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“I understand the theory behind this lockdown, but it feels awful that we are all being told to stay at home and not work, when there are planes landing in Shannon airport from the US, and people from the UK are travelling back and forth all the time”. Judith is also frustrated with the response from the Irish government, especially towards dance not being considered a socially distant activity, “As far as I can see, I am an educator, as important as any teacher. Ballet is the most socially distant art form because you need to able to swing your legs front, side and back! “We’re all working in pods, our studios are way bigger than classrooms and there’s no dancing across the floor anymore, we dance on the spot. We can track and trace way better than any school. We don’t even do barre work. They stay on the spot! Parents were helping us ensure that distance was maintained in classrooms, and they were so happy that the classes could come back. “I invested so much money in my studio, I got an air purifier, an official COVID-19 sign cost me €175! I bought hand sanitiser, and paper towel dispensers that were €110 each. I invested so much for just a few weeks. We’re trying to be allowed to open at Level 3.” My brother runs a venue, An Táin Arts Centre, and he made a statement pre-lockdown saying ‘I’m delighted that we can continue our cultural activities in An Táin, with our drama and our music, but I have no understanding why we can’t carry on our ballet lessons, classical ballet is the most socially distant of art forms’. It’s a complete oversight”. The arts have been left in the cold. They have been lumped together and shoved to the side, considered a lost cause and being diminished by, once again, politicians not considering creative careers as ‘real’ or worth fighting for. We can’t lose our artists. Judith points out that no one in tech has ever been told to become a ballet dancer or a musician, because they can’t, nor do they want to. “It’s too hard a career, I think you have to be slightly mad to be an artist. Dancers don’t become dancers because they’re good at it, they become them because they have an innate need to be a creative artist. It’s almost not a choice”. Let creators create. Let them perform. If the government can push as hard to find ways to support the artists of Ireland the way they have to keep the GAA afloat, they will get amazing work done. Let’s do all we can to support the people who have given our lives the colour, emotion and joy that we all feel drained of now that they’re gone.View this post on Instagram