Australia’s arts sector is getting back on its feet after suffering a crippling financial blow due to the coronavirus pandemic.
I Lost My Gig Australia, a data capture initiative that quantifies the impact of the pandemic, estimates that cancelled events and concerts delivered a $345 million hit to the nation's arts sector.
But at Sydney Dance Company (SDC), a contemporary dance studio based on Sydney’s harbour, performers are finally back on the move after a year of uncertainty.
SDC Executive Director Anne Dunn praised Australia’s ability to bounce back from the economic fallout, saying the turnaround offers some hope to a sector brought to its knees by the pandemic.
“It's been remarkable to watch the live performance industry come back and start to find its feet," she told SBS News. "Australia really is a leader on that point globally.”
Before coronavirus, the now-refurbished wharf studios hosted up to 70 dance classes each week.
Sydney Dance Company Executive Director Anne Dunn. Source: Supplied SDC
But when the pandemic hit, it was one of many companies in the arts sector that suffered from the fallout.
“When we learned the venues were going to shut down, we sent the dancers home, we sent our class participants home. We closed the studios,” Ms Dunn said.
“We cancelled 74 performances across the year, including two international tours, national tours and a regional tour."
Now, having just finished performing its new show Impermanence at the Adelaide Festival, the SDC is about to embark on a national tour - the first of its kind in over a year.
Artistic Director Rafael Bonachela crafted Impermanence, which was initially inspired by the Notre Dame blaze in Paris and Australia's Black Summer fires. Its themes of fragility have since come to encompass the coronavirus pandemic.
Like many other struggling companies, SDC relied on government support, including the JobKeeper subsidy, to pay wages and retain key staff.
The company shifted online too, hosting virtual dance classes to keep some cash rolling in.
“We launched our virtual studio classes about six days after we shut our studios," Ms Dunn said. "And within a very short period of time we were delivering about 10 dance classes a day via Zoom, to people right across the country. It was an extraordinary experience.”
Australian performer and dance studio founder Nikki Webster also turned online as social distancing restrictions came into place.
“We pre-recorded our dances, and then gave students live feedback, so that we were able to actually see how they were progressing,” the 34-year-old told SBS News.
“Many of the students connected with others online and have now become really close friends, which is awesome.”
Ms Webster, who rose to international fame at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, now runs several dance studios in Sydney and the Central Coast.
Performer Nikki Webster at her Sydney studio. Source: SBS Alexandra Harbilis.
But the mother-of-two said she lost 80 per cent of her clients during the pandemic.
“Slowly we're getting more and more students back, but it's still a journey,” she said.
One group of teenagers is rehearsing a contemporary dance with live didgeridoo artists for an upcoming performance.
“It's really exciting to have Nikki [Webster] teaching us and being a role model because we get inspired by her,” student Bonnie Zheng told SBS News.
With the federal government's JobKeeper package due to finish at the end of March, there is growing uncertainty in the arts sector about the ability to maintain a job.
Dance student Bonnie Zheng with her father John. Source: SBS Alexandra Harbilis
A recent I Lost My Gig survey found more than half the creative respondents were considering changing industries due to uncertainty over their work prospects.
But SDC is among the companies making a strong recovery.
"We have 55 young dancers, all Pre-Professional Year students, training with us on a year-round basis," Ms Dunn said.
Sydney Dance Company hosts the largest public dance class program in Australia, both online and in its refurbished Walsh Bay Wharf Studios, attracting nearly 100,000 participants each year.
"Coming back from COVID-19, it's terrific to be able to deliver face to face classes again, across a range of styles.
"And while most countries have theatres that are still dark and closed, for us getting ready to tour again is a real challenge.
"Of course, we also have our eye on that longer-term prize of touring internationally, at some stage in the future."
Impermanence will perform next at the Bermagui Four Winds Festival, then a national tour will and on to other states.
