In this interview, we chat to Zannah Chisholm, Artistic Director and CEO of Pavilion Dance South West to find out a little more about the impact the coronavirus pandemic has had on the performing arts sector.
Tell us a bit about what you do in the performing arts sector?
“For 25 years Pavilion Dance South West has been creating programmes of dance, nurturing talent and enabling more people to dance and to watch dance. Our strongest roots are in contemporary dance, but we are clear that the future is framed by all of the different dance styles. We will be embracing dance that people consider part of their everyday lives and collaborating with professional dancers to bring more people to their feet both to watch and to dance.”
How has Covid affected your livelihood and what have you done to try and overcome it?
“We wanted to stay in touch with our communities and continue to provide a vibrant dance programme, so we adapted. We swiftly shifted to digital and needed to learn a lot very quickly. We’ve focussed on how to make the content accessible, including audio description, captioning and sign interpretation. We’re still on that journey and it’s a part of our future. We are exploring what our digital voice will be and how a digital programme can be financially viable.
We have not been able to earn income since March 2020. While we’re trying to generate an income stream through our online presence this requires a long-term investigation into the balance of the cost and value to the audiences and different kinds of ways of working with the artists.
The pandemic has had a huge impact on the ability of freelancers to generate income; over 70% of the performance industry is made up by freelancers and the self-employed. We have done what we can to support the creative community in this difficult period. When the lockdown in March was announced a whole season of shows were no longer possible. We ensured that we honoured all of our contracts to protect our artists and our teams. Since March, PDSW have made payments to 187 freelancers.”
How supportive do you feel the Government has been to people like you and the performing arts in general?
“The Furlough system has been a lifesaver for businesses up and down the country. There is concern, though, what will happen from May when the scheme ends but live work may not be able to happen and social distancing impacts the financial viability of shows.
The Culture Recovery Fund has been a life raft for some companies in the industry and has rescued some who were in critical shape but we are aware that the longer that the disruption to live work goes on, the more perilous the position of many theatres.”
What additional support would you like to see for performing arts professionals?
“The industry needs continued support for self-employed people but most of all we need to get the industry back rehearsing and performing again as soon as possible. The longer we cannot do that, the more perilous the financial and health of those freelance professionals will be and the more people we will lose from this flagship UK industry.”
Do you think there'll be any long term impact from Covid for the performing arts industry once restrictions are lifted?
“Eventually there will be a hunger from the public to see and take part in dance which will see high numbers of audiences. You may see impacts on theatre programmes – whether that is more work created locally with local communities, more outdoor work or less of an appetite for risk. There will be a huge amount of programming content available – work that was touring pre-Covid plus work created since Covid. It’s not clear how that will impact on programming or touring yet.
Covid has forced the hand of digital presence in the arts but there are aspects of it that are here to stay long-term IF we can find a way to make it pay financially. And you may see a continuation of more interdisciplinary work.”
And finally, this time next year, what do you hope you'll be doing?
“I hope I will be watching a live performance, in the theatre, surrounded by other audience-goers.”