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Fall 2020 cancellations


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Joffrey Ballet has just announced that they will not be starting their season till February 2021.

Friends, we are deeply saddened to announce the cancellation of all performances for the remainder of 2020. That includes our upcoming productions of Manon and The Nutcracker.

It has become painfully clear that the COVID-19 pandemic continues to compromise the health and safety of large gatherings. We must listen to the advice of health experts and do all we can to protect everyone's well-being.

As of now, we are moving forward with our winter and spring programs in February and April/May 2021. In the meantime, we will stay connected. The stage may be dormant but our artists are not. Stay tuned.

Thanks to our audience, fans, and patrons for your incredible support of the Joffrey during this difficult time. We appreciate and love you so very much. We look forward to seeing you at the theater when the time is right ❤️

Alberta Ballet will not be starting again till May 2021:

Alberta Ballet is planning to perform Swan Lake in May 2021, Peter Pan in July 2021 and to revive Artistic Director Jean Grand-Maître's All of Us featuring music of The Tragically Hip in August 2021. We're hoping by February there will be more certainty around the safety of mass gatherings and we'll be able to announce dates for Calgary and Edmonton.

 

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10 minutes ago, kbarber said:

sorry, they have cancelled all grant applications for now.

City and state governments in the US are in desperate straits financially. Expect many more cuts in programs considered "expendable." The NEA/NEH funding is so miniscule, we hope they survive but they don't have the resources to bail out arts and higher education. 

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It's not ballet but I saw that the Center Theatre Group in LA won't be open for performances until April 2021: https://www.playbill.com/article/los-angeles-center-theatre-group-to-remain-closed-through-2020

The Ahmanson/Mark Taper share the plaza with the Dorothy Chandler (dance season), so I don't know if this will influence anything there, but this may be the direction for a lot of places. Segerstrom announced they were laying off 63% of its staff (250 part time, 77 full time and pay cuts for the remaining 37%): https://voiceofoc.org/2020/06/segerstrom-center-announces-63-staff-cuts-joining-oc-arts-organizations-struggling-with-coronavirus-impact/

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An email from Lincoln Center:

Dear Patrons,

We hope this email finds you and your loved ones safe and well.

We have missed our audiences and sharing great artistry on campus over the past three months. During this extended closure, we have continued to assess the public health situation and sought guidance from local, state, and federal authorities.

As a continued effort to mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 virus and to prioritize the health of our communities, we have made the difficult decision to cancel this year’s White Light Festival, performances in our Great Performers series through January 26, 2021, and performances in our David Rubenstein Atrium through January 28, 2021. While we deeply regret the need to do this, the health and safety of theatergoers, patrons, staff, volunteers, and artists is our top priority.

 

At Lincoln Center, we’re as committed as ever to connecting you to the arts, knowing that the inspiration, reflection, and hope that they bring are vital to us all. Currently, and for the foreseeable future, we’ve taken our work online with Lincoln Center at Home, our arts and education portal. We hope you’ll engage with the captivating performances and creative lessons offered there.

 

As always, thank you for your patronage. We look forward to reopening the campus and bringing you the great artistry that you’ve come to expect at Lincoln Center as soon as we can.

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On 6/17/2020 at 8:31 AM, California said:

City and state governments in the US are in desperate straits financially. Expect many more cuts in programs considered "expendable." The NEA/NEH funding is so miniscule, we hope they survive but they don't have the resources to bail out arts and higher education. 

We are going to see significant cuts all over the country, and likely the world.  Between the continuing ambiguity about what is "safe" and the miserable state of the economy, we are looking at austerity in all aspects of public life.

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I believe that we are safer than we believe we are .  And my understanding is that in places where arts are funded by the government, there is support.

My bets for earlier comebacks
Germany

Denmark

Switzerland

Sweden

US Central  (Texas Arts and Utah have some open venues)

New Zealand 

Edited by balletforme
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For all the details of the Covid-19 pandemic, I recommend bookmarking the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center World Map page. Their database of worldwide statistics is updated constantly. For the US it is possible to drill down to the county and city level for many areas.

https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html

Keep in mind that statistics coming out of certain (many?) countries are likely not reliable, or they are following different methods for keeping track of Covid-19 cases, and deaths as a result of Covid-19. And where there's no testing, there's no way to estimate current cases, aside from reported death statistics, and governments have not always been reliable about those statistics either. As an example, Russia would appear to have been dealing pretty well with the outbreak as compared to the UK, Italy, Spain, etc. by their stated statistics. But it has been recently reported that over 500 Russia healthcare workers have died from Covid-19. When the healthcare workers have a difficult time acquiring proper protection, it is pretty much guaranteed to be even worse for the general public.

https://www.euronews.com/2020/06/18/nearly-500-health-workers-die-from-covid-19-in-russia

 

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25 minutes ago, YouOverThere said:

The Kennedy Center has cancelled almost all performances for the remainder of 2020. The only ballet performance currently listed for the entire 2020-21 season is the Washington Ballet's Swan Lake in May of 2021.

Friends in Canada are telling me that the world is watching in horror at the US's mismanagement of this pandemic. So much of the KenCen season is international, I have to think they're going to wait and see if we get to a point where it's safe to visit.  That might be a long while, alas!

Edited by California
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Despite the gentle messaging, Washington Staters have been asked by BC to stay out of BC for this very reason.  The visa process for performing artists was complicated enough before this -- if you've ever read the sponsorship documentation, any living cellist except Yo Yo Ma would have to justify his/her place in the classical music world, for example -- but COVID-19 restrictions and risk assessments have frozen the environment.

Risks include direct health risks plus the financial risk of more and more cancellations and travel complications.  I haven't read or heard of an arts organization that has been able to start tour-specific fundraising and/or arts grants for future tours, at least publicly, because the risk of cancellation is so high, whether that be because of the situation in the tour location or the status of US company members to enter or work in the tour location, including the costs of quarantining.  Arts organizations in the US and Canada seem to be holding on to the possibility of a partial 2021 season, if only so that subscribers will renew or subscribe again in Spring 2021.   They also have to be concerned about survival until that time.

 

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32 minutes ago, Helene said:

Risks include direct health risks plus the financial risk of more and more cancellations and travel complications.  I haven't read or heard of an arts organization that has been able to start tour-specific fundraising and/or arts grants for future tours, at least publicly, because the risk of cancellation is so high, whether that be because of the situation in the tour location or the status of US company members to enter or work in the tour location, including the costs of quarantining.  Arts organizations in the US and Canada seem to be holding on to the possibility of a partial 2021 season, if only so that subscribers will renew or subscribe again in Spring 2021.   They also have to be concerned about survival until that time.

 

It is not IMPOSSIBLE that a vaccine will be available by Fall, which would allow performances to start up in January, so it's understandable that no one wants to cancel the entire season right now.

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6 hours ago, California said:

Friends in Canada are telling me that the world is watching in horror at the US's mismanagement of this pandemic. So much of the KenCen season is international, I have to think they're going to wait and see if we get to a point where it's safe to visit.  That might be a long while, alas!

I live in a large city in California with a strong military and military-industrial presence, (so that means a confusing mix of both Conservatives and Progressives) and the general mentality is that around 2 to 3% of the population is likely to die in the next year due to Covid-19 - and that is going to be concentrated within the senior population. The local military population will do what they are ordered to do, but youth, young working adults, and even working middle-aged adults tend to see these deaths as an abstraction that won't likely affect them directly (whether or not that is actually true is another thing). So a fairly large percentage of the population seems to have come to the decision that:

1) Life has to be lived, and it always contains risks
2) they are going to be inconvenienced for a while, but anything that can be done to make it less inconvenient is OK
3) when someone dies, it's sad, it's tragic, but the population just wants to get on with everyday life and FORGET

My observation is that the more politically "conservative" the person (by their own estimate, and mine), the more resistant they are to changing their life patterns or agreeing to any pandemic protocols. The primary worry for the conservative population is "personal freedom" and beating back anything that impinges on their imagined freedoms - there's not very much agreement on what personal freedom actually consists of, but that's a whole other matter. Meanwhile, the Black population (and their supporters) are actively protesting for their lives and personal freedoms, but for very different reasons.

The long and short of it: many American citizens are dealing with the new virus in the old fashioned way: a majority of the population will get the disease, and hopefully get some measure of immunity, and Covid-19 will perhaps turn into a periodic ailment like the "common" flu. And there will eventually be a vaccine available to those willing to take it - with the allowance that some people will refuse to take vaccines based on their personal freedom and such. It's not what you might call a Progressivist strategy.

Edited by pherank
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Pherank,

I think your analysis is likely accurate re: political leanings but in my case it is not.  I am an independent who typically votes for democrats and I find that the 3 points you make intersect with my view.  We could protect the 20% of people who are really severely affected by this and allow the 80% who are really not to live freely.  Choices based on risk analysis ground my perspective. 

Civil rights ARE being seriously jeopardized.  EEOC ACLU and others have already made several white papers on practices that threaten civil rights. 

There is a perspective that one's fear (regardless of how rational it is) justifies ANY and ALL actions. 

I particularly take exception to the viewpoint that you must either fully accept all the rather capricious and unproven "mandates" or you don't care about others and embrace loss of life.  That is simplistic.  In fact, we would be counting many other diseases that lead to loss of life (suicide, which in my state is quite close to the rate of COVID deaths, cardiac disease, cancer). In addition, in my state over 70% of the deaths are linked to long term care and yet the policies are not focusing on that setting. And I do have elderly people in my life and we are taking precautions.  Other outbreaks occur in meat packing and in specific populations that are forced to live in dense living conditions.

We could also be counting loss of incomes and rise in destitute poverty.  FAR more people are being damaged economically who are not at all at high risk were they to contract this disease. The numbers are stunning.  "High" levels of disease are thought to be around 10% (of those tested, which is not 10% of the general population).  Unemployment is running between 15-20% of the entire population. 

Science is a process and it only knows what it knows right now. The messaging around "scientific evidence" frequently missses this point. This is. of course, why scientific evidence has frequently told us to do things that are not particularly useful or even damaging (re: HRT).  Studies really do vary in their rigor.  Many of the ones that are being used have VERY small numbers of participants and SERIOUS flaws. 

No, I am not willing to live the way that we are being asked to, because my analysis suggests that it is not necessary.  (Yes, I know the arguments around "asymptomatic carriers" -- Easiest way to handle that one is simply shelter vulnerables. In addition, it's important to know that the PCR tests are imperfect. In my area a nursing facility had 2 false positives.  The tests are likely picking up other corona viruses--but that is unsettled science at this point.) 

Thanks for letting me express my very unpopular views.  

 

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29 minutes ago, balletforme said:

We could protect the 20% of people who are really severely affected by this and allow the 80% who are really not to live freely.  Choices based on risk analysis ground my perspective. 

...

In addition, in my state over 70% of the deaths are linked to long term care and yet the policies are not focusing on that setting. And I do have elderly people in my life and we are taking precautions.  Other outbreaks occur in meat packing and in specific populations that are forced to live in dense living conditions.

...

No, I am not willing to live the way that we are being asked to, because my analysis suggests that it is not necessary.  (Yes, I know the arguments around "asymptomatic carriers" -- Easiest way to handle that one is simply shelter vulnerables...

So we "shelter" 20% of the population away from the 80% who are living freely? That certainly doesn't sound very easy or simple to me.

Also, those nursing homes and meat-packing plants all have employees who typically go home between shifts and live amongst the rest of us.

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13 minutes ago, nanushka said:

So we "shelter" 20% of the population away from the 80% who are living freely? That certainly doesn't sound very easy or simple to me.

Also, those nursing homes and meat-packing plants all have employees who typically go home between shifts and live amongst the rest of us.

I have appreciated tributes to the deceased from COVID-19 that I see regularly on cable news: bus drivers, nurses, doctors, food service workers, teachers, prison guards,  all ages/genders/races, on and on. I just saw a notice that a senior administrator at CUNY died of this disease. I don't know how we "shelter" all those people. 

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Pennsylvania Ballet has cancelled their Nutcracker and Coppelia and postponed Cinderella to the spring:

https://www.inquirer.com/arts/nutcracker-canceled-cancelled-pa-ballet-philadelphia-pennsylvania-20200624.html

http://paballet.org/2020-2021-season-update/

AS SCHEDULED:

  • Swan Lake: Feb 25- March 7, 2021, Academy of Music
  • George Balanchine’s Stars & Stripes: March 11-14 2021, Academy of Music

RESCHEDULED:

  • Cinderella: May 13-16, 2021, Academy of Music

CANCELLED:

  • Coppelia: May 13-16
  • George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker®: December 11 – 31, 2020
  • Suspended In Time: January 31 – February 7, 2021
Edited by California
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11 hours ago, balletforme said:

Thanks for letting me express my very unpopular views. 

In my part of the world, there are a lot of people who say similar things.

I just find it baffling that so many people can't stand to wear a mask when out in public and surrounded by other people. Simple vanity? N95 masks (and better) are effective protection against this type of virus, and the healthcare industry knows that. Too bad the major suppliers of this type of equipment (like 3M) have done next to nothing to support the populace's efforts to stay healthy. It's interesting to note that the Americans with least resistance to mask wearing are of Asian ancestry - people have been wearing masks in public in Asian cultures for years, so Covid-19 is just another reason to wear one, I suppose.

For anyone wondering about the effectiveness of homemade masks -

Testing Shows Type of Cloth Used in Homemade Masks Makes a Difference

https://newsroom.wakehealth.edu/News-Releases/2020/04/Testing-Shows-Type-of-Cloth-Used-in-Homemade-Masks-Makes-a-Difference

Here's exactly how well 20 materials for homemade masks — from folded bandanas to blue shop towels — can filter tiny, potentially-dangerous particles, according to an N95 testing company

https://www.businessinsider.com/the-materials-that-filter-particles-best-in-homemade-masks-testing-2020-4?op=1

But Chinese-made KN95 masks are relatively easy to acquire online (the "K" denotes that they were manufactured in China). You just have to trust that those masks live up to their claims.

 

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4 hours ago, California said:

Pennsylvania Ballet has cancelled their Nutcracker and Coppelia and postponed Cinderella to the spring:

https://www.inquirer.com/arts/nutcracker-canceled-cancelled-pa-ballet-philadelphia-pennsylvania-20200624.html

http://paballet.org/2020-2021-season-update/

  •  

Any idea how long before a production a company has to make financial commitments? I've been incredibly over-optimistic about this situation right from the beginning (to the point of leaving stuff in my office thinking that I would only be telecommuting for a few weeks), so I can't stop thinking that something might turn up that will get this virus under control.

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