We might imagine all was well in the centre of Sheffield this Thursday. A city centre funfair attracted lots of families to enjoy something akin to a seaside prom experience a mere 60 miles away from the chilly North Sea. But there were three concerns behind this festive offering: the social, the economic and the public health and they illustrate the position in dance right now.
There was a palpable sense of relief and joy for parents to get their kids some break from the reminders of isolation which has so badly effected so many lives. There was some relief that punters were in the city centre spending money in the lucky business in the area. The balance between health/wellbeing and illness were difficult still for some but for many straightforward. It was sunny and hot, an outdoor event and health and safety measures were in place. Of course I don't know how many chose to stay away or had to stay away. How many, I wonder, still stayed indoors because of their assessment of the risk - people with illnesses which make them vulnerable? the unvaccinated? the anxious and sufferers of the mental health illnesses? the ill-informed and unaware? and that fat bloke who's been banned for life from the kiddies helter skelter?
This is all about risk and what you can do to minmise it. Most people didn't have masks on, they were close to family and friends chatting, kids were mixing with other kids. But it wouldn't have been a seaside special without those riskier elements going on. People were sensible.
And the same factors came to mind as I weighed up whether to go to my first post restrictions dance class. It happened to be a Ceroc class at St Chad's in Leeds. And it happened to be an easy decision for me - the wellbeing card trumped the health card, the social card trumped the health card and for many struggling businesses we can suspect they will be glad the economic card trumped the staying at home card.
Not that I didn't consider the serious health issues here. My diabetes a serious health condition makes me vulnerable, my double jabs make me less vulnerable, my obesity is a health issue - dancing will help that too. On balance I think the risk was mostly dismissed when I saw how the lovely people at Chads and subsequently at Tadcaster were behaving. There were a few masks but there were also hugs. There were sanitising stations. I felt safe to me. This won't be the same for everyone and each must make our own choice - taking account of the risk there and then.
A recent dance event in Plymouth had a lot of people go down with the Delta variant and that infection was pretty nasty even for those people who were mostly young and fit. It was an outdoor event and a negative test was required by all participants. How many of those people had only been single jabbed I don't know - but they were a younger age group so I might imagine that the dancers at Chads and Tadcaster have greater protection where they have it at all. I think then that the chief factor to inform my dance decisions was likely vaccination status given the average age of the participants, followed by the safety measures in place and how they are used.
There are though two longer term factors which are mentioned above and probably very important than anything else in the longer term.
First, poorly attended venues and class nights might be living on a financial knife edge in the future. Now is the time we can to give them an economic lift. A small risk taken now may avoid a more serious risk - business collapse - later. The country's economy is on the verge of tanking - supply of labour short, wage rising, leading to inflation and then higher interest rates and all that means. Not that this has anything to do with Covid but add it in and our dance businesses and franchises need our support.
Second, is the thrill of being there and the long term risk of its absence. Even if you are not prepared to get sweaty with a stranger, the social buzz of a dance event now is worth the entrance fee alone. Go meet your dance friends, hear their stories of the worst health disaster the world has seen in 100 years. Celebrate those there and remember those we have lost. It's not VE Day (no spike in the bright rate should be attributed to this blog) But we KNOW this dance thing helps us live fuller, brighter, healthier lives so GO DANCE. Do it if you can, watch and talk and laugh if you can't bring yourself to go on the floor.
There's a lot you can do to lower risk - it will never be nil but nor is it when you are driving your car and we do that without a second thought (or in the case of drivers on the A1 without any thought at all).
Things you can do:
Wear a mask if asked or if you feel uncomfortable - they do work and if you'd like to argue that point come armed with an explanation as to why there were no winter flu deaths last winter.
Limit your dancing - by number (every other dance) or partner by sticking with a fixed partner or partners you feel comfortable dancing with.
Get fully jabbed - because vaccinations work and have done for about a century now
Get your Covid Pass - it builds confidence, and it's proof for the wary and who can blame anyone for being wary after this huge roll of the dice.
Wash/sanitise your hands - Ceroc make it easy to do so - other venues will too.
You maybe have more tips - let me know, let's give people hope, let's dance.
And finally this is our responsibility. Ceroc dancers have their first Southport coming up, the last one was a week or so before the first lockdown. We don't want to fuck it up.
Comments
Post a Comment