YouOverThere

The Baltimore Symphony announced a vaccinated-only policy today with no exceptions. They have cancelled/postponed most of their "family" concerts since they are not admitting anyone under 12. Even with an all-vaccinated audience, they will stick require masks and there will be no food or beverage sales.

The Kennedy Center will require both vaccinations and masks as of September 1. Under 12's and those not able to get vaccinated for medical or religious reasons must have a recent negative test.

With the situation as it currently is in the DC area, I probably would attend a concert or show that didn't require vaccination if it was something that I really wanted to see. However, there is no chance that I would go to an indoor event in a theater that didn't require masks.

I didn't find that Roadrunner filled in all the blanks for me. Maybe I was wanting it to find a smoking gun but instead it was intended to let viewers find the conclusion themselves.

More importantly, the Warner Theater (Washington Ballet Nutcracker) is not on the list.

The NYCB is not alone. Most Broadway shows will also require proof of vaccination, as will Carnegie Hall and the Metropolitan Opera, both of which will also ban under12's. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/30/theater/broadway-audiences-vaccine-requirement.html?smtyp=cur&smid=fb-nytimes&fbclid=IwAR1Sw20kK-u1BtR3KutB24Kg84N_Hxq0ERpty7-dlOJsVy7YjnwyBBQMjXc

IMHO, this issue puts arts companies in a difficult position. Most cannot afford to antagonize even a small portion of their regular audiences, and the non-vaxers can be pretty intolerant. It's mind-boggling that whether to get vaccinated against a disease that has killed 4 million people in 18 months is a political statement, but that's where we're at right now in the USA. Last night's Chamber Dance Project performance in DC was mask-required but not socially distanced. (Their original plan was to have 2 performances on Saturday at an outdoor location, but the forecast of rain pushed them to instead have a single performance on Sunday in an unsuitable location - the Washington National Cathedral, where the stage was too low for adequate viewing except for those in the first few rows.)

It's the "over time" aspect that concerns me.

It turns out that they actually are selling a small number of pairs of seats; they must have already sold all of them for the shows that I looked at (perhaps mostly to "members", who get first dibs). I would prefer "vaccine passports" to the current sell-only-25-percent-of-the-seats-and-only-to-people-who-buy-multiple-seats policies that most venues have adopted. It looks like most of the people in the USA who want to get vaccinated have already begun the process, so we clearly are not going to achieve "herd immunity" in the foreseeable future.

The Wolf Trap has announced some semblance of a summer schedule. My impression after a hasty look is that, for the classical genres, there is a lot of opera and nothing for dance fans (unless you're a fan of the Maryland Youth Ballet). Most of the performers will be local; the National Symphony Orchestra is featured in many of the offerings. I only took a hasty look because it is irrelevant to me what the shows are or who is performing in them. The ticket policy does not work for me. They are selling groups of 4 (mostly) or 6 seats in alternate rows with 4 empty seats between each group, staggered so that no one will have someone directly in front of or behind them for 3 rows. A purchaser must purchase an entire group. I have exactly 1 friend who likes symphonies and operas.

The important item is that he graduated from the SAB in 2008. I can't help but wonder if these retirements are pandemic-inspired. I've been optimistic for a while that arts companies can run a normal schedule in the fall, but I'm growing increasing skeptical now due to the slowdown in the vaccination rate in the US and the low vaccination rate in other countries, and maybe they felt the same way.

I was correct, at least about Ms. Buchanan. It's only been 12 years since she joined the CB studio company.

The Colorado Ballet had a post on Facebook today that stated So it looks like the CB is losing 2 important members. They seem a little young for retirement, especially Ms. Buchanan, but I am past the age at which time starts accelerating (I can't believe that I've been exiled from Colorado for 8 years), so they may have been there longer than I perceive.

I'm in half decent shape (25-30 minute run every other day) and I find it difficult to breathe after walking up the 80 stairs to my apartment if I'm wearing a mask. I don't see how dancers can go all-out while wearing masks.

I haven't seen a statement from the Washington Ballet, but given that the Kennedy Center has announced that it has cancelled all performances through the summer it's a pretty safe assumption that the WB's presentation of Swan Lake is not going to take place. The WB still has its season-ending program of new works listed on its website but the venue and exact dates are listed as "TBA".