Low-risk indoor arts and entertainment activities, including museums, aquariums, and historical sites” to open, but “gyms and fitness centers” would remain closed (The New York Times). When would we be able to go back to the studio? Does dance count as a small business, or indoor arts and entertainment? Do we count as a fitness center? Those questions were left unanswered for a very long time. Multiple dance studio owners in the area even contacted the mayor, all receiving the same response: “we don’t know what stage you are.” Well that’s helpful, isn’t it? After leaving us in the dark for so long, it was finally decided that we were Phase Four, but the studios would need to keep dancers six feet apart, close their waiting rooms, check everyone’s temperature, and wear masks.

4. Dancing with Masks?

Dancing with masks, you ask? Yes, that’s what I said. If dancers can’t be six feet apart, they have to wear masks. This is entirely understandable, but it does take a toll on the dancers. While masks don’t restrict airflow, they do trap heat and humidity within them. Sweat and breath get caught between your mask and your face, reducing the amount of oxygen that is available for you to inhale and increasing the amount of carbon dioxide you exhale. Because carbon dioxide is thicker than oxygen, you have to take longer breaths to inhale the same amount of oxygen. But, breaths quicken the more active you are, so it is harder to breathe and feel energized. I don’t want to sound gross, but I’ve noticed that wearing masks while dancing makes me sweat more, and my face flushes a lot faster. By no means am I telling you to stop wearing a mask. I am recounting my experience and explaining one of the reasons why we need to be safe and slow the spread of the coronavirus!

5. New Age of Online Workshops

In times of hardship, it’s always good to look on the bright side! There has been one good thing that came out of quarantine: online dance classes! During the first few weeks of quarantine, online dance workshops and individual classes started to appear. And they were FREE! One of my favorite workshops, Titans of Dance, did a free class on Instagram live every day for two weeks. A little while later, the Rockettes started teaching sections of their dances from their big Christmas show at Rockefeller Center! Each IG live class I took had between 500 and 2,000 viewers. Once other dance companies realized their popularity, they started to charge a small amount of money for these classes. Some of them transferred to Zoom, this type of class allowed the (famous) instructors to give one-on-one feedback to the dancers! Right now, I’m taking lessons from CLI Studios; they had an eight-week program of live classes you could take for just a small amount of money! A typical day of in-person workshops cost at least a hundred dollars, a lot of times more. Still, the online classes were cheaper and gave the dancers more opportunities to improve!

Dance is a huge passion of mine, and I’m so glad that we were able to push through in this tough time! What activities do you do that were affected by corona?