COVID times - Privilege at Trout Lake

by Jennifer Mascall

August. We had the studio 24 hours a day for 3 weeks. We booked the dancers, exhilarated to return to work - released from Shelter In Place and our ZOOM rehearsal microcosm. But the date grew closer and it emerged that enclosed spaces were a COVID danger zone.

We started looking at parks.

Ralph Escamillan in Privilege rehearsal at Trout Lake 2020 Photo Linzi Voth

Six blankets spread about 15 feet apart, littered with laptops, hard drives, notes, binders, snacks, first aid kit, COVID supplies, hand sanitizer, masks, alcohol rag, a load we needed a wagon to move from my car. Each day began with long tongs and two plastic bags – one for the tongs we used and the other for the Canada Goose poop and ambient garbage we picked up meticulously before starting and disposed of after rehearsal.

 Like our previous period of Zoom rehearsal, it felt very important to check-in. The cast was working full-on in many, many projects - everybody needed to catch up.  

Each of us kept daily note of all the people we ran into in case somebody caught COVID and contact tracing became necessary. At the end of Day 1, I got a call that Harbour Dance was closed because somebody had tested positive. Three of our six people had been in connection with Harbour Dance in the past week. Day 2 was canceled.  On Day 3 one dancer and I worked in the park while we waited for the test results. One dancer worked at home. The tests were negative and we resumed as a team.

Eowynn Enquist in Privilege rehearsal, Trout Lake August 2020, Photo Linzi Voth

We watched our computers like hawks and never left them alone, and yes, it did feel safe.

Erika Mitsuhashi rehearsing Privilege, Trout Lake, 2020 Photo: Lizi Voth

A new dancer who’d been on another project but was now available joined us in the final week. After the first day she let us know that she was allergic to grass but she tried again the next day. It was so bad that she had to throw her contacts out because they were being expelled from her eyes. So rehearsal moved to the studio with the rehearsal director, and I watched via ZOOM from home, being a senior and potentially high risk.    

Eowynn Enquist (L), Ralph Escamillan (R) rehearsal, Trout Lake Photo: Linzi Voth

 Mid-process, the dancers asked to be paid to warm up. We said yes, of course!  Though we’ve never paid anyone to warm up in the company’s history, in this time, it feels important at every turn to do whatever the dancers need to continue their career in a lively way.

In check-outs at rehearsal’s end, we’d talk about the process. Many spoke of the change in time they felt, due not only to COVID but to the rehearsal process itself. Through adapting to the varied needs of each person, rehearsal expanded into a plateau where the dancers were able to come as whole people.

Ensemble, Privilege rehearsal August 2020 Trout Lake. Photo, Linzi Voth

So rich that I find that I often have to remind myself that this spaciousness is expanding the time it is taking to make a dance - doubling the rehearsal time allotted!

Jennifer Mascall