The Dancers Behind The Art and The Pandemic

Fiona sprague, a contemporary dancer of 16 years on November 15. Fiona has almost always danced, starting at the age of four in ballet, the idea of moving in an expressive way instantly clicked with her. Eventually, Fiona began taking contemporary dance in middle school finding a love for the fluid and creative art. She was dedicated to taking multiple classes a day year round in order to strive for perfection that was until March of 2020 when the beginnings of the COVID-19 pandemic reached Oregon. At the time, Fiona was dancing with Downtown Dance in Corvallis and in an interview she mentions remembering how she was about to perform and specifically thought that didn’t know if Covid was going to be a big deal. The next day, the state goes into lock down. Over the next two and a half years, Fiona struggles to find meaning and in turn a foothold in the world of dance. After stopping all classes once in lockdown, she began to struggle with a creative block. From being in the studio 7 days a week, to not dancing at all, the solitude began to wear at her. In the interview taken on November 15, Fiona describes how she had to go through a sort of "grieving process" when it came to her dance career. At the time dance was her only identity, and losing that was incredibly heartbreaking. For two years, Fiona was unable to dance, until March of 2022 she had the opportunity to not only choreograph, but perform through a small indie event: COLLISIONS. There, Fiona picked up the skills that lay dormant, and choreographed two contemporary pieces for the show. Even today, Fiona always finds interesting and creative ways to dance and perform in her world as an independent artist.

Addi Nims, A Dancer specializing in ballet, stands at the Albany Performing Arts Center during a Tech Rehearsal for The Nutcracker presented by Legacy Ballet on November 28. Addi hated ballet when she started at the age of 5. Her first introduction to dance was a terrible experience at a studio in Albany and the result was Addi quitting after only one term of dance. She didn’t pick the style back up until 2016 when she joined Legacy Ballet’s ballet program and after that, the spark of joy that ballet brings to so many dancers all around the world captured Addi. After starting pointe work at the age of 12, Addi thought that her path was set out for her; that she would be a dancer until she couldn’t dance anymore. However, not everything in life goes to plan and in March 2020, the Coronavirus pandemic hit Oregon. Besides concern for herself as well as concern for her family, Addie was almost immediately struck with the concern of not being able to dance “would I be able to see anyone? Will I lose technique and strength? I was almost beside myself with worry about what would happen” were only a handful of the questions Addi faced when she first heard of the closures in Oregon. At her core, Addi is a dancer, and not being able to do the thing that she loves was heartbreaking for her. She went through a period in time where she was constantly overwhelmed by all aspects of life. Since she was so weighed down with pent up nervous energy and being able to dance in a significant space was entirely not an option for Addi, she found solace in other coping mechanisms like writing and painting, yet, it was never as fulfilling as dance was for her. Doing the same online dance class time after time began to feel like a chore and was disheartening to do month after month. Addi eventually fell victim to creative burnout. She struggled with this for several months even when Legacy Ballet officially reopened in 2021, Addi was unmotivated to dance. That was until something finally clicked in her head; she could dance again. The spark returned for Addi, the love for dance returned and she dug her way out of burnout. “Dancing is an amazing experience but its a lot harder than most people think… especially when the community is taken away. Without a community of people surrounding you to encourage you and to work together with, a lot of what makes dance special is taken away.” 

Gwen Cobarrubia, a ballerina currently working with Legacy Ballet as a part of their annual Nutcracker, sits at the entrance to the backstage dressing rooms at the Albany Performing Arts Center on November 28. Gwen has almost always been a dancer. At the age of 5, Gwen started her first Ballet class at Legacy Ballet where at first she was opposed to the idea of dancing but soon began to love the art. After eight full years of Ballet training through Legacy, Gwen first heard the news of the pandemic in school and without hesitation, her first thought was “How am I going to dance?” As the months wore on, Gwen eventually began to resent the idea of attending the Zoom classes offered by her home studio. In an interview, she explained how didn’t want to be there– at all. In fact, even with the love that she had for dancing and the creative movement that comes with the art, Gwen was incredibly close to quitting. “Blank[...] Dull [...] Lonely” is how Gwen described her state of mind and like most dancers, she had to mourn the loss of dancing. As well as the creative block that came with her burnout, Gwen also developed Body Dysmorphic Disorder, a mental condition in which a person feels anxiety when looking at any portion of their body. She, like many other dancers, felt like she did not fit the ideal body type that is often characterized by the culture of ballet itself. Eventually, with the lifting of restrictions on capacity inside buildings, Legacy Ballet opened its doors for its dancers and ever so slowly, Gwen began to take classes again. At first once per week in person, then three times a week, and finally, in early 2021, Gwen was back to dancing full time. She knew coming back to the studio would take work, but she also knew that returning to the art would be worth it. Gwen plans to continue to perform and dance for as long as she is able to and when asked if she had any advice for the future generations of dancers she laughed and said the following: “If you're not feeling it; stick with the gut decision you have and always always give yourself a break if you need it.” 

Sara Nafziger, a dancer specializing in contemporary, ballet, jazz and tap, sits at the Albany Performing Arts Center on November 26. In 2009, at the age of 5 years old, Sara took her first ballet class and fell in love with the style, eventually becoming one of the youngest pointe dancers at Legacy Ballet, her first and current dance studio. Unfortunately, Sara eventually began to feel the effects of burnout in 2018. Since she had been dancing for so long and for so many hours a week doing almost exclusively ballet, the joy of dancing slowly faded away and Sara stopped taking ballet classes altogether. Around this time, she picked up the art of contemporary dance and loved the freedom that the style brought. With incredibly fluid movements, very little technical structure and the ability to express emotions easily, contemporary resonated with Sara. She continued to explore the style until March of 2020 when Legacy Ballet, as well as every other non essential business, closed due to COVID-19. A month into quarantine and Sara dreaded the idea of opening a laptop to take a class in her bedroom. In an interview, she explains that dancing through a screen was nothing like dancing in a studio. She was already having school be exclusively through a screen and adding dance on top of that was incredibly disheartening. Eventually, Legacy Ballet began to have a select few in person classes available for their dancers and Sara was taking almost every one available. She found the spark of movement again and her passion for dance returned. Even now, Sara bounces between styles of dance, trying new things and choreographing the impossible. When given the opportunity, Sara took it, dug herself out of burnout, and is dancing to this day. 

Sophie Getz, a dancer specializing in ballet, stands at the Albany Performing Arts Center before a tech rehearsal for Legacy Ballet’s “The Nutcracker” on November 28. “I was always the one in class to be paying so much attention on what I should be doing, rather than what I should not be doing” was Sophie’s response when asked about her experience growing up as a dancer. Sophie started her first ballet class at the age of 5 at Legacy Ballet, her first and current dance studio. At first, Sophie was hesitant with the style, as most people are when they first start dancing, yet, within the year, she was hooked. In these classes, Sophie describes how she was always wanting to be doing everything “right” rather than focusing on what she could fix with her dancing. “It’s what I struggled with most as a kid and even now it still can sneak up on me” After eight entire years of incredible determination and refining her skills in ballet, the Coronavirus pandemic caused the world to close its doors. With online classes being offered through her home studio, Sophie saw an opportunity to dance and took it. While it was not even close to being what being in a true studio is like, the chance to move, while limited, was still there. Eventually though, Sophie began to fall into the routine of living her life through a computer screen and after months of online courses, the urge to dance dissipated. The relief and joy that ballet brought Sophie was buried under layers of worry and burnout. She describes dancing in quarantine like hitting a glass ceiling. “Only being able to dance in a hallway for 6 months can only take you so far and dancing through a screen can only teach you so much.” While some things in life feel like the last for an eternity, most things come to an end and quarantine was one of them. Sophie came back to the dance studio for the first time in late august of 2021, reigniting the spark and the joy that so many dancers say keep them going through the most strenuous of dances. Sophie is no different. While the pandemic was an incredibly difficult experience, Sophie conveys how there are skills she picked up while being stuck inside, one of which is the ability to realize how opportunities can be wasted. For Sophie, the opportunity was to come back to the studio in order to continue her career. Without that opportunity, She may never have gone back to dancing. Yet, she did and overall, she hopes to dance through the rest of highschool and if at all possible, through college.  “Take the chances that give you joy and never pet a burning dog.” 

Rowan Eckhart, a ballerina and dancer specializing in pointe work, jazz, and modern dance, stands in Legacy Ballet’s primary studio space on November 15. Rowan began dancing at the age of 13 at Old Dominion Performing Arts Studio (or ODPAS) in Virginia and was entirely infatuated with dance. There they danced five days a week and took 10 classes at the minimum, most notably ballet and modern. With their natural talent and ability to pick skills and techniques up quickly, Rowan had an incredibly bright future in the dance industry ahead of them. Despite all of this, in April of 2020, ODPAS closed their doors to the public due to COVID-19. In an interview, Rowa describes how difficult the pandemic was for them not only as a dancer but also as a person. “In the face of COVID I lost almost all interest and motivation in many aspects of life, and dance was not an exception. Especially during the summer of 2020, even when Dulcey (their studio director) was holding online classes, I did not have the energy or motivation to attend them.” Before the pandemic, Rowan had never struggled with burnout, they described dance as being their life. While they occasionally struggled with their imposter syndrome, dance continued to be their life and once that was taken away, they were, in a way, stuck. When asked what it was to bring them out of that state of mind Rowan instantly said “My mom”. Their mom, with constant support and with a strong sense of what Rowan needed. Their mom was the one who reminded Rowan of their love of dance. “Without her efforts, I highly doubt I would be still dancing to this day, and my future would look very different.” Rowan will graduate from high school in the class of 2023 and they hope to go into the dance industry as a costume designer with a minor in dance. According to Rowan; “You do not have to be the best to succeed, as long as you love what you are doing, you’re doing exactly what you should.”