Dance, Precarity & Covid-19 in Two Global Art Cities

Abstract

During time in isolation and quarantine due to the COVID-19 pandemic, professional dancers have had little interaction with their careers amidst the global health crisis. While technological innovations have been creatively utilized during this time by dance studios, dance as a profession (as an unique ephemeral art) has not had the same online transition that other arts have had, like theatre. This said, the conditions of enhanced precarity associated with dance industries has unfolded in cities around the world and is shaped by questions of political economic and urban geographic factors. This thesis examines and reflects on a breadth of key forces surrounding precarity that dancers and the dance industry experience in Chicago and Toronto. Based upon interviews with 25 dancers in both cities, this research focuses upon the drastic differences of participation within the dance industry in each of these global cities. Each place plays a significant role of dance production and entertainment districts on local, national, and global levels. My findings showcase how different levels of local and federal support, labor representation, and access to affordable healthcare, affects the resiliency and subjective experiences of precarity amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in each city.