John sees no end in sight and feels like the government is not doing enough. “The payment is grand but it’s the dole no matter how you break it down. It’s necessary of course and the COVID payment was amazing at the start of this lockdown, everybody panicked, and it was a relief. But now the issue is, when does this stop? “When do the bars open again? This payment is just a payment to the landlord, it’s for your bills and that’s pretty much it. A lot of us are in the process of writing and recording, trying to make the best of this situation in lockdown, but that being said, there is no certainty going forward. It doesn’t look like anything is going to happen until Summer 2021, and that is a very long way off. “They should be open to trying new things. We got lucky here in Galway that we got picked up to do the resident Sunday night in the Galway Summer Garden. It was like a small Body & Soul; it was very well organised and it was great. They should start exploring more things like that, but of course this can’t happen in Level 5.View this post on Instagram
“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