Another day in isolation, another bid to find joy in my lone state-sanctioned walk. (Pro tip: stay out longer than is interesting or comfortable to brighten the prospect of another 20-plus hours indoors.) For dance critics, the C-19 crisis and its mass theatre shutdown has triggered some major thumb-twiddling. Like our exercise classes and therapy sessions, it’s time to go digital.
Ballet DVDs and cinema broadcasts have been in the mix for a while, but it’s taken the abolition of live performances to spike serious interest in dance streaming. In the face of indefinite closure, Sadler’s Wells has shifted its programme to the web where possible, starting with a new bill from BalletBoyz, recorded just before the cancellation of the all-male troupe’s 20th-anniversary tour. To lend a sense of occasion, Sadler’s aired the show on Facebook at the time it would have opened in London. I tried to replicate the experience of watching it live by keeping my jeans buckled for the whole event.
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