Music and Dance on a Digital Platform! Just few months ago, this idea was mostly used by artists for fun and entertainment. But now, it has become an inevitable approach during this Covid-19 pandemic which may be termed as a force majeure event. As health, safety, and lives are at stake, it vigorously imposes an economic crisis for many communities, including the art fraternity. Like many other business sectors, the performing arts sector got disrupted to a great extent by the worldwide outbreak of Corona Virus. Artists’ livelihood depend on different live performances, gigs, tours, workshops, and tutoring. As the lockdown has stretched over a couple of months (and will continue to do so in the foreseeable future), and with the continuing need for physical distancing, the world of performing arts has been struggling, scrambling, and groping in the amorphous situation of a quickly spreading pandemic. “Necessity is the mother of invention” – as this virus wreaks havoc on millions of artist’s lives, spawning ripples of anxiety for survival, people have embraced digital platforms quickly; they gravitated towards online engagements, live shows, talk shows, workshops, and online teaching. This became a pragmatic and intriguing solution to most artists amidst this dreary condition. Online platforms and social media have started playing major roles for performers who were in total despair after mass cancellations of performances, workshops, and tours. This online platform definitely enlivens the spirits of millions of artists, fans, and art students. Wiping out geographical boundaries, fans have started to enjoy online shows of their favorite artists in various fields, students have started regular online art classes with their teachers. Information is gleaned from various online talk shows, workshops, and webinars – it’s a more lasting and stable way to share, communicate and connect, instead of meandering through the array of musings in solitude. We all got some great materials that we would not have otherwise gotten. Despite being very productive in the first few months of the quarantine period, it is, unfortunately, unclear to the whole art fraternity whether or not it can be a reliable business model, and whether or not it can cater to the most rudimentary needs of hundreds of thousands of artists. Many questions are still left unanswered - these live streaming, lectures, and workshops were mostly free at the beginning, yet this poses a serious threat to artists’ survival. What challenges will the community face while marketing online engagements as ticketed events? Will it be possible to maintain high-quality streaming, embellished with sophisticated light, sound, and technology to satisfy the audience, like it would in an on-stage performance? Will it be possible to have more comfortable settings where artists are not crammed on a small phone screen? Will these live streams pay enough for artists to [financially] support themselves? What will happen to those artists who are not accustomed to online interactions, or with limited internet facilities? At this moment, the main goal is to establish coherent economic strategies through online involvements, while maintaining the quality, novelty, and grace of the art. History tells us a lot - this may be new to our generation, but not to humanity; the race has faced enormous challenges before and survived, so we will survive too. In the last few decades, technology has proved its competence in various fields, so one can certainly hope that it will not disappoint the Art field. As the live streaming synergizes better with new virtual realities, there is a growing understanding of continuous developments, both technologically as well as with the content. Artists need to understand that this medium is not just to fuel their thoughts in solitude, but to be used as a potential platform to share ideas. We need to come up with advancements to the wide spreading internet technology, with high-quality online streaming, improved sound system, and decorated with appealing lighting systems. It is imperative that we all stand together to make all these shows as ticketed events in support of those artists who depend on their art for a living. We must refrain from thinking that online shows are catchall designations or have amateurish content, and these performances should not be considered as ubiquitous to the point where it will be a vestige of dignity. The success of a live performance depends on the audience’s reaction, to which online shows are no exception. We must make all sorts of arrangements to provide an engaging rendezvous for artists and viewers, where artists will be able to present their art forms with full comfort, and viewers will get the pleasure of watching performers in an online event. Sponsorship and advertisements can be a good monetary support for organizing these online events and may help to keep the ticket cost affordable. Art forms faced a major setback during the Spanish Flu outbreak in 1918, but the comebacks were much stronger than the setbacks. Goes without saying that the same holds for us. It is really encouraging to see that in New York City (amongst other places), there are many venues that have started hosting ticketed online events with a virtual audience, where artists are performing on the stage or in studios, as to not be restricted to the limited infrastructure of home. It is important for the audience to adopt new ways of enjoying music and performances. With a proper setup, we all can build an excellent medium to spread our Art forms globally, where young and budding artists remain connected, always keeping their spirits up. Already established artists will guide the industry, and we will prove again that the adversity always brings out positivity, innovation and creativity. Nothing can stop art to flourish, as it will always find a way to survive.

She exited her office with a very satisfied smile – after a long day of hard work, she had finally resolved the issues that were plaguing her and her team for the last few weeks and was ready to shift her focus entirely to the upcoming dance lesson today in NYC. Fishing for her car keys, she quickly glanced at her watch while taking a bite out of a sandwich. To ensure that she would not be late in her dance class, she hastily started the engine while making a mental note to surprise her son by preparing his favorite dinner tonight. Between her office work, her dance practices, and housekeeping chores, she was a busy woman. However, her passion for dance struck a proper balance between her ever hectic schedule and her desire to learn new things. It became a regular interlacing routine; reviewing choreography during her lunch break at work, and debating solutions to work-related problems during dance rehearsal brakes. Meanwhile, on the other side of the city…. She rushed down the stairs of the platform – just in time – to catch the train to her NYC dance facility. After a whole day of making compositions and practicing them, she was ecstatic to display to her students (at the facility) her epic creations. As she approached the parting doors of the train, many faces turned towards her, clearly associating her with the women who quite astoundingly blew away the audience last night with her amazing musical pieces. The few people on the train who mustered enough courage to approach her were handsomely rewarded with a smile and an autograph. She, a professional dancer, despite being drained of energy, was happy that she could bring smiles and joy to others simply through her creative and musical mind. Two successful women, two successful stories, and at their core, a passion for dance. Many young budding dancers face this dilemma of whether to have dance as a profession or a strong hobby. What is it that makes this tender time in their lives interesting? What makes their senses intensely alive? If the answer is “Dance”, then it is certainly elusive to find the correct path at the right time. Dance pushes us to tackle many things, but it also teaches us to balance it all. If we choose to have dance as a hobby, then the foremost thing that we need to learn is how to juggle our obligations, how to set priorities, how to manage those priorities efficiently, and invent ways to fit daily dance practice routines between tasks. Progress requires effort and determination and requires a dogged mindset. Neglecting dancing day after day for other priorities takes us out of our much-needed practice time. The loss of momentum will sound familiar to anyone who has vowed to learn dance once. So we need the self-discipline to keep the motivation alive. In return, the reward is huge. Since it is not our career, it brings enormous fun without raising a question of financial instability; it is a blessing, it is an emotional outlet, it connects us with each other, it keeps us in shape. We easily overcome boredom - the leavening influence of dance flows through our lives and helps us to add spark to our monotonous lives. Meeting with a group of people with common interests, rehearsing jointly, performing together, and venturing out for new spots in upcoming dance videos – the joy is enormous, a more lasting way to share the highlights of our creative minds. In the end, it is always the ultimate stress buster, a “facile victory”. On the contrary, when our passion for dance becomes our profession, it is perhaps the best gift that we can get from life. It requires trust from the inside, a strong active mind to walk the path with colossal obstacles and dead ends, a confident personality that is always ready to maneuver through wrong turns. Dancers undergo years after years of formal training; this process cannot be experienced from textbooks but mastered thorough rigorous practice routines, dedications, devotions, experiences, and struggles. The training teaches strict disciplines, promotes creativity, channelizes the mind gainfully, stretches the power of observations, and puts all our senses to work while heightening our imagination, leading to a place where heart and mind connect. Thus the process of becoming a professional dancer itself is reason enough to take up dancing as a profession. Then, for most dancers, the next phase is to gain financial security. The competition is fierce, so proper planning is required. This is definitely a difficult career at the initial phase, but with proper planning, a strong career in dance spans a range that includes performer, teacher, choreographer, dance therapist, critic, writer, costume designer, production designer, and technician. Although we should not shy away from the competitive market, we should not indulge ourselves to the point where we fall into an endless pit of exhausting competition and rivalry, which eventually gets us nowhere. It is important to have a good grip on the market as well as to maintain one’s own terms, principles, and honesty. The personality development, communication skills are also very much vital in their success path. Another potential driving factor is to develop strategies to market herself/himself. At the same time, care needs to be taken to avoid all negativities. Since success is achieved with a lot of hard work, there is a strong tendency of self-obsession, disregarding the credit and support of not so well-established dancers, or copying other established dancers without having a well-rehearsed session. Like all other fields, this also has many negative forces, and human responsibility is to overcome these and focus on goals with honesty. In this fast changing and uncertain world, it is always better to have a backup plan for our career; people choosing dance as strong hobby can always use different dance related professions in case of any issues with their work. Similarly, it is important for professional dancers to have a backup plan in mind to avoid any sudden fall in career. A simple hairline fracture in the leg may keep them out of a job for a few months which they may not be able to afford. Young artists should consider all these possibilities/options before choosing dance as a hobby or career. Last but not least, “Success is not final, failure is not fatal, and it is the courage to continue that counts.” Perfectly said by Winston Churchill. Whatever career path we take, it is important to improve and grow, it is necessary to learn from experiences that brought us down, and it is imperative to have fun and satisfaction to achieve our goals.