The SHOW MUST Will GO ON...

With theatres and galleries closed, TV production shut down, and comedy shows and music gigs postponed, artists are finding new and innovative ways to entertain. Join us in rallying behind the creative community doing it tough.

- Alley Pascoe

AMY HARRIS & JARRYD MADDEN

AUSTRALIAN BALLET DANCERS

“It’s a real thrill; a magical moment of pure escapism,” says Amy Harris, describing the rush of pirouetting across the stage in front of a live audience as a principal ballerina in The Australian Ballet. The last time Harris felt that buzz was in March, when she performed the company’s new contemporary piece, Volt, at the State Theatre in Melbourne. It was her first show back after giving birth to son Phoenix last June, and she got to perform it a grand total of three times before the lockdown restrictions closed stages across the country. “I felt like I’d just got my wheels turning again, only to have the brakes slammed on,” she says.

With the rest of the year’s shows postponed indefinitely – including Anna Karenina, Harlequinade and The Happy Prince – Harris and her husband, fellow dancer Jarryd Madden, are trying to find normalcy in the crushing tsunami of uncertainty. Their new routine starts with breakfast at home, followed by a morning of online schooling for daughter Willow, five, an online ballet class in the lounge room at 11 am coinciding with a nap for Phoenix and an afternoon of optional Pilates and gym classes. The ballet has also organised online Friday night cooking classes, a book club, and quiz speed rounds. “The company has gone above and beyond to focus on connection and mental health during isolation,” says Madden, praising The Australian Ballet’s quick pivot to online connection in lieu of group hugs.