ATLANTA — For most of us, working out from home during the pandemic has meant jumping on your work laptop from your home office or living room.
But what does work from home look like when you're a professional ballet dancer?
It was not long before the Atlanta Ballet leaped into unchartered territory to survive the financial toll of the pandemic.
With more than half its budget gone -- $4 million in this pandemic year -- the Atlanta Ballet was faced with an almost insurmountable challenge.
“That drastic change happened within a day when we were going on stage, and the next day we could not even go back in the studio one by one,” said Gennadi Nedvigin, Atlanta Ballet artistic director.
For the Ballet, not coming into the studio would usually mean no way to train or practice.
But Nedvigin figured out a way to make it work.
“From the first days we set up zoom calls with our dancers so they could exercise at their homes,” he said.
Dancers like Keaton Leier had to make quick major adjustments in their living spaces to be able to train.
“We had to quickly transition my little apartment into a basically makeshift studio so that meant moving the couch, getting space in the kitchen to set up a floor basically, and clinging to my kitchen counter rather than a ballet bar to keep going with the essentials to stay in shape,” Leier said.
And to get back lost revenue, the Ballet produced a video of its famous Nutcracker performance and presented it in a drive-in parking lot to five sold-out audiences.
Added to that were smaller groups of ballet dancers now choreographing their own material and performing on a virtual stage.
They are using digital platforms and a virtual stage that Nedvigin said will continue.
“The virtual abilities that we gained during this time will help us to connect with choreographers, with dancers; with students; and with teachers, and will allow us to be more flexible in connecting with each other,” Nedvigin added.
And while other artistic organizations are starting to resume performances late in the Spring and early summer, no timetable has yet been set for the Ballet to back on the live indoor stage.
Watch the full interview below: