The state of Montana enforced lockdown restrictions during the covid-19 pandemic in March 2020. I had been working remotely since 2019, and my then-boyfriend (now fiancé) had started to work remotely now and again, so in those aspects our lives didn’t shift that much.
As any dance teacher or pre-high-school-graduate-aged student knows, March is prime time for both competitions and end of season recitals. I remember being at a 24 Seven competition in Billings maybe a couple of weeks before the lockdown hit. There was some palpable nervousness in those cramped hotel ballrooms. People weren’t sure what it meant to be in such a big group after the virus made its debut in Seattle in January.
A pic from that 24 Seven right before the lockdown with my dear Logan, who I choreographed a solo for that season.
Our studio shut down in correspondence with the lockdown as did virtually every other dance studio in the country. We started up Zoom classes and actually made a recital happen by filming pieces in-studio when we were able to return, and then presenting them drive-in movie style later on. It was a really special thing — to be able to come together and finish out a year of hard work in a way we thought we wouldn’t get.
And like many dancers across the country and the world, I started to take online classes. I did the Cindies ballet classes, tried some Steps on Broadway options, technique classes with Krista Miller and choreography from Dexter Carr. (I recently learned from Dexter’s podcast that the combo he taught to the song “Wasn’t Me” — the one I learned online — was his least favorite combo he’s taught of all time.)
All those things felt pretty much inaccessible for a dancer growing up in Montana without buying a plane ticket.
While some of my online taking during the pandemic felt low-key bad for my mental health, the Cindies ballet classes did not. These principal dancers with ABT were hilarious, and the classes were suited for small spaces because that’s what they had to work with, too. Taking these classes really did just make me feel like I was keeping up on my training, but in a way that I didn’t need to prove. Ballet is vegetables.
That access was awesome. The way I started to feel like I had to prove to everyone that I was still dancing and training and improving during the pandemic — which led to a very correlated increase of Instagram use — was not.
I think dance fomo is the worst type of fomo. The way I see it, it falls in two categories:
There’s the dancer who considered taking it to the professional level but made other life choices that didn’t align with that goal. Now, they might see their friends taking classes or training at big city studios and as much as they’re happy for them, it also breaks their hearts.
There’s the dancer who has seen their abilities change, maybe due to an injury, a decrease in training or, in a more positive way, feeling stronger and more capable after finding the right mix of training and cross-training. These dancers know that, just like in any sport or body-focused discipline, they’re operating within a clock. They’re not going to be the same dancer today as they were five years ago or are going to be in five years.
Both of these categories lead to Instagram or TikTok, either in the sense of consuming a bunch of dance content or trying to cultivate content to remind the world that you’re still dancing and training and improving.
It’s important to note that during the pandemic and in its fallout, social media platforms were often how dancers were found and booked. They’re tools. And with any type of tools, there’s generally a time and place to use them and settings where their use doesn’t totally make sense.
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This is post-pandemic, but the case-in-point of social media being a tool is just the mere concept of going viral, like this choreography from Kelly Sweeney to Tate McRae’s popular song, “Sports Car.”
When I think about all the Instagram posting I did in the spring of 2020, I’m embarrassed. For the quantity for sure, but also because the dancing I was doing wasn’t that good. It was desperate, and I think it showed. I was posting to get reposted. (I think my video to Dexter’s “Wasn’t Me” might have been the worst of the worst.)
I can’t say I don’t do that now, but the mentality has changed. I like to post dance content to my Instagram because I felt good in the combo, and, sure, because I want to be seen.
I have a lot of options to dance now, whether that’s in Missoula, by taking an online class or via a getaway trip to LA or Seattle or New York. Of course, we’re not in a global pandemic anymore, so that helps, but that desperation seems to have passed, too.
I’ve made my choices, and while you bet I’m still dreaming, I don’t mind feeling grounded.
The schedule has been updated and there’s a few new things including:
Hip hop at Roots! (New time.)
Company classes with KCD
All the ballet at Ballet Arts (three levels! In the summer!)
A commercial heels pop up at Westside
Happy dancing (not fomo dancing). 💙
