Javier Torres as Anthony and Ayami Miyata as Odette in Swan Lake
Credit: Emma Kauldha
As with so many artforms, the dance industry has seen a seismic shift during the pandemic, as live shows attended by audiences have given way to work on screens, watched at home. “They’ve become an integral part of our programming, rather than an add-on,” says David Nixon, artistic director of Northern Ballet. That change might have happened over the next few years, but Covid “has catapulted it ahead”.
Online, the offering has largely ranged from archive productions to live-streams and digital-specific commissions. The last of these, to my mind, have proved the most effective as a viewing experience, since they’re specifically designed for that medium – and our couch-bound attention span. “I’m not sure people want to sit in front of full-length ballets at home,” Nixon agrees. “The energy and focus in the theatre keeps people engaged.”
Adventure Time creator Pendleton Ward. The show uses conversations from the
Duncan Trussell Family Hour podcast to serve as each episode s backbone. Trussell voices the lead character Clancy, a 20-something who lives in a technologically advanced universe. In every episode he travels to a new world using his malfunctioning multi-verse simulator, and because it s on the fritz, every place he goes is experiencing some sort of apocalypse. Visually, these animated worlds are something out of a fever dream. And at every stop on Clancy s journey, he gathers content for his spacecast, talking to anyone who is willing.
Released on Netflix on April 20, a show about a character travelling to apocalyptic dimensions felt somewhat fitting. With COVID-19, our world feels flipped upside down, as the majority of us have lost our sense of normalcy. Many of us feel uncertain about our future and maybe a little existential. Personally,