NEWS RELEASE: Reporting on DC Dance While Social Distancing
Contact email: info@dancemetrodc.org
Dance Metro DC’s Local DC Dance Journalism Project
To Focus on Dance While Social Distancing
March 31, 2020 — While the region and much of the country are operating under “stay at home” and “socially distant” orders, the DMV region’s artists continue to create and share their expertise and their art. Dance Metro DC’s Local DC Dance Journalism Project (DCDJP) announces a new occasional series, Dance While Social Distancing, interviewing dance artists across the region.
Under the direction of DJP Director Lisa Traiger, the spring 2020 cohort of DCDJP writers has begun interviewing dance artists from across Washington, D.C., suburban Maryland and Northern Virginia about the effects the COVID-19 pandemic have had on the local dance community. With county, state and national orders to “flatten the curve” by closing all non-essential businesses and maintaining a social distance of at least six feet from anyone one does not live with on a day-to-day basis, dancers, dance teachers and dance presenters are unable to rehearse, teach, produce shows or even meet.
With the closure of dance and fitness studios, theaters, rehearsal and other spaces for public gathering, dance artists have been forced to find new ways to work. They have been experimenting, using technology in novel ways. “For dancers, dance teachers, producing organizations and lovers of dances, this is an extremely difficult time,” said Traiger, “but I am in awe of the hardworking and creative members of the Washington, D.C.-area dance community who have come up with a variety of options to continue to dance and share their art with others.”
Many studios have put their dance classes online for free or a modest charge, using Zoom, Vimeo, Instagram, Facebook and other live-streaming media platforms to offer classes not only to their own students but to the masses. In addition, some artists are experimenting with how to continue rehearsals or even collaboratively choreograph over Skype, WhatsApp or other livestream sites. Theaters have cancelled and rescheduled substantial parts of their 2019-2020 seasons, which were set to present locally based, national and international touring artists. As the pandemic has spread worldwide some area companies have had to cancel regional, national and international tours, which would have brought them income and expanded visibility.
In response to these unprecedented shifts in the dance field, the DCDJP will begin telling stories from the front lines and living rooms of dance artists across the region April 1. The Spring 2020 DCDJP cohort of writers initially focused on observing and reviewing locally produced dance in the region. With the cancellation of all public performances, the workshop has shifted to interviewing dance artists, telling stories about how they are dealing with orders to socially distance, rather than reviewing their productions.
“I have been watching and writing on dance in the D.C. area for more than three decades,” said Traiger. “I have never seen dancers, choreographers, tech and design staff, and administrators work harder to maintain their organizations, share their work and test their creative mettle. I’m not sure how or when this situation will end, but these stories — of losses, of reversals, of new creative practices, of learning patience and staying put — should be documented. I’m so pleased to have such a strong cohort of workshop writers to inaugurate this project.”
In the coming weeks, the DCDJP will share a series of interviews with various dance artists from across the District, suburban Maryland and Northern Virginia, telling a small subset of these stories with the goal of supporting the visibility of the Dance Metro DC constituency and documenting this unprecedented moment in the life of a dance community.
The mission of Dance Metro DC is to strengthen the field of dance in the national capital region. We accomplish this through support, promotion, education, convening and advocacy for individuals and organizations in the professional field of dance. The DC Dance Journalism Project is generously funded through the Humanities Vision Partnership Grant provided by Humanities DC.
For further information, email: info@dancemetrodc.org.
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