Sitting here in Melbourne with 16 days of double doughnuts, traffic on the roads, children screeching about happily in playgrounds, cafe’s and shops open, I wanted to thank  everyone for their part in helping us to get us to this point.

Australia has been, in many ways very fortunate, even in Victoria, our infections and deaths have been tiny compared to the losses sustained in Europe and the US. But even so, working in the Victorian aged care outbreaks,  knowing that didn’t make it any easier, but thankful that we did not have it worse. Colleagues in the hospital settings felt the same – the pressure of caring for people with a virus that is terrifyingly infectious, where a mistake with your protective equipment could risk you, your family and colleagues health and perhaps life is tiring. My team was lucky, we had all the gear we needed, but the stories from others was that protective equipment was not to be had for love or money adding to the stress.  The wider impact of shutting down a lot of the health services was that chronic diseases were perhaps not monitored and managed as tightly, new, serious illness were not detected, treatments not initiated and we’re starting to see that now. In the aged care homes, there was so much distress; the staff who were doing their best in exceptionally difficult situations, the residents who were suddenly isolated from the familiar, everyone was in full masks, gowns and faceshields, visits from loved ones were not allowed, on top of the ever present risk of the virus running rampant through the facility. It was heartbreaking seeing patients die without the comfort of loved ones by their side, unable to say goodbye in person.

Despite the immediate threat having passed, now we’re starting to see the lingering effects of the disease.

The collateral impact of the lockdown also heavily impacted so many others. Others in healthcare, including many among ASPAH members were unable to provide service as usual and many pivoted and signed up to assist in the effort – joining testing crews, helping with contact tracing. In my other work as a GP i saw the effect on people of all other walks of life, loss of income, uncertainty, mental health issues, domestic violence. I also worked up near the tower lockdowns early on and saw the disparity in our care for those in marginalised, forgotten groups. Psychologists stepped up and took on incredible workloads supporting us through the uncertainty and anxiety of the lockdown.  Academics, schools and university were shuttered and they were incredible at how they rapidly adapted to deliver content and assessment remotely. Public health was thrust into the limelight as modelling, R0, exponential growth became the topic of conversation as they gracefully, methodically guided us through despite all the armchair experts vocal opining.

And It has hit the arts particularly harshly, with no opportunity to perform and large swathes of the industry not eligible for government support and the promised support was patchy at best.

However, I am in awe of how artists have stepped up to the challenge with grace- from generously streaming performances both archival works and innovative new works,  to teachers rapidly adapting to teaching class over zoom – keeping kids engaged and interested during the interminable lockdown, masterclasses from incredible artists around the world, our amazing dancers from the Australian Ballet working hard at home and reaching out to guest teach across the country. I even tried doing some classes in the privacy of my own home which just reminded me that it was 10 years ago i retired and arabesques are way harder than i remembered. It’s still a tragic loss of precious year of a short career for many performing artists.

There is still some way to go with theatres not yet open, but am cautiously optimistic and I cannot wait to get back to experience the magic of live performance.

So thank you, its been tough, with one of the longest lockdowns in the world, and there has been so much lost for so many; lives, loved ones, dreams, opportunities, the list goes on. But for now, I am so thankful and proud for the part that we all played in mitigating the losses that we could have sustained, or the threat of second/third waves that we are seeing around the world.

I’ll be getting onto the beers.

Dr Jason Lam

Some of the opportunities I had lined up included a BBC Radio 4 internship, a significant tour to America with my ensemble Rubiks, representing Australia as an Australian Artistic Associate at the Classical:NEXT Conference in Rotterdam and many other performance commitments and opportunities.

Just before leaving in February, I performed in the Asia TOPA Festival, giving the Australian premiere of a work from Deborah Cheetham’s Woven Song Collection; a wonderful collaboration between Rubiks Collective, Short Black Opera and Indian tabla master Ashis Sengupta. The overall project saw three internationals join us from Singapore, India and Japan. If this performance would have been a matter of weeks later, this would not have been possible.

I arrived in London in mid-February and began immediately working with the Arts Council of England as an Artistic Quality Assessor. I was thrilled with this new opportunity which enabled me to travel across England assessing the artistic output of their funded organisations. I felt refreshed and inspired.

However, by mid-March this feeling had changed. I was continually waking to panicked messages from family and friends in Australia, telling me about the latest restrictions back home and urging me to get on a flight before all of the airlines shut down. It all felt quite surreal as the UK was as this stage conducting business as normal, albeit with a few extra government press conferences. This sense of urgency coming from Australia was a little confusing to process when I couldn’t see it directly around me.  

We eventually decided that maybe it would be worth heading home. It was becoming clear that my partner’s orchestra would not be going back to a normal schedule any time soon. I was hesitant as I had so many incredible opportunities lined up, however he managed to convince me that these opportunities were all about to disappear, and of course he was absolutely right.

The flight home felt like we were on a mission. Heathrow was only allowing passengers inside the terminal who had a flight within the next few hours. The departures board had a total of four flights running for the day, alongside hundreds of cancelled flights. There were multiple health screenings, temperature checks and of course self-isolation at the other end. We arrived in Sydney just two days before hotel quarantine was enforced. We partitioned off the family home so we could appropriately isolate ourselves from others in the house. That night was the best sleep, as is often the case after a long-haul flight.

The next day, it all began. We both noticed we had dull headaches and a slightly tight feeling in the chest. At this point in time the general advice for Covid-19 symptoms was to look out for a fever and a dry cough, neither of which we had. We weren’t too worried thinking we were most likely just feeling jetlagged.

The next day these symptoms were still present, and I was beginning to feel achy in my legs. We decided it would probably be wise to get tested. Lucky we did, as from then the symptoms continued to progress and doing anything other than lying in bed became a challenge. Sure enough, on what we now know as Day 4, that positive result came through. We were informed that we should remain isolated until declared symptom free by NSW Health and to go the ER immediately if symptoms became serious.

The next 31 days really were a roller-coaster. Initially, there was an immediate dip in my health with a couple of stronger days around Days 7 and 8, before deteriorating again.

As we were receiving daily telehealth calls to track our progress, I started keeping a loose symptom diary, of which I’m still tracking today. Here is an excerpt from Day 13:

Day 13: By far, the worst I’ve felt. Vomited early in the morning. Nauseous. Sinuses still aching. So weak, can barely lift my head up. Head is still pounding. Heart palpitating constantly. Still no taste or smell. Muscles stiff and aching all across my neck. Can barely keep my eyes open as the natural light is too intense. Considered whether I should be going to ER. Decided with family and medical consultation that if I can keep my fluids constant, I might be ok. Otherwise I will go.

From Day 13 I definitely began to improve, day by day being able to stay upright for longer, headaches gradually subsiding and eventually gaining back my taste and smell. By about Day 27 I felt almost normal, aside from a stubborn croaky throat. I managed to kick that after a few days and eventually…

Day 31: Declared symptom free! 

Even after receiving the all clear to re-enter the world, I still gave it a few days before going for my first walk outside. After such an ordeal, it really felt like I couldn’t be too careful.

I would say it took at least eight weeks until I felt entirely like myself. As someone who exercises regularly, pre-Covid I could comfortably run 6-8km without a problem. This took about 3 months to build back up. For a long time, exercise made me feel nauseous and I fatigued very easily. I also found I was still feeling the odd headache. Here is an excerpt from my symptom diary, three months after being declared symptom free:

2/7 Sore gland in left hand side of jaw line.

3/7 Sore spot in left thigh and achy legs. Throat scratchy.

5/7 Achy right gland and down the neck. Occasionally feel it behind right ear.

7/7 Dull headache. Sore shoulders

8/7 Headache and knots in back continue. Right sinus blocked in morning.

9/7 Headache and knots in back continue. Right sinus slightly blocked.

11/7 Very slight irritation in glands along jaw and under chin

This was an unusually frequent patch of symptoms. I am now only recording about two days of very mild symptoms a month.  

I would say those first 13 days were the most intense part of the infection. The most interesting sensation I noticed was a sensation that the virus was literally moving around my body. It felt like it picked a new spot each day. One day I would feel it strongly in my legs with aches and heaviness and then the next day it would be in my sinuses with all of the pain focused there. The next day undoubtedly, I would experience a new symptom in a completely different part of my body. 

Across the 31 days I had all symptoms imaginable, however funnily enough my breathing never really worried me. With 20 years of serious flute playing under my belt, I have wondered whether this had any reason as to why my breathing was never comprised. Around Day 6 I was feeling slightly stronger and did try to play my flute. This of course was a stupid thing to do. I could not blow anything resembling a normal phrase, needing to take roughly 70% more breaths than normal. I also realised that it was quite foolish to be breathing into my instrument whilst being infected with the virus so I didn’t play again until I was entirely well.

My flute playing is completely back to normal now, which is a giant relief. I feel good these days although I am just as cautious as everyone about trying to avoid reinfection. Here’s hoping to a good dose of antibodies keeping me safe for a while and a vaccine for us all in the not too distant future.

Tamara Kohler

ASPAH Administrator

How has the coronavirus crisis affected you as a professional performing artist so far?

Obviously all of my work (as I usually know it) has completely dried up. I’m fortunate that I currently have financial stability in my current job for at least the next few months (I’m meant to move to Germany this year!), but who knows what the next few months might bring. I’m also very aware of a lot of my friends and colleagues who aren’t in such a fortunate position, which is just really awful. 

Are you exploring any alternatives for staying connected to your art and to your audience during this time? Do you have any suggestions for other dancers?

A lot of groups (including the ACO) are turning to digital platforms. I think this is a really good way of keeping connected with our audiences, but it’s SUCH a learning curve! It’s a good thing to get on top of, and I’m sure the skills will come in handy down the line.

I don’t think everyone has to do this, however. If it’s going to cause you more stress or anxiety during this time, I think it’s most important to look after your mental and physical health first and foremost. 

What strategies are you using to take care of yourself during this time of uncertainty and isolation?

I go through periods of ups and downs – sometimes I feel really good about the fact that life has slowed down a lot, and there is time for things that one usually wouldn’t have time for, and other times I feel totally stuck and like I’ve lost a lot of purpose. In these times it’s good to just take some deep breaths, go for a bit of exercise (whether that’s in the house or a walk/jog/run outside) and try to recalibrate. It’s ok to let yourself have “nothing” days, I think! It’s also good to touch base with friends and realise that we’re all in this together. 

Do you have any other comments to make regarding the current crisis in regard to performing arts healthcare?

We will get through this – and hopefully on the other side we will come out stronger as a sector. It’s my hope that people have been turning to the arts during their times of isolation, and might start to rethink how necessary they are for the mental wellbeing of our world! Let’s look out for each other.

How has the coronavirus crisis affected you as a professional performing artist so far?

The immediate change was a sudden stop of our season of “Volt” with The Australian Ballet, followed one week later by the move to working from home, once the government announced gym and indoor sporting activities need to cease. It was a strange feeling to have worked so hard collectively for many months to stage the triple bill and then to close the night after the premiere. The dancers are all doing class from home, setting up our small dance spaces amidst furniture, pets and children. We stream a class daily that is lead by one of the ballet staff who at this point are still allowed into the studios to film. While the change in pace and adjustment to the new “normal” is still novel, everyone seems to be coping very well with the major change in our lives.

However there is a great deal of uncertainty about when we will be allowed to perform again and what that repertoire will be. I suspect as this time of isolation lengthens our personal motivation and discipline will be put to the test. It feels as though someone has hit pause on life. For dancers, time is so precious, so fleeting you don’t want to waste a moment. I really feel for many young dancers, pre or newly professional that were really pushing to achieve their dreams when this all happened. At a time when the planet is facing such a serious health issue, to despair over the closing of a season seems a little selfish, but I think the many emotions dancers will feel are all valid.

Are you exploring any alternatives for staying connected to your art and to your audience during this time? Do you have any suggestions for other dancers?

Thank goodness for the internet! I have already spent way more time than I normally like on my devices learning how to work new programs such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams. My plan is to do our company online class daily, but then also watch a lot of other teachers around the world taking their own remote classes as a learning tool.

I have been updating my “working from home” situation on my social media account and subsequently have had this aired on ABC breakfast television! After this happened I received a lovely message from a ballet supporter who has a barre that she wants to lend to my husband Ty (fellow principal artist of TAB) and I so that we can use it instead of our dining chairs weighted down with potting mix.

There is a lot of kindness coming from the community in this time, it has allowed us to use social media to make some really warm connections. I’ve been told that Marquee TV is a great Arts Channel to stream, it has lots of amazing performances to watch to keep us inspired in this time off.

I’m also really interested to see how full time ballet schools cope with this time off. I am associated with both the ABS and the National Theatre Ballet School in Melbourne, both of which have full-time diploma courses. The logistics for educators across the country to deliver classes to students remotely is huge and with ballet in particular the challenges are even greater.

What strategies are you using to take care of yourself during this time of uncertainty and isolation?

My 17 month old daughter Bonnie is my biggest “strategy” for keeping a routine! She is awake early and likes her daily schedule of sleeping, playing and snacking. Ty and I have woven our ballet and body conditioning plan around her routine so that we maximise the time she is resting and then when she is awake we get the joy of spending more precious time with her.

In so many ways I am enjoying this new pace of life. We are not sitting in the car commuting before work, instead we are doing pilates and conditioning in the comfort of our lounge room before immediately shifting into the garage where we do class. Following class we put on our sneakers and head to the local oval where we can do a bit of cardio with safe social distancing. The benefits of fresh air, sunshine, rest and good nutrition are so important in this time where we all need to stay as healthy as possible. 

Our boss, David McAllister has been such a great leader in this time of uncertainty. He is endlessly positive and has encouraged us to focus on using the time to heal any injuries, to really commit to the strength programs our medical team have prescribed and to enjoy the joys of not constantly performing and travelling.

I’m also making the most of this time at home by studying as much as possible for my Graduate Diploma of Elite Dance Teaching with The ABS. So far I have done a few skype sessions and caught up on a lot of homework. Many elements of the course are designed to be completed when we are on tour in Sydney (which would have been now) so I am still able to complete them distantly from my home. 

My husband and I have also been rehearsing for a piece that is being created by our friend Danielle Rowe remotely. It will be snippets of dancers all around the world dancing the choreography we have learnt via Vimeo and then edited together to create an online work. The creativity of this art form with find many new pathways during this time.

Do you have any other comments to make regarding the current crisis in regard to performing arts healthcare?

At the moment I think a lot of dancers around the world are really focused on staying fit while in isolation and doing as much physical work as they possibly can. This is awesome and I can see from the amount of online ballet classes we will not be at a loss for inspiration. I do think it is important that we remember to look after ourselves mentally during this time as well. To not panic, to be calm and accept the situation for what it is. To find other talents, to enjoy the small treasures the world offers while we have temporarily hopped off the busy conveyor belt of life.

I think dancers thrive off the energy of their peers so it’s important to find ways to connect and support each other. We have been doing messenger “coffee” chats before class with our friends as you normally would when warming up for the day. Tomorrow Adam Bull is planning to run the daily quiz via MS Teams as he normally does each lunchtime in our common room. Nearly everyone I know has been on the Houseparty app which I had the joy of testing out last night. I had the best “party” catching up with my friends all over Australia on the call and afterwards I could feel how much my spirits had lifted. We all said “we should have been doing this for ages, its awesome!”

To be honest I feel as though I have had a lot of practice to be prepared for this time in isolation. Many years of rehabilitating injuries, being separated from my peers who were on tour performing. Going on long service leave and working out how to keep ballet fit in hotel rooms for 3 months. Having a baby is also like an “isolation” project. You lose your sense of normal, your dancer identity and are pretty much housebound! But this time is different, this time the whole world is in it together.

I send strength and health to dancers everywhere and hope that we keep our collective energy and support of each other during this time for as long as it lasts.

The coronavirus crisis is a dilemma for performing artists. Your job depends on staying well, and for many artists, usually involves what current public health advice recommends against: bringing groups of people together. Coronavirus threatens both these things, yet there are many things you can do to minimise the impact on you, whilst following public health advice to keep yourself and others safe.

This advice sheet is intended to inform performing artists in Australia about what we know about COVID-19, help you make decisions in balancing your life as performers against the risk of infection, and share links for practical advice, support avenues, and current public health resources.

How this document will help you make sense of what is happening

The situation with coronavirus in Australia is rapidly changing. New information and new statistics are released every day. On the other hand, infectious respiratory diseases are extremely common and a lot of what we know about them applies to this new threat. The obvious comparison is with seasonal influenza, another very dangerous disease we take for granted. At the time of writing, COVID-19 has been responsible for 7000 deaths amongst 180,000 proven cases. Compare this with US Centre for Disease Control and World Health Organisation estimates of between 290,000 and 650,000 deaths worldwide from seasonal flu each year, with many hundreds of these deaths in Australia.

It seems like the world has gone mad, but behind it all there are things we do know and principals of infection control that are well established. This document intends to put that together, particularly if you work in the performing arts industry.

SO, what’s different? Why the panic? Why are performances being shut down?

While the outcome for any one person catching this virus will most likely be a mildly unpleasant cough, the outcome for the country as a whole could be a catastrophe with thousands dying, and not just from coronavirus.

Over the decades our health system has grown to meet demand, but it does not have much slack.  All our public hospitals operate close to capacity most of the time, and while we have some spare capacity for influenza each year (a demand mitigated by our vaccination program) this new coronavirus could overwhelm current capacities.  Unless we can keep the flow of new cases to a manageable level, hospitals (and especially our intensive care and isolation beds) will fill to overflowing.  It’s hard to imagine, but this is already the situation in some other countries with established public health systems, such as Italy. Doctors there are having to choose between admitting heart attack patients, or treating cancer, or dealing with serious trauma… or treating coronavirus patients. They are setting up what they call “field hospitals” which means treating patients in tents in the hospital car parks.  Numbers of deaths have risen dramatically. They have had to shut the country down. The same could happen here, which is why public gatherings, like performances, are being discouraged or actively shut down to limit the spread. ASPAH understands the impact this is having on performing artists, however we also understand that these measures are required to help minimise the threat of coronavirus to all Australians

Everything we know about the virus at a glance

What is a Coronavirus?

Coronavirus refers to a family of viruses, the most well-known of which caused Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS, 2002-2004) and Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS, 2012-present).

What then is COVID-19

COronaVIrus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is the name of the disease caused by this new coronavirus. While, the virus itself is called SARS-CoV-2 in test results, the word COVID-19 can be used for both the disease and the virus.

What are the symptoms of COVID-19?

The most common symptoms are fever, tiredness, and dry cough. Some patients may have aches and pains, nasal congestion, runny nose, sore throat or diarrhoea but these symptoms are much less common. The severity of the symptoms ranges from almost nothing to a severe life-threatening lung infection.

Who is at risk of developing severe illness?

The single strongest predictor of disease severity is age. This risk begins to rise at age 50 but, as is the case with influenza, people aged over 65 are the most at risk. The risk is also much higher in people with chronic diseases like diabetes, chronic asthma, emphysema, heart disease, kidney disease and people with suppressed immunity.

How does COVID-19 spread?

In common with most respiratory viruses, COVID-19 has two modes of spread.

1. Droplets that people with the disease spray when they cough or sneeze or breathe out. It is estimated this mode of spread has a range of 1 to 2 meters and much less if the person is wearing a mask.
2. Hand to face. If the virus is left on a surface (like a dressing table, a music stand or a door handle) touching that surface can contaminate your hand. If you then rub the virus onto your own face it can enter your body through your nose or mouth and infect you.

How long can the virus stay alive on surfaces?

At the time of writing no one can say for sure, but likely anywhere from a few hours to a week, depending on the nature of the surface and the environment. If a surface may be contaminated, cleaning the surface and wiping it down with a simple disinfectant can kill the virus.

How long is the incubation period for COVID-19?

Once infected it takes 2 to 14 days for the virus to multiply enough to cause symptoms. For most, this incubation period is 4 to 7 days, but the quarantine recommendation of 14 days is likely to remain the standard.

Can I catch it from people while they are incubating the virus?

People are most contagious just before they get sick and for the first day or so after they get symptoms. when there is enough virus to spread but before the immune system starts killing it off. It is believed that the risk of spreading the virus is quite low during the incubation period but there are many infected people who hardly get sick at all. The challenge is to strike a balance between recklessness and paranoia.

What about testing? Can’t that just work out who has it and who doesn’t?

The test used for COVID-19 is a swab test. It is taken from the back of your nose and throat and the sample is analysed for presence of parts of the virus which are unique to SARS-CoV-2.

At the time of writing the time between getting a referral from your GP and you getting a result from a swab can be a week. Taking a swab involves the collector donning full infection control gear which limits how many can be done. Add that queue to the queue for testing in the lab and it can mean a week between getting the test request and getting the results. This should become much shorter as self-testing kits and new laboratory facilities are rolled out.

No test is ever perfect, but this type of testing, called PCR testing, is very sensitive and very specific, meaning that this test is fairly black and white.

• If you have symptoms but your test is negative it pretty much guarantees that you don’t have COVID-19.
• If the test is positive, no matter how sick or well you feel, you have the virus and can infect others.
• If you have had COVID-19 and your test becomes negative it pretty much guarantees you have cleared the virus, BUT
• If you have no symptoms, a negative test cannot guarantee you have absolutely no virus. A person can be exposed and be in the early incubation period and still come up with a negative test. This means that the test isn’t a “get out of jail free card”. If you have had contact with a proven COVID-19 case or have just come back from overseas you cannot get around the 14 day quarantining by getting a test.
• This means that testing is only recommended for people who have symptoms.

Most doctors ordering the test will also request a swab for other common respiratory viruses. If one of these (especially influenza) comes back positive you may still be asked to self-isolate until you have recovered.

At the time of writing the COVID-19 test is available free of charge to anyone who is considered at risk (has a flu-like illness, AND overseas travel in the last 2 weeks or close contact with a confirmed case).   To be tested in the community you will need a referral from your doctor, but unless you are at risk it may not be free ($100 to $150).  All public hospital testing is free, but unless you are at confirmed risk you may not be tested due to a shortage of tests.

What should I do if I think I might have Covid-19?

If you become unwell with the symptoms listed above and suspect you may have COVID-19:

• Isolate yourself until you can be tested. This means staying at home, not coming closer than 2 meters to anyone else, not touching anything that anyone else might touch.  If you share a house this will mean staying in your own room by yourself and going into the rest of the house as little as you possibly can.
• Don’t spray the virus around. Wear a mask. Cough and sneeze into your elbow or into a tissue. Wash your hands again and again and again before you touch anything.
• If it feels to you like “just a normal cough and cold” then ring your GP to arrange testing. They should have protocols in place to arrange for you to be tested safely.
• If you feel much sicker than is normal for you, and especially if you have any shortness of breath, are over 50 or have a chronic underlying illness you should ring your nearest public hospital. They can then direct you to either their casualty department or one of the new COVID-19 assessment and treatment centres where you can be safely examined, tested and a decision made about whether you need admission to hospital.
• Different states are implementing different responses. There are links below for each state and territory website.

Is there a vaccine, drug or treatment for COVID-19?

No. Unlike influenza there is no treatment for COVID-19 beyond supporting people while their own immune system learns to fight the virus – but watch this space. There is an enormous effort internationally to develop a vaccine and trials are currently underway with a number of drugs used to treat HIV, to see if they can help the sickest of the COVID-19 patients.

Fortunately, most people have a mild form of the disease and the only treatment they need is time.

How long are people infectious for after they catch COVID-19?

Most people seem to have cleared the virus by about two weeks after diagnosis. But we don’t have to guess this.  If someone has had COVID-19 and then tests negative, it means there is no more virus detectable in their nose and throat and they cannot be contagious; you cannot spread what you do not have.

In Australia, people are not released back into the community until their test becomes negative, so please rest assured that if someone has been released from quarantine, they really are safe.

What can I do to protect myself and so protect those close to me?

Advice for everyone

• Get yourself vaccinated.  There may not be a vaccine against COVID-19 yet but there are vaccines against whooping cough and influenza which are both serious respiratory diseases. If you are over 65 or have particular health problems, there is also a recommended vaccine against pneumococcal pneumonia.  In fact, make sure all your vaccinations are up to date.
• Wash your hands. Properly.  There are many videos online, the most reputable ones produced by the US Centre for Disease Control at https://www.cdc.gov/handwashing/videos.html.
• Hand sanitiser is a useful alternative but given the very short supply it may be more useful to become practised with soap and water.
• Don’t touch your face. This one is really hard, because most people touch their face unconsciously many times a minute. Do the best you can and, if you can’t help yourself, wash your hands some more.
• Keep your distance. As mentioned before, droplet spread is limited to about 1 meter; 2 meters at most. If you are in public, try to keep at least 1 meter between yourself and others.
• Give up smoking. If you do get ill this will only make it worse, so now is the perfect time to stop.

Advice for performers

The Government may soon shut down all performances but until they do you can play your part in limiting the spread of the virus.

• Be a responsible performer. If you are performing live, even if it is at a pub or club, you should consider yourself host to a gathering of people. If it is your own gig consider offering refunds or replacement tickets to people with a cold or fever. If it is not your venue don’t be afraid to ask the organiser what they are doing to keep you and your audience safe. And don’t be afraid to use the stage to spread the word to your audience and ask them to go home if they are sick and keep their germs to themselves. You could even make this a selling point, promoting yourself as a COVID-19 responsible artist.
• If you are sick, don’t go to work. This is a really tough one. Performing artists are at particular risk of spreading all respiratory diseases, including COVID-19, to each other. Dancers lift and hold each other, actors speak and shout into each other’s faces, musicians (and especially orchestral musicians) blow their brass, reed and wind instruments over each other on stage and burlesque and circus performers do all of the above and more. Make up (sometimes shared) gets applied and removed from faces, equipment gets shared, microphones come within millimetres of your mouth and the list goes on. If you have a respiratory infection you may close the whole show.  Don’t risk it.
• Stay on stage and keep the audience at bay. The government is already shutting down big shows in the interest of public health, but hopefully smaller shows can continue. You can find up-to-date information on public gatherings here: https://www.pm.gov.au/media/update-coronavirus-measures. Interacting with the audience is an integral part of any show, and while you are on stage the distance between you and them should be enough to keep you safe. Many audience members make it a point of making contact with performers before or after the gig, and many performers feel obliged to not disappoint their fans. A little disappointment is better than being shut down, so explain to your audience from the stage why you are being careful. Keep them off the stage and keep them from backstage. If you are performing at a pub or a club resist the temptation to hang around for a drink; just do your job and leave. That way you are more likely to have a job to come back to.
• Keep your “tools of the trade” clean.
  • If you perform using an instrument, a prop or any other tool of the trade then wash your hands before you handle it.
  • Wash/clean/wipe it down whenever possible. 
  • Be careful where you leave it, ideally putting it back in its case/container when not in use.
  • Insist that if anyone else must handle any of your gear that they wash their hands thoroughly beforehand.
  • Wherever possible, don’t share. Microphones are a particular case. With their close contact with mouths and faces they represent a high risk and should be labelled and allocated to specific performers. If they must be shared they should be thoroughly cleaned, wiped down with disinfectant and have their covers replaced with clean ones after each use.
  • Musicians whose instruments are played by mouth need to be particularly careful to make sure that the mouthpieces of their instruments don’t go anywhere near anyone or anything except their own mouths. If they do, clean them thoroughly before using them again.
  • If your instrument needs draining, do so carefully into a disposable container which should then be discarded thoughtfully.
• Busk with care.  There is no clear answer as to whether buskers should stay at home for the duration, or if busking will be a safe alternative if your gig gets cancelled.  It is possible it will be banned during this crisis. Until then, and if you must keep on busking remember:
  • Distance is your friend. Set up some sort of marker with chalk or a rope one long stride away from where you will be standing and ask people not to step over the line
  • Hand sanitiser is your friend.  You won’t be able to wash your hands much but hand sanitiser (if you can get any) is just as good. Use it often, especially if your busking involves handling an instrument.
  • Cash is your enemy.  You should presume cash is covered in COVID-19. Collect your cash in a plastic bucket, not your instrument case, and leave it in there until you can get it home. Soak it in hot water and antiseptic, ideally overnight, and then rinse before use.
• Take this time to be creative.  This may be a very good time to concentrate on the more creative side of your art. Writing new songs, drama and acts, choreographing new dance pieces, recording your work, and expanding your repertoire will have you well-prepared for the bonanza that will happen when venues reopen to a public desperate to have some fun again.
• Do as much as you can online.  Investigate opportunities to distribute your content online.  In a shutdown this may become the main avenue for entertainment with bored people hungry for new experiences exploring online more than ever. 
• Consider avenues for your usual work that do not involve bringing large groups together, or minimise the need for close social contact:
  • If part of your income involves teaching, could you teach remotely as a short-term measure? (E.g. Skype or other low-cost platforms)
  • If part of your income involves performing, do you have any avenues for livestreaming or internet-hosting concerts as a replacement (or new gig) for a live gig that has been cancelled? Could you encourage your usual audience to support you in this way and advertise that you have taken this measure out of social responsibility?
  • If part of your income involves selling recorded performances, could you focus on this and publicise to your followers that this is a way they can support you whilst you are unable to perform as usual?

Should I wear a mask to protect myself?

It’s hard to think of a performer who could work with a mask on their face, but with rising numbers of people in the community wearing masks, you may be wondering if this is something that you should do.

Masks are standard pieces of safety equipment for health professionals dealing with infectious patients, along with goggles, caps, gowns and gloves. In order to prevent people from inhaling airborne viruses, they must be used properly, replaced regularly and disposed of hygienically; therefore, there is not much evidence to support their use in healthy people outside of healthcare settings.

So, should you wear a mask protect yourself? If you are currently healthy, the World Health Organisation says no, especially given the worldwide shortage of masks and the important role they play in stopping infected people spreading their germs. Ultimately the choice is yours but hand washing, not touching your face and keeping some distance will make a much bigger difference to staying healthy.

What about touring?

If you had plans to tour overseas you are probably already cancelling them. The combination of travel bans, quarantining and the risk you may not be allowed home makes overseas touring impossible at the moment.

If you are touring in Australia, the greatest risk you face is that your venues will all be shut down. Until then there is no reason to think that your risk will be any greater than if you are doing gigs close to home. In fact, it is likely that there will be less virus in regional centres than in the major cities and that your tour group may be a bigger threat to them than they are to you. Again, promote yourself as a COVID-19 responsible group but make sure you walk the walk.

With this in mind, there are a couple of extra things you can do while on tour to keep you and your audience safe:

• Make your accommodation safe. Hotel and motel rooms are generally cleaned quite thoroughly between guests. Even so some extra precautions won’t hurt:
  • Before you unpack wipe down with antiseptic the basin and vanity top in your bathroom, the bedside tables and any other flat surfaces. These may have been contaminated by the previous guest.  
  • Take your own pillow and use it instead of the one provided.
• Keep yourselves to yourselves. It may be boring and inconvenient, but you should limit yourself to your venue and your accommodation. Eat in. Avoid restaurants and bars. Don’t go to the cinema.
• If you get sick, go home.  Touring involves living in close quarters and long trips locked together in cars and buses. If one of you catches the virus there is a very high risk that the whole tour party will have the virus. You may not feel that unwell, but do you really want to be blamed for a coronavirus outbreak at one of the towns you visit? If one of you gets sick with a fever and cough, then two-week quarantine should be applied to the whole group unless that sick person tests negative.

But the show must go on, mustn’t it?

Unfortunately, at least until we have a vaccine, maybe not. There is every possibility that further closures of public events may occur whilst we continue to respond to the coronavirus situation. At the time of writing the government has already announced rolling out money to affected businesses to help them maintain the salaries of their employees who cannot work because of the virus. If you are an employee of a performing arts company, ask your company and/or union how this impacts you, and if you will still be paid even if you cannot perform.

If the closure of live performance venues happens, you will not be alone, as it will likely also mean the shutdown of the whole recreational services industry. Depending on how coronavirus unfolds in Australia, further closures may well extend to restaurants, pubs, clubs, cinemas and all but essential services. This will involve millions of casual workers, not just performers and their crews.

The government is yet to legislate their plan for support for casual workers. It is likely that any financial support for casual workers will be rolled out through Centrelink and if you are experiencing financial hardship due to the virus, contacting Centrelink now may be of value.

In the meantime, try to remember that you are not alone and that this will pass. ASPAH thanks you for doing your part to help support your fellow artists and community. While no one can predict the future, it is expected that over the coming months this infection will reach a large part of the Australian community and that with that will come spreading immunity that will protect more and more people. Eventually we will have a vaccine to protect everyone else and COVID-19 will join influenza as a dangerous but manageable threat so we can all get back to normal life.

Useful Websites and references:

World Health Organisation- https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/situation-reports/

Australian Federal government- https://www.health.gov.au/news/health-alerts/novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov-health-alert

New South Wales government- https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/Infectious/diseases/Pages/coronavirus.aspx

Victorian government- https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/coronavirus

Queensland government – http://conditions.health.qld.gov.au/HealthCondition/condition/14/217/838/novel-coronavirus

Western Australian government- https://ww2.health.wa.gov.au/Articles/A_E/Coronavirus

Tasmanian government- https://www.dhhs.tas.gov.au/news/2020/coronavirus_update

South Australian government- https://www.sahealth.sa.gov.au/wps/wcm/connect/public+content/sa+health+internet/health+topics/health+topics+a+-+z/novel+coronavirus

ACT government- https://health.act.gov.au/public-health-alert/updated-information-about-covid-19

Northern Territory government- https://health.nt.gov.au/health-alerts/novel-coronavirus-covid-19

Centrelink- https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/individuals/centrelink

It was originally founded as the Australian Association for Dance Education in 1977 and since that time has consistently fought for the support of dance artists and dance companies of all genres, arguing that small and experimental companies and short-term projects are integral to the development of the arts in Australia as flagship companies. We are greatly saddened that the economic uncertainties of Government support have resulted in Ausdance National winding up due to, according to The Age newspaper, the inability to “secure sustainable financial support”. Ausdance National has also provided extraordinary leadership and advocacy for dance health and wellbeing at both amateur and professional levels, setting ethical standards in both teaching and performance practices, as well as researching and publishing guides on safe dance and career transitioning. While the Ausdance network will continue through state organisations it remains of concern that, without reliable Government support, the dance sector in Australia does not have the capacity to fund its own advocacy body.

Dr Mark Seton, Vice President, ASPAH

Last week marked the first anniversary of the death of someone who was a good friend of ASPAH. Paulette Mifsud was a highly regarded sports psychologist working at the Victorian Institute of Sports but it was her passion for the emotional health and well-being of performing artists that brought her to ASPAH.

Details of her life and career were lovingly given in our September 2016 newsletter so I won’t repeat them here. This is a more personal remembrance.

Paulette joined the executive committee of ASPAH in late 2010 and was with us for two years. These were important years for the organisation as we transitioned from being young, new and aspirational to something more mature and realistic. During those years Paulette was a reassuring and calming figure who came in as new blood but managed, like some old hand, to make us all feel that what we were doing was worthwhile and had a future.

I would be lying if I said I knew Paulette very well even though we met quite a few times during those two years. The executive committee got together face-to-face more often back then, while the annual conferences would corral all the executive together as a closely working team for days at a time. Still, she was based in Melbourne and I was based in Sydney with a relatively new young family so our paths didn’t cross much outside of ASPAH. In fact, after she left the executive committee, I had lost track of Paulette by 2015. This partly explains why I was so shocked in 2017 to hear of the advanced state of her illness and even more shocked a few weeks later to hear of her death.

I think, however, that there was more to it than shock that moved me as deeply as I was. I think that when you get to spend only a short time with somebody your memories are not so much made up of incidents and experiences but are more made up of emotions and broadly sweeping impressions. The impression Paulette left with me was one of great sincerity, deep caring, tremendous energy and that precious capacity to bring you back into the moment with her and have you realise that that moment was the most important place you could possibly be. All these impressions, and others too subtle to easily articulate, magnified the profound sense of unfairness I think we all felt that we had all lost such a gifted and talented healer and such a simply good person.

When my mother died my father said that her ghost visited him when he was at home alone. While I never worked out if he meant this metaphorically or literally I do know this was a source of great comfort for him. The internet is full of ghosts, and Paulette’s remains strong. My favourite is at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-CYRp_6Wd8. It shows Paulette in full flight and demonstrates both her great expertise but also her deep humanity. Alternatively, there is the podcast of her ABC interview with Gerard Callinan at http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2012/07/12/3544698.htm.

Farewell, Paulette.  You are missed.

-Dr Paul Duff (ASPAH Secretary, 2018)

In 2018 ASPAH launched a fundraising initiative for the “Paulette Mifsud Memorial Grant Program”, from which ASPAH will allocate money to those who, on application, can show that their project furthers the cause of performing arts healthcare. You can donate to this fund here.

What area of the performing arts do you work/study in? (Right to Left):

I’m Rachael. I play piano and percussion, and I’m in my final year studying to be a classroom music teacher.

I’m Monash. I’m a flute player. I’ve completed my BMus and I’m doing a Grad Dip in Secondary Education.

My name is Ellis, and I am in my final year of my Bachelor of Arts and Education. My majors are Music and Maths. I play trumpet.

What are some challenges you have faced so far working in the arts?

Monash: The general competitive vibe of everything and anything. It is almost always about being the best, and aiming for that, which is not always the most healthy attitude towards life.

Ellis: A lot of self-doubt, especially being in an educational role. The feeling that you’re not the best musician. And that sort of eats away at you –  that feeling of, am I knowledgeable enough to pass on information to the next generation? And sometimes you’ll have a good lesson or a really good day and you’ll feel comfortable about the fact that, no, you are a good musician – you are good at explaining these things and helping people get better. But I think it goes along with that competitiveness. There is this feeling of “There are different levels of musicianship and ability”, and that’s really disheartening at times. You feel kind of bad – useless – terrible musician. That feeling of, “I don’t practice enough”, or “My perfect pitch is non-existent”. Stuff like that – where you do feel like a lesser musician, regardless of if it’s true or not – it’s that self-doubt.

Rachael: I would definitely agree with the self-doubt. The biggest challenge I have faced as a musician – in 2014 I was practicing piano a lot. I had an important recital coming up. I over-practiced to the point that I developed a repetitive strain injury in both of my wrists. I didn’t have any movement basically in my left wrist, and my right wrist was bad as well. So I had to do a lot of muscle exercises, wear wrist braces, see a physio quite often, postpone my recital. And it was a very emotional time for me, because I was basically told, ‘The only way to fix this is to stop being a musician. Stop playing piano.’ And I just thought, “I’ve come so far, and done so much, I don’t want to stop.” So the way I overcame that was again just trying to ignore those self-doubts, and to stop thinking “maybe I won’t be able to do this ever again.” I had to start thinking of it just as a break. And I think as teachers and musicians we’re often hard on ourselves – sometimes we need to give ourselves that break. Whether it’s a physical injury or a mental block. You need to stop and go, “No, it’s okay, there’s always a way to fix something.”

Monash: It sounds corny, but you need to believe in yourself. Trust that what you are doing is right and comes from an informed place.

What do you think is the most rewarding part about working in the performing arts?

Monash: Maybe self-indulgent, but when people clap. [laughs]

[laughs] It’s nice, isn’t it?

Monash: It’s the best feeling. When you finish and you think, “Thank God, they enjoyed that!”

Rachael: In ensemble playing, I find when something just works. If you pull something together that has been falling apart at the seams for weeks and then all of a sudden it just works – and you get this passionate feeling that, “Wow, we just pulled that off!” It’s an amazing feeling. Especially if you have a lot of friends in the ensemble. You feel like you all worked together as a team to make it happen. That’s very rewarding.

Ellis: I think the social aspect. When you’re listening and responding to each other in any size of ensemble or group, you get that energy. It really makes the music come alive. You listen to a piece and it might not mean much to you. But if you see it live or better still play it yourself, all of a sudden that work gets transformed for you.

#don’ttellmetorest #therealityofperformingartshealthcare

I presented my research at ASPAH in 2015. I was identifying the most common postural issues in children learning music and finding what cues and strategies we could give these kids to help them improve. Unsurprisingly, the research shows that if you tell kids about this stuff, they do improve, unless they really don’t care. I was never told any of this. I was always just told, “Sit up” and that was it.

What do you think the main points of your research were?
I think you should tell kids it’s not normal to be feeling pain. You can feel uncomfortable, but if you’re feeling pain, that’s not something you need to keep practicing through. You should talk to your teacher about it and your teacher should be equipped with lots of different ways to help you. I teach my kids stretches now and we do stretches regularly. I do stretches myself and go to the gym twice a week because I find for me – after years of abusing my body – an upper body workout is the way I get those muscles to relax. The physio who I work with now is very preventative. He taught me a bunch of stretches and then said “when you’re not in pain every day you can go and do workouts, and go and build those muscles instead”: the preventative approach. Unless I’ve been really stressed and working at a computer late in the night, I don’t have any pain in my shoulders, which I don’t think I could say for a single week during undergrad. There wasn’t a week where I woke up and said “Wow, I’m not in pain today.”

What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced in your career so far?
I had to think about what I wanted to be. Which is a bit of everything. I want to play and I want to do chamber music and I want to do orchestras – I’m in 2 orchestras as their principal flute at present. Physically, I had an ulnar nerve entrapment at the elbow. I got it in grade 12 when I was practicing a lot for MOST. I bombed that audition because my fingers stopped working. I went to a doctor and they were like, “it’s probably just repetitive strain injury,” and said, “rest it for a week.” And it kind of got sort-of better, but it remained a constant problem for 9 years. But not enough… just enough that I wasn’t very good with these two fingers. During my masters, they stopped working more and more. I was doing an hour at a time of practice, ‘ergonomic’ practice I guess, not five hours at a time – because I couldn’t practice any longer or my fingers would stop working. And this isn’t something you publicise if you want to keep on playing principals in orchestras, because nobody wants someone whose fingers don’t work. And I think there’s a lot of shame around injuries, especially if they are career stopping or career pausing injuries, because “You don’t want to tell anyone about that or they won’t give you a gig. And you won’t get paid. And then someone else gets the gig and they keep getting the gig, and you don’t get the gig because you’ve got crippled fingers.” But now I realise, I don’t really care so much about that.

I was misdiagnosed with focal dystonia. Then I went away and read about it, and came back and said, “I don’t agree. Actually, none of the literature supports what you are saying and none of my experiences support what you’ve diagnosed me with.”

How did they react?
Well, he said, “tell you what, I’ll send you to a hand specialist and they can do an EEG.” And he didn’t find anything. And so I called him up and said, “Can I just come into your office for twenty minutes and do this [demonstrates fingering]”. Because when I saw him I wasn’t showing any severe symptoms because I hadn’t been practicing that day. So I went and sat in his office and did this until my fingers literally… it feels like they’re going to sleep and then they feel dead, like you can’t feel them properly. So I went and did that and then he shocked me, and that was fine. And he said, “hey look at that, you have nerve entrapment at the elbow, my God!” And then we scheduled surgery the week after… and I woke up and I can move these fingers – I can’t believe it!
And I think the worst part about it was that I’d always complain to my teachers, but because these are the worst fingers anyway [3rd and 4th], they’d say, “No, just practice more, because they’re weak naturally – you’re right handed, and they’re your two worst fingers on your left hand.”

I think students who are learning – even if you don’t experience injuries personally, you should make at least a cursory effort – you should do at least one semester of courses where you look over performance injuries, performance injury prevention, and discuss it in a more open environment. I think people just need to be more open about it. The more people discuss physical disabilities or the issues they are having and try to solve them, rather than just acknowledging them, I think we can actually move towards doing something about them. And making a more positive culture about it. Because so many people I meet have horrendous injuries. And they’ve just accepted that pain is going to be a part of their everyday life from now. And regardless of whether you’re good at playing music, I don’t think that’s a good pedagogy because it’s not good to push your students so far that they are physically crippled. And I know that’s not a PC word to say, but I get really angry about that.

#aspahcommunity #don’ttellmetorest #therealityofperformingartshealthcare

1. How did you get involved in the performing arts? Why did you decide to pursue a profession in the performing arts?

I started playing violin as a four year old in Mackay, Queensland, and always loved performing for other people. I was involved in many local community music organisations throughout my youth, and loved the social aspect of playing with other people, working towards a common goal and producing a final product that everyone could be proud of.