Pivot
Pivot
Pivot. It’s one of the first things I learned in Beginner Jazz class, age six. I had been in Ballet and Tap since I was three but was diversifying my early dance education. Hands on hips, Pivot on the right foot, step left foot facing the other way, Pivot again right and step left facing the front. It doesn’t change feet. Repeat. Then there is the cha-a-ssé rock step, and the box step. Day one. The pivot, can give many a student trouble. It involves turning your entire body 180 degrees, and manage the placement of your body weight to not fall over. And don’t forget to keep smiling.
I can’t think of a better metaphor for what has happened in the last three months. We have all had to pivot. Pivot our behavior to a new normal of masks, social distancing, zoom meetings, not hugging our elderly relatives unless we’ve had a hard to come by negative Covid-19 test or haven’t left our room in two weeks, and know they haven’t either.
I pivoted 180 degrees right off the road from my beloved job at Wicked, to sharing my 519 sq. ft studio apartment with my fiancé. If there was ever a test of a relationship it’s this quarantine, and I’m glad to report we’re passing with flying colors.
We have been here since March 15, staying indoors, washing our hands, washing everything, watching our Governor’s daily briefings and watching the numbers, baking and cooking with our new kitchen gadgets that we would have waited till our wedding, now postponed, to get…but since we’re both home…why not? And we were lucky to know we could do that, make some purchases and know that we have jobs to go back to. Not all are that lucky.
We’ve pivoted to creating our own new content, writing pilots, plays, music, etc. I take dance class in the apartment, on a 5’x5’ patch of marley floor. Time to think about how the industry is pivoting. Will we go back? Yes. Will it be the same? Not for a while. Will some things never come back? Unfortunately, yes. Watching the closures of shows that I never thought would close was utterly heartbreaking.
But we stayed inside. While many states and cities I’ve been to “protested” having to wear a mask to be in an enclosed space, toting their assault rifles to their state capital buildings, and generally being the worst example of Americans, all New York City stayed home without complaint, doing their patriotic (yes I said it, patriotic) duty to keeping each other safe, unless they were an Essential worker, who had to go to work. Bless ‘em. They kept us all going. Never, ever, ever “forget” to tip. Because nobody ever “forgets” to tip, they just are not a good person.
And then, as if it couldn’t get any worse, the straw that broke the camel’s back, the country exploded with the pent up rage of 401 years of slavery and oppression, Jim Crow, the prison industrial complex, the school to prison pipeline, an overly weaponized police, and the blatant racism of America’s systems and her worst citizens. It’s been a long time coming.
WE NEED TO PIVOT, NOW. 180 degrees toward what is right, and moral. On the music. In time and step with the rest of the western world that urgently needs us to be better. We cannot dare call ourselves the leaders of the free world if all our people are not free to live equal lives under the law.
It’s not like this hasn’t happened before, but somehow, this past week feels different. It feels like things will actually change. Though the tone of this post might be harsh, I’m actually hopeful. Enough people are on the side of mending. Enough people are seeing through the falsehoods of certain people and groups, people who maybe didn’t want to see it before. If we can suspend rent and mortgages and get people stimulus money, and sanitize THE ENTIRE SUBWAY because of a virus, we can change this too.
So put your hands on your hips, put a smile on your face, step right foot, PIVOT to the light, and step left…to make better choices, to keep others and yourself safe and healthy, to voting for candidates promoting equality, away from those who spew hatred, and toward a better world. If a whole class of six year old kids can figure that out, we can too.
Some Resources:
