Meet the dancers leaping onto digital platforms and why you should join too
Curtains have been lowered at theatres amid COVID-19 but The Australian Ballet dancers have not hung up their shoes. Here is how they’re surviving lockdown – moves you can join in to too.
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The curtains are lowered, the lights have been switched off and the theatres are empty for now, but The Australian Ballet dancers haven’t hung up their dance shoes for good.
Each of the talented artists took home a little bit of the dance floor and are now practising in their own living rooms. The location may have changed, but their daily routine hasn’t.
The directors still send out daily call sheets. Their morning starts with a 30-minute warm-up, followed by individually tailored pilates.
Using Microsoft teams, they all join in class together starting at the barre, or these days, kitchen benches, chairs and tables, before heading to the centre to perfect plies and pirouettes. They’re making sure they’re staying in tip-top shape to get back as quickly to performing to audiences.
The Australian Ballet’s artistic director David McAllister said the coronavirus-enforced conditions had challenged them to be innovative about how to keep their close to 80 dancers “en pointe”.
“It’s quite amazing and just shows their resilience,” he said.
“But if you’ve been dancing since you were four years old, you’re going to find ways to keep that love alive of what you do.”
It’s certainly worlds away from how McAllister anticipated his final year at the helm, with a number of exciting ballets that had been in production for the past couple of years due to come into the company’s repertoire.
Instead, many of those seasons have been cancelled. Decisions being made on a week-by-week basis as guidelines are revised and tightened.
“It’s been a really surreal experience,” he said.
“The one thing that’s made it a lot more easier is it’s everyone who has been affected.
“I think if it was just this blanket ballet ban, you know everyone else can keep performing, but you can’t – that would be tough.
“Every part of the community has been affected by this.
“Also we are doing it for the good of everyone. On the one hand it’s really hard and tough, but on the other hand, it’s like we are all part of the solution.”
Traditionally in tough times, people have looked to the arts for escape.
The Australian Ballet, just like so many other companies across the world, wants to remain that distraction.
They’ve just had to be creative with how to stay connected with their audiences.
“It’s a little bit like when the dance and theatre companies went out into the munitions factories and put on lunchtime shows for the workers,” McAllister said.
“We can’t do that because of the virus, but we thought we can do something like that online.”
TAB has launched a digital season to bring the joy and wonder of dance to their audiences in the comfort of their own home – delivering some much needed ballet magic via the Ballet TV channel on The Australian Ballet website.
McAllister’s lavish production of The Sleeping Beauty is first off the block.
“After the plague in the Middle Ages, then came the Renaissance,” McAllister said.
“Let’s hope after COVID-19, the world will come through this in a more enlightened state.”
WHY IT’S A GOOD TIME TO LEARN ABOUT DANCE
Dance is truly a medium best experienced in person, but it can feel inaccessible to many.
You have to show up at a certain place and time, often with a rather expensive ticket in hand.
One side-effect to our new normal of social distancing is while theatres may be shuttered, the work seen on their stages has become more widely available than ever before.
Arts organisations such as The Australian Ballet have rushed to set up virtual programming, existing online services have lifted their paywalls and free platforms have expanded their offerings.
If you’ve ever wanted to learn more about dance, but geography or cost stood in the way, now is a good time to start.
THE SLEEPING BEAUTY A FEAST FOR THE SENSES
The sets are sumptuous, the costumes magnificent, but, as we know, true beauty is so much more than skin-deep.
So while The Australian Ballet’s lavish production of The Sleeping Beauty is very much a feast for the senses, it’s also a retelling of the beloved classic with a twist of the modern – some labelling it a feminist tale.
It starts the company’s digital season, running until April 17.
Then there’s Alexei Ratmansky’s Cinderella (April 17-May 1), followed by Graeme Murphy’s Romeo & Juliet (May 1 to 15) and Coppelia, Manon, and Graeme Murphy’s Swan Lake.
australianballet.com.au/DigitalSeason.
TUNE INTO YOUTUBE FOR ALL THINGS MARTHA GRAHAM
Time magazine named Martha Graham “Dancer of the Century” and People magazine named her among the female “Icons of the Century”.
As a choreographer, she was as prolific as she was complex.
Graham created 181 ballets and a dance technique which has been compared to ballet in its scope and magnitude.
On Thursdays and Sundays, the Martha Graham Dance Company invites viewers to tune into its YouTube channel for screenings of all things Graham, including vintage clips of the modern dance matriarch herself.
The troupe’s artistic director Janet Eilber offers commentary through the live-chat feature, joined by special guests.
BOLSHOI BALLET GOES DIGITAL
For the first time in its history, the Bolshoi Theatre is going digital.
It’s presenting some of its most popular opera and ballet performances on its official YouTube channel, allowing viewers around the world to tune in.
There are six performances on offer, with Swan Lake getting things started.
While all performances have been prerecorded, fans will feel the excitement and feeling of opening night by tuning in to watch each broadcast using YouTube’s Premiere feature.
For fans who are unable to watch in real time, each performance will be available on demand for 24 hours after its initial broadcast.
BECOME A PRIMA BALLERINA AT ANY AGE
“Many are called but few are chosen, Lisa,” McAllister said, laughing after I tell him I
danced for a decade and loved it, but was never going to be a prima ballerina.
However, as the former principal dancer said, it is a great pastime.
It’s never too late to start your ballet journey and this is a perfect opportunity for anyone who has considered it, but never taken the leap (or jete).
LEARN TO DANCE WITH FREE ONLINE ADULT BALLET CLASSES
This is the perfect first step as McAllister takes you through simple but effective ballet exercises that are ideal for small spaces.
First up is the plie. Then leg swings, port de bras and calf rises.
Once you’ve got the basics down pat, try the newly launched free online adult ballet classes, taught by a former TAB dancer Justine Miles.
The prerecorded classes are designed for participants to follow along with at home and offer a choice of beginner, intermediate and advanced levels.
There are nine classes at 30 to 40 minutes, with one class at each level released each week.
So slip on your ballet shoes and tutu, or keep it simple with bare feet, and just get dancing.
australianballet.com.au
COSMIC KIDS YOGA
OK, so not exactly dance, but it’s a great way to move.
Jaime Amor’s Cosmic Kids yoga storytelling videos were a curiosity before the coronavirus sent parents and children indoors together for hours.
Now her flowing narrations built around movies such as Frozen and Star Wars have turned her into a digital sensation.
There’s a vast library of videos and playlists with instructional videos on the correct technique for various poses, being about two minutes in length, compared with the yoga stories that are a perfect half-hour or more each.
TOP TIPS ON LOOKING COOL WHILE DOING DISCO
Disco is back (well, maybe not …) but Ryan Kasprzak has three rules to make you look cool.
Rule No. 1: Bounce, right? When you hear the music going, just let your knees go, get a little bounce going.
Rule No. 2: Head. Get your head going. We’re starting to look cooler. Getting towards cool now.
Rule No. 3: Attitude, right? You want to look cool. You want to feel confident. If everything goes down, I’ve got my head going, I’ve got my knees going – so cool, right?
Then there are moves such as “point to the exits”, “pass the dishes”, “the lawnmower” and my personal favourite, “the sprinkler”.