COVID-19: Personal and Community Impacts

04/18/20 • 77 min

The Naked Truth: Real Talk about West Coast Swing

With the coronavirus pandemic continuing to spread around the world, we are getting more information and perspective about the severity of the problem and what it will take to resolve it. In this episode, Eric shares his own experience – his situation, his feelings about the outbreak, his relationship with dance – and he shares his own reflections on how this may affect our dance community. He talks about a timeline for a return to social dancing and to weekend events (warning: it isn’t optimistic), and he discusses the changes he hopes we will see in our community moving forward. Then he sits down with friend of the show Tom Paderna to hear his feelings and experience, and his thoughts on how this will affect local and regional dancing in the short- and long-term. He discusses the risks and personal considerations of social dancing, and reflects on how our community has dealt with situations like 9/11 and the economic recession of 2008. Tom brings his perspective as a dancer and as a psychologist, looking at how this situation will affect us all as fellow human beings and as a community. And he leaves us all with a message of hope while we continue to live through this public health crisis.

footnotes
The 4 plans to end social distancing, explained (Vox)

footnotes
The 4 plans to end social distancing, explained (Vox)

Previous Episode

COVID-19: Professionals Respond

The current public health crisis has transformed our way of life, from our daily lives and work to our dancing and dance community. In this first special episode on the outbreak and how it is transforming our community, Eric speaks with some dance professionals about how they are feeling, how they are adapting to the current circumstances, and what they think the future might hold for our dance world. First, he spoke with Chantelle Pianetta about her reaction when things started shutting down in the San Francisco Bay Area, and how she started online beginner ballet classes. Next, he spoke with Cameo Cross McHenry and Tashina Beckmann King about they put together Global Westie Connection, a weekend of online workshops with the best of the best. And finally, Eric sat down with Courtney Adair and Sean McKeever to discuss how they are reacting to the outbreak and leveraging online media platforms to stay connected with their students around the globe. Hear more about the experiences of these champions – and be sure to check out the footnotes to take advantage of the great learning opportunities they are offering!

footnotes
Submit your own story for an upcoming episode
Chantelle Pianetta on WestiePro
Global Westie Connection – A Virtual Summit
Movement+Lab on Instagram
Movement+Lab on Patreon
Online West Coast Swing Opportunities
Virtual Westie

Next Episode

COVID-19: Update from Dr. John Blaska

When the outbreak first took off in the United States, Eric sat down with Dr. John Blaska to discuss what we knew then about the virus and its spread. Several weeks later, Eric and Dr. Blaska chat again about the public health crisis and what we have learned since then. In this discussion, Eric asks John about his own experience during the crisis, and what he is seeing in the populations he treats through his clinic. They also talk about the issue of testing – the extent of testing, the importance of testing, and the need for more. They chatted about the different information coming out of the news, where more information is needed, and how people can be smart consumers of the news. And they explored what it will take – and how long it might take – for dancing to resume. Finally, John offered some hope and an opportunity for all of you listeners. So listen to this interview and stay informed and safe.