Dealing with the shutdown of many industries and organizations, many people who are stuck at home resort to their music archives, television and film streaming sites, comedic social media photos and videos, visual artwork, journals and blogs, culinary tutorials, and miscellaneous forms of artistic performances for entertainment. However, the entertainment serves for more than kicks and giggles; the outlet this artistic entertainment provides has proven to help the general public maintain a stable mental state in these quickly ever-changing days of the COVID-19 pandemic. From the overflow of TikTok dance challenge and Voicey duet videos to memes and visual reinterpretations of Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot’s daily public addresses, artists are using this “downtime” to keep the general public upbeat and mentally occupied. I am seeing firsthand how more and more people are seeking psychological help and therapy due to various stressors: being laid off with bills still due, the uncertainty of a timely graduation for current seniors and final year graduate students, or the high risk of coming in contact with coronavirus carriers at work. For those of us lacking the resource of therapy, we have entrusted our favorite shows, at-home live vocal performances, and dance and fitness classes with alleviating our anxiety.
When it comes to art therapy, no art form has been readily and regularly used to redirect one’s psyche as much as music; thankfully long-time hip-hop artist DJ D-Nice is aware or that power. On Wednesday, March 18, just a few days after America as a whole went into lockdown, D-Nice launched “Homeschoolin’: Social Distancing Dance Party” (now called #ClubQuarantine), a solo deejaying set via Instagram Live featuring hits from the 80s and 90s ranging from iconic straight-to-the-dance-floor bops to the sorely missed slow jams of yesteryears. If you’re aware of his tenure as a member of the pioneering group Boogie Down Productions, then you know that this is an artist who knows how music can aid and educate people. It is no wonder that as one of the producers of the anthemic and politically enlightening hip-hop record “Self-Destruction” that D-Nice is one of the music artists providing free entertainment to ensure that all of us who are stuck at home or in the emergency rooms--as nurses and recovering patients are requesting to hear his spins also--can find hope and unity in this dreary and isolated era we live in. If you don’t find this work essential, tell that to the 1.8 million people who have begun following DJ D-Nice within the last 3 weeks--half of whom did so within 2 days after the first 9-hour dance party!
As an American dancer, I too often see my occupation considered insubstantial in times of conflict resolution. Yet, artists are quickly utilized to rally supporters for a cause and invoke interest in/awareness of important news (i.e. updates of the nature and spreading of COVID-19, primary election, Census 2020, endeavors to help those dealing with hunger or domestic violence). Then there are artists like Christian Siriano who are becoming resources to those on the front lines. The highly regarded celebrity fashion designer behind the recent history making looks of Mariah Carey and Billy Porter has yet to close shop as his team of couture seamstresses have been providing health care workers with functional face masks to continue working to tend the COVID-19 pandemic. Impulsively responding to New York governor Andrew Cuomo’s statement regarding the shortage of face masks for health care workers via stating his team’s availability and willingness to help in a tweet on Friday, March 20, Siriano’s office has now been esteemed as an essential workplace. So far Siriano has made more than 10,000 masks and shipped them out to several US hospitals and military bases. Once considered an outsider in a peripheral luxury industry, Christian Siriano’s current status as essential business owner illustrates just how much art matters.
Again, I am very aware of what it means to be an “essential worker”; the remaining non-remote, employed population have duties that fulfill the most fundamental of our hierarchy of needs. [Psychology was my primary minor concentration in college, y’all. (**insert shameless plug for my other blog Adolescence in Retrograde, 😁**)] You may not be one of the people we are celebrating and encouraging daily to persist in the valuable work being done, but if what you do is a remedy for others’ discomfort and confusion, PLEASE KEEP UP YOUR NECESSARY WORK!!
Let's open the conversation! If you find art to be an essential job, how so? Who/What are you listening to/watching during this time to stay in good spirits? If you have become an essential worker during this time, how has your life shifted? Leave your thoughts in the comment section below, or e-mail me your responses to this article at averybrandon0812@gmail.com. Thank you for your time, and stay elevé-ted!
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