The Red Bulletin December 2020 (UK)

DistDancing
“After more than
a week off from
dancing, you
start itching for
that physicality”
Rebecca Bassett-Graham
four hours a day, Monday to Saturday.
It wasn’t only training and fitness but
also performance that flourished – and
continues to flourish – online. The ENB
joined other companies in offering shows
for free, with its popular Wednesday
Watch Parties helping to open up ballet
to a new audience. For Velicu, who
originates from Romania and moved to
the UK in 2016 after training at Moscow’s
world-famous Bolshoi Ballet, these free
online shows were particularly special
as her mum could now watch all her
performances from back home.
“I really hope the intense interaction
and engagement we’ve had on social
media continues,” Velicu says. “It’s been
so great for bringing in new, younger
audiences. For the first time, people
from around the world can easily see the
work produced in London. My mum is
enjoying it so much, she’s watching an
opera from the Met in New York or a
ballet show from London every day.”
Woolhouse believes the ruptures
created by the pandemic were necessary
for an industry with a tendency towards
elitism. “Dance needs to be more
approachable to the public,” he says.
“Young people nowadays can’t afford an
£80 ticket and a suit to go to the ballet.
That grandness and tradition must be
kept alive, but the industry will die
without the next generation, so I think
something with a more casual atmosphere
is necessary [in order] to move forward.
That’s what’s so great about DistDancing:
you can just drop by with a coffee on the
side of the canal, watch a performance
and realise you really enjoyed it.”
Dance companies around the world
have taken an enormous hit. The ENB,
for example, lost two thirds of its income
and was forced to furlough more than
85 per cent of its staff through the UK
Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention
Scheme. Having received an emergency
grant from the Arts Council that helped
it stay afloat, adapting to a world of
online-only performances is crucial to
the ENB’s survival, as staging shows for
a reduced audience just isn’t financially
viable for most larger companies.
However, Katsura and her Italian-born
colleague Valentino Zucchetti, a First
Soloist at The Royal Ballet and co-founder
of DistDancing, remain passionate about
finding ways to bring live performances
back – both for dancers’ and audiences’
benefit. “Online content is a cure for the
moment,” says the Japanese dancer, “but
it’s just not the same effect as in real life.
Online, people click a button and get
what they want; they get bored easily
and there’s no opportunity for those
chance encounters with the unknown.
“As a performer, you feel the energy
of the audience’s applause,” Katsura
continues. “It’s hard to put into words
how it feels to hear 2,000 people
cheering for you. You can be in so
much pain for two hours, but then you
hear the applause and it just pushes
you through to the end. I want to give
performers the opportunity to feel
that audience response again and keep
doing what they love.”
THE RED BULLETIN 53