Dance is among the many industries hit hard by the worldwide coronavirus pandemic, as many theaters and stage shows across the country have been postponed or outright shut down.
Due to the CDC’s strict social distancing recommendations, I interviewed New York City Movement Research’s Riley Newton over Skype on how stage and dance programs across America are adapting to this new reality, and how you can stay in shape even while being quarantined at home.
In an exclusive interview with Generation Iron, contact improvisation dancer and contemporary movement researcher Riley Newton weighed in on what it’s been like for dancers during this crisis.
“It’s pretty hard for dancers right now, because obviously, dancing involves a lot of close contact with other people,” Newton shared. “So, a lot of the dance jobs have been cancelled, or postponed…for dancers who already are kind of living paycheck-to-paycheck, it’s a financially difficult time.”
The news comes as Trump announced an ambitious stimulus package to provide low-income and freelance workers with a Universal Basic Income (UBI) for the duration of the pandemic.
“I think that dancers and martial artists, we’re very disciplined people, so even though we don’t have the social activity of being active with other people right now, we still want to move our bodies,” Newton said. “We think of our bodies as our source of income and maintaining it as our job, so even while we’re not getting paid to be fit, we still have to keep up with it.”
The sentiment echoes what a lot of disappointed bodybuilders and strength sports fans around the world are feeling right now. The Arnold Australia was recently cancelled, which was especially disappointing for promising newcomers like Blessing Awodibu who wanted the opportunity to make their onstage debut. Even amateur bodybuilders flocked to Facebook to report their extreme disappointment that after months of working out, cutting, and bulking, the shows they had spent so long preparing for were cancelled, sometimes within 24 hours of the scheduled event.
Not to mention the fact that social distancing has been hell for promoters. Companies like the UFC and IFBB are facing millions of dollars of losses as they are forced to cancel or postpone events. Public hysteria about being near one another also plays a role in decreasing the popularity of what few events are still being put on. Take a look below at Victor Martinez getting tested for coronavirus entering the Arnold Classic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gb_BaCz11HQ
“Specifically, what I’ve been doing to stay active is pilates and lifting weights in my apartment,” Newton said. “I’ve also been doing a lot of Feldenkrais, it’s a series of small movements that aim to increase self-awareness of how muscle groups work. There’s a stereotype that it’s for older people, but I think it works well for a lot of younger athletes, like bodybuilders, people who rely on strength and alignment in their athletic performance.”
Feldenkrais is just one example of the types of exercises you could be doing from home while we’re all following the social distancing guidelines. It’s a great way to maintain the body’s active muscle mode during a time period when you probably aren’t getting outside that much. Muscles can stiffen and lose their flexibility if they’re used to getting used every day and you suddenly and abruptly stop; feldenkrais is a great way to prevent that natural decay from overcoming your body.
However you choose to do it, staying in shape during the coronavirus pandemic is definitely an achievable goal.
“Being in quarantine makes me think about what it was like to live through World War II,” added Riley Newton. “Having a sense of the entire world going through something together is scary but inspiring.”
