Page - 208 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 07/01

208 | Brandon Ambrosino strict quarantine orders since the beginnings of the pandemic, many residents continued to spend time out of doors, exercising, going to grocery stores, walking pets. Imagine the surprise of New Yorkers, whose theater lights have been dimmed since March 2020, finding a sole dancer performing her craft out in the world. What a delight that must have been – for those, that is, who stopped to take in the experience. Not all of them did. Not all of us do, either, which was one sad takeaway from violinist Joshua Bell’s 2007 incognito subway performance. We are surrounded by a world of animated beauty, but we don’t always make time for it. “It” being our noticing of what is always happening, because, to be sure, the beautiful is al- ways already around us in dazzling abundance. We are, understandably, more primed to experience it in the world’s great performance halls. But where will we find it when they are closed? Because, as COVID-19 has taught us, even the most prestigious ones can be closed. When that happens, what will happen to art? To a world improved by art? To artists? The Brookings Institute estimates that the fine and performing arts indus- tries in the US suffered a loss of 1.4 million jobs and $42.5 billion in sales.7 And anyone who has purchased a ticket to a live performance in the past few years can certainly understand how quickly those numbers can be arrived at. We live in an age when four-digit Broadway ticket prices are quite common, when succeeding as a dancer requires a childhood of expensive training. The performing arts, for all the good that they offer the world, remain off-limits for many people who can’t afford to participate in them. Which is why fund- ing projects like Works & Process is so crucial to arts development, particularly at a time when a global pandemic has brought down the curtain. Artists need to continue to eat. Beyond that, however, they need to continue to create. Some of the most interesting virtual commissions showed performing art- ists navigating their private lives. Married dancers Ashley Laracey and Troy Schumacher offered a glimpse into the daily routine of their lives as parents.8 The film “7:30/7:30” opens with the New York City Ballet dancers waking up and immediately beginning to care for their young twins. As Schumacher’s piano music plays in the background, the couple play with their children, feed them, bathe them, bounce them in front of a mirror. Throughout the piece, Laracey and Schumacher are seen stretching and putting their bodies through 7 Florida/Seman 2020. 8 Ashley Laracey and Troy Schumacher, “7:30/7:30”, 2 August 2020, https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=g6qe_YFyekI [accessed 5 January 2021]. www.jrfm.eu 2021, 7/1, 205–210