Dancers and Musicians Demonstration: Parliament Square, 26th October 2020.

I was privileged to be born and raised in London, where I had access to British culture right on my doorstep. I started dancing around five years old Debra Bradnum Ballet Train, and then I was accepted into The Royal Ballet School Associates, Central School of Ballet Associates and then Elmhurst Ballet School in association with Birmingham Royal Ballet, where I graduated in 2018. Upon graduation, I joined Vienna Festival Ballet. I was very lucky to have a contract, directly post-graduation, in my home country. Due to all theatres closing down, my spring season of Swan Lake and The Sleeping Beauty was cancelled. We rehearsed both classically demanding ballets in just four weeks at Dance Attic Studios, managed to perform three shows and then, unfortunately, our industry came to a halt. Vienna Festival Ballet is proudly a self-funded company that tours classical repertoire around the UK (February to June and September to December). We reached audiences that would otherwise have never had the magical experience of watching live theatre, let alone live ballet. We would perform from small local stages to grand opera houses. My test of adaptability certainly came as a shock from leaving vocational training! 

Sadly, my directors decided to cancel all performances for 2020, including the winter tour of The Nutcracker. There is also very little chance that my company will financially recover from such a loss in ticket sales, and may never tour again. This is a huge loss to the UK. I may be biased, but my company was dearly loved by fans all across the country. We brought ballet to their front door. I believe we also toured to the most venues out of all of the classical ballet companies in the UK. 

The early stages of Coronavirus in March left me feeling lost. Surprisingly, I did not dwell on the negatives and jumped straight into being very productive and self-motivated. After months of kitchen barre classes, workouts in the living room, local cycle routes, all with conviction, drive and determination, the novelty wore off. There were many thoughts going through my mind: What is my purpose? What is my goal? Where am I going? Is this sustainable? I started teaching at my old local ballet school, tutoring violin to children, signed up to a teaching agency to work at primary schools. My side hustles are maxed out, and now I have far less time to craft my art because I am trying to save money for audition season 2021, which might not even happen. I have proudly adapted, utilised my transferable skills as a dancer to work and continue to contribute to society during this pandemic. 

The arts and creative industry has adapted and found ways to keep afloat and relatively stable. We moved vocational schooling online, kept producing free live streams to watch, had artists offering free online classes for all to follow, continued swiftly to film and shoot, in a covid-safe manner, to entertain us all in these rather miserable times. All artists have of course been financially affected, as have many citizens of the UK, where we have applied for all sorts of grants and credits. We cannot ponder over our losses, expecting all of the money we lost to be reimbursed. The worries of paying bills, rent, travel, insurances is a burden for many of us. I think the government’s mistake was assuming that we perhaps are not contributing enough to society already, not very qualified, not being productive, acting stubborn and just demanding pay and sitting at home, occasionally stretching. That is my general vibe from when I watch and read the news. I could be wrong. 

I cannot speak for everyone, but I know that I am a pretty positive and proactive person. Especially being a dancer, I always want to be doing something. Dancers are far from lazy, and I believe we are one of the most hard-working type of people out there. I am not angry at the government, as they have never dealt with such an impactful pandemic before. They just haven’t done their best to really understand how it has affected the arts industry and its individuals, short and long term. We need the government to work alongside organisations such as WeMakeEvents and Equity, to support positive and realistic goals for the industry. 

For example:

- Subsidise artistic teacher training courses such as with RAD, as that is relevant re-training, unlike cybersecurity

- Allow theatres to open at 50% capacity and increase ticket prices, which also provides employment for front of house, bar and cleaning staff

- Offer lectures through GOV.UK on how to self-promote yourself: making your own website, editing your own dance videos, making your social media presence professional etc

- Allow BBC to host an event such as live stand-up comedy night for freelance comedians to perform in a covid-safe way

- Sign a contract for circuses to be able to perform in outdoor theatres March 2021

- Increase the self-employment grant ever so slightly so that we can actually practise our craft, which can help pay for musicians’ studio hire, open dance classes, acting workshops and so much more. 

For now, I will try to retain optimism and do my best to live my life as a professional ballet dancer and as a human being. 

Serina Faull

27.10.2020

The original article can be found here:

https://www.thewonderfulworldofdance.com/dancers-protest-london-arelene-phillips-debbie-moore