My mind is buzzing with ideas

How Dancers motivate themselves NOWADAYS

I’m creating a small series for my blog to give my favourite dancers the opportunity to talk about their experiences, motivation and daily routines nowadays. As you all know, it must be so tough for dancers to train hard every single day in isolation and stay in top shape, not knowing when the next performance is going to be.

Daniel Mulligan

When thinking about Daniel Mulligan, it’s plain to see what makes him so brilliant on stage. A good dancer excels technically and executes the choreography perfectly. But Daniel goes way further, fully emotionally investing in his roles to bring his characters alive. A soloist with the Ballet Zurich since 2009, Daniel has transfixed audiences with an array of characters – including his witty “Mercutio’ and his evil ‘Mephisto’.

Daniel Mulligan at home

STATEMENT OF DANIEL MULLIGAN

The global pandemic has really affected the arts and dance world in an extreme way. Here in Switzerland we were locked down from mid March until the beginning of June and then the company had to go into quarantine for 12 days in October because we had some cases that unfortunately hit my colleagues and friends in Ballett Zürich. Now, once again, the performances have been postponed or reshuffled which has a huge impact on everyone involved in the theatre, not least the dancers who are missing out on important new experiences and learning opportunities. Staying motivated during this period is challenging, personally I’ve only done 5 performances in the whole of 2020 because I was also injured before the pandemic began! But I’ve managed to find a rhythm of fitness and workouts in the gym which help keep my mind and body in shape. I’ve also taken the opportunity to enjoy my free time and indulge in some of the things that I often don’t find time for, like browsing the 2nd hand furniture stores known as “Brockenhäuser”, checking out the flea markets and playing some guitar at home. My mind is buzzing with ideas now I have more time and I’d like to try some “Popping” classes and I’ve also been involved in a couple of projects outside of the theatre which I’ve found liberating. Life goes on and I’ve managed to stay positive because I love living here and I feel privileged to earn an almost fully protected salary although we can only work at 50% capacity. My heart goes out to all the freelance artists out there who have been hit very hard by the pandemic.

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DANCING OUR KITCHENS WAS FUN – UNTIL IT BECAME THE NEW NORMAL.

How Dancers Motivate Themselves

I’m creating a small series for my blog to give my favourite dancers the opportunity to talk about their experiences, motivation and daily routines nowadays. As you all know, it must be so tough for dancers to train hard every single day in isolation and stay in top shape, not knowing when the next performance is going to be.
When you consider the short life span of the typical career of a professional dancer, it has been a waste of time. A typical career spans just 15 years within the dancer’s prime, usually from age 19-34, and that’s assuming there are no serious injuries or other health problems along the way.

Statement of Lou Spichtig

Let’s start with Lou Spichtig, a Swiss dancer being a member of the Queensland Ballet company in Brisbane since 2016.

„Dancing our kitchens was fun – until it became the new normal. 
In my case, my balcony became my ballet studio, my living room my gym & class taught through Zoom, a daily routine. From day 1 of isolation, Queensland Ballet made sure we were well taken care of – from portable ballet barres delivered to our door, squares of marley flooring cut to fit our living space, workout programmes and check-ins provided by our health teams and most importantly, ensuring all dancers remained connected, despite being apart. I’ve never felt more fortunate to live so far removed from the rest of the world, in Queensland, where we were able to return to both the studio and the stage far sooner than the rest of the world, in these unusual times.“

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Wieder alles abgesagt!

Wie das Staatsballett Berlin Corona trotzte

Das Staatsballett Berlin blieb dank eines effektiven Sicherheits- und Hygienekonzeptes spielfähig bis der 2. Lookdown in Deutschland kam. Die 91 Tänzer*innen arbeiteten davor in separierten Trainingsgruppen, eingeteilt nach den Produktionen, in denen sie auftreten. Sobald ein Ensemblemitglied positiv auf Covid 19 getestet wird, kann diese Trainingsgruppe sofort isoliert und untersucht werden. Für November mussten alle Vorstellungen abgesagt werden.

Alle hoffen, dass ab 5. Dezember der Betrieb mit dem Ballettklassiker GISELLE wieder aufgenommen werden kann.

https://www.staatsballett-berlin.de/en/spielplan/5-11-2020/kalender

Mehr über das Staatsballett in der Corona-Krise im Video. Hingabe, Disziplin und Weitertrainieren – das ist und bleibt die Devise des Staatsballetts!

Beitragsfoto Iana Salenko und Daniil Simkin in GISELLE ©Yan Revazov

No Stamina In Home Office

Interview with Rainer Krenstetter, principal dancer of the Miami City Ballet, since 2014

Rainer tells us about how to survive as a dancer in times of corona.

You are doing live stream dance classes on Instagram for intermediate and advanced dancers as well as private classes. How do you go about teaching online?

After everything was shut down due to corona, the Miami City Ballet started serving the community through educational and outreach programs throughout Miami, Florida and even worldwide. MBC offers online classes done by their highly ranked dancers. Our outreach program includes ballet basic classes, as well as stretching and strengthening classes for people more interested in Fitness, Yoga or Pilates. 

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Balletdancer in Home Office

Watch as Dominik Slavkovský, Ballet Zurich, makes the best of quarantine – on his new ballet floor.

How do you train in times of corona? 

When working in the theatre we always get driven by new guest classes that usually take place for about two weeks and we get a choice from variety of teachers here in Ballett Zürich and it‘s actually incredible that this time we can just go online and take a class from different teachers everyday by our taste 😀.

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#stayathome Ballettfans

alles abgesagt. Jetzt aber online.

Auch in Zeiten des Coronavirus gibt es Ballett zu sehen. Viele Opernhäuser, Theater, Museen und Veranstalter bieten jetzt meist kostenlose Streamingdienste oder Video on Demand an. Natürlich gibt es auch viele Ballett-Videos auf youtube oder Vimeo, manchmal sogar Ballettvorstellungen in voller Länge.

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Mehr Ballett und Tanz im TV

Meiner Meinung nach kommt Ballett und Tanz schon immer im TV zu kurz. Sehr selten werden Vorstellungen gezeigt. Manchmal kommt was in arte, 3 SAT, BBC 4 oder WDR. Jetzt in Zeiten des Coronavirus wünschen wir Ballett- und Tanzfans ein besseres Angebot. Die Opernhäuser Berlin, Mailand, Wien und München sind schon geschlossen. In Zürich konnte ich gestern noch den sensationellen NUSSKNACKER UND MAUSEKÖNIG von Christian Spuck geniessen. Aber wie lange noch?

Nussknacker und Mausekönig getanzt vom Ballett Zürich
Choreografie und Inszenierung Christian Spuck
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