In an effort to get back into writing, I've decided to document some experiences of dancing, teaching dance, and engaging in other artistic endeavors throughout the coronavirus crisis.
Today, I had a particularly dance-centered day, and it was wonderful. I teach a modern class on Thursdays over Zoom (Join me! Approximately intermediate level but all levels welcome! https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6815439759). My crop today were three dance teachers, all of whom teach in Chicago Public Schools and are excellent leaders in the world of dance education. I love teaching dance to beginners, but when you teach to other dancers or dance teachers, it feels wonderful to jive and flow with little necessity to stop and explain.
Following my class, I went straight into a Gaga class streamed from New York, taught my Omri of Batsheva. I couldn't believe when I arrived at the Zoom class that there were about 250 people tuned in! I arrived a few minutes late since my class backed right up into the Gaga class, and it was my first one--I had no idea Gaga on Zoom had gained such a following. Most of the class, I had the screen centered on Omri using "speaker view" but on occasion I changed it to gallery view to see some of the other dancers. It was a bit hard to mentally focus amidst such exciting togetherness, and at one point I just had to scroll through the pages and pages on Zoom (12 of them?) to see everyone's movement. Next time, I will be more focused on my own class and not fiddle with the screen, but this first time I couldn't help but look around me at all these beautiful people, dancing together in their individual spaces. I even caught the the names of some old friends I've danced with in Israel in the past. Check out Gaga's streamed classes, offered at convenient times in local Tel Aviv or Eastern Standard Time. https://www.gagapeople.com/en/gaga-online/
Later I attended an ILDEO meeting (Illinois Dance Education Organization) and gathered with other local dance teachers to talk about issues and ideas with teaching dance remotely.
To keep feeling inspired, I find that collaborating with other artists has been a fulfilling use of my time during this quarantine. Here are a few things I've done or will be doing:
- Composer Dorian Wallace's 100 Seconds to Midnight, an Earth Day musician and dancer collaboration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgFYLs2l5O0
- Dancing in the Socially Distant Orchestra (Adam Grannick) excerpt from Stravinsky's Rite of Spring: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=611447409714493
- Playing horn in the Socially Distant Orchestra excerpt from Holst's The Planets; Jupiter: (upcoming)
- Singing (possibly, if I get my nerve up) in the Eric Whitacre Virtual Choir
Collaborating on a piece of art keeps us together during these distant times, and keeps us alive, inspired, and resilient.
