In Safely Returning To The Stage After COVID-19, Bruce Wood Dance Receives A Donation Lift From CovCare

Thanks to receiving donated CareStart COVID-19 Antigen Home Test kits from CovCare, nonprofit organization Bruce Wood Dance in Dallas, Texas is prepared to manage their daily health and are excited to present performances both virtually and in person this Spring and Summer. 

Over the past two years with the spread of the Coronavirus pandemic, CovCare has been busy donating medical supplies and PPE items to a number of hospitals, healthcare centers, schools, churches, community organizations, and small and big businesses alike across the world. The donations have played a key factor in keeping people safe and protected during the world health emergency and is a big reason why CovCare has remained focused on lending a helping hand with donations from the start of COVID-19, through the variety of variants, and even now as businesses open back up and mask mandates are lifted. 

The transition back to normalcy hasn’t necessarily been an easy one. 

The company and staff at Bruce Wood Dance in Dallas, Texas know this feeling all too well. Like many other non-profit organizations across the United States, the city’s premiere dance company offering high-caliber contemporary choreography had the curtain come down hard on at the onset of COVID-19 as they celebrated their 10 year anniversary. While dancers and staff members pivoted and persevered over the 24 month period, getting back on the stage and performing was always their end goal. Thanks to receiving donated CareStart COVID-19 Antigen Home Test kits from CovCare, the company is prepared to manage their daily health and are excited to present performances both virtually and in person this Spring and Summer. 

We recently caught up with Pam Deslorieux (Development) and Joy Bollinger (Artistic Director) with Bruce Wood Dance who shared their unique experiences navigating through the pandemic in Texas, what it means to return to the stage together, and how companies like CovCare have been there to give the company a lift.

Bruce Wood Dance, hailed as Dallas’ “shining star” by Arts and Culture Texas, is an award-–winning contemporary dance company founded in 2010 by nationally acclaimed Texas artistic director and choreographer Bruce Wood (1960–2014).

How would you describe the past two years and the efforts that went into navigating Bruce Wood Dance through the Coronavirus pandemic?

According to Texans for the Arts, COVID-19 has devastated Texas creative economy businesses with a loss of $7.3 billion in revenue. The two years of the Coronavirus have been a whirlwind of challenges, pivots, and risk-taking for Bruce Wood Dance. Thankfully, to donors like CovCare, Bruce Wood Dance (BWD) has successfully won this war. The concerted team efforts that went into navigating BWD through the Coronavirus pandemic were extremely intense, where every one of us deployed ourselves with untapped focus, energy, and creativity. We worked in overdrive finding new ways to achieve our mission to engage our community with meaningful, entertaining, and healing art while feverishly securing funding to retain all our employees throughout the two-year pandemic. 

As a staff, how did you overcome these challenges and what words of advice did you offer to your dancers who were learning to cope without performing during an unprecedented world health emergency? 

BWD overcame this unprecedented world health emergency with extraordinary measures.

The performance of the dancers and our entire staff was heroically creative. We decided to tackle the pandemic head-on, and everyone stepped up to the bar without hesitation. We pivoted to virtual programming learning much in the process to achieve our goals. This is where the dancers shined in their innovative ideas, creativity, and technical finesse to execute with transformative and entertaining work. Initially, they created from the security of their homes and later took their ingenuity outdoors to create and film impressive works of art. 

BWD serves our community through mission-driven programming to entertain, enrich, and heal. We believe that the arts play a vital role in our lives, contribute to our health and emotional well-being, and deepen our understanding of the nuances of human experiences. We charged ahead in fall 2020 because of our achievements during the first four months of the pandemic. We maintained our company's employment, innovated from 'in-person' to virtual programming on social media platforms, and expanded our reach to over 155,000 viewers and online participants across the world. We streamed works from our acclaimed repertoire, featured live conversations with the artists, and offered virtual dance and wellness classes. We premiered seven dance films celebrating the artistry of our dancers during our virtual 10-Year Commemoration event in June. 

BWD created and implemented COVID-19 Policy and Procedures shared with the art community. We installed ionizers and updated the HVAC system to meet new health and safety standards. Dancers returned for rehearsals in a reconfigured, socially distanced space, vaccinated and masked. Regular testing ensued and we made dances for film while the theaters were shuttered.

Our first production of the highly successful dance film, HOPE, A Virtual Dance Experience, focused on current issues emphasizing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Working with filmmakers The Digibees, we collaborated with seven artists to produce HOPE which streamed on Vimeo on December 4-7. HOPE featured six unique works weaving stories of love, healing, justice, and compassion. Tickets were sold to over 300 attendees from 29 states in the USA and Canada.

In June 2021, we produced UNITE, reopening the Moody Performance Hall (MPH) with an in-person capacity at 30% to bring live dance back to a community hungry for socialization, thought-provoking entertainment, and healing. With the omicron variant looming, BWD successfully produced ReNEW at the MPH in November 2021. Pandemic health procedures were strictly enforced backstage with tech crew and dancers and in front of house with the audience. Ticketing was revised to achieve affordable pricing and make sufficient revenue to pay our production, marketing, and performance teams. At the same time, we provided 230 complimentary tickets to underserved populations, veterans, and the military.

2020 was also a milestone year aside from the onset of COVID-19 as Bruce Wood Dance celebrated ten years as a contemporary dance company. Looking back, what are you most proud of during a decade of dance and performing? 

BWD is most proud of three milestones. On July 5, 2018, BWD reached a new milestone when it performed at the prestigious Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival's Inside/Out Performance Series in Becket, Massachusetts, receiving a rare standing ovation.

Highlighting 2020 is BWD's debut at the distinguished Joyce Theater on the American Dance Platform (ADP) in New York on January 8 + 12. BWD is grateful to be one of only four regional dance companies invited to perform. ADP elevated BWD's national profile, generates new touring opportunities, and increases the visibility of Dallas as a cultural city.

Headlining ReNEW in November 2021 was the Dallas premiere of Elemental Brubeck by world-renowned 20th-century choreographer Lar Lubovitch. Set to the popular jazz music of Dave Brubeck, the national dance publication Dance Magazine wrote, "It is probably the best new dance in a popular idiom since Paul Taylor's Company B." Bruce Wood was a principal performer with the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company. His tenure with the company would later profoundly impact his choreography. Much of Wood's musicality, imagery, partnering, and structure can be attributed to Lubovitch's influence. Lar Lubovitch is the recipient of the Scripps/American Dance Festival Award for lifetime achievement. Lubovitch was in residence with BWD, offering the company the rare opportunity to work with this renowned choreographer and engaging the Dallas community at a Patron Appreciation Reception. 

Can you share how you learned about CovCare and how the process has been in requesting help?

I was first introduced to CovCare by our executive director Gayle Halperin. She received an email from CovCare in her inbox just before the dancers returned to the studio to begin rehearsals in January 2022. Concerned about their safety, we contacted CovCare requesting assistance with COVID antigen tests. To our amazement, CovCare responded immediately with their generous support allowing us to move forward without skipping a beat. It has been a pleasure and a blessing.

CovCare provided Bruce Wood Dance with rapid antigen tests for staff members and dancers in the company. What does it mean to be able to know you can ensure a healthy and safe return to the stage in 2022 thanks to these donated test kits?

BWD is extremely grateful to CovCare for their donation of antigen rapid tests. It has been a tremendous relief and a saving grace to have the tests available for our daily rehearsals. The tests have proven highly successful in preventing the transmission and infection of the Coronavirus to our dancers. Tests detected positive results in one instance, and we were able to quickly pivot to virtual rehearsals once again to avoid transmission to the company. To help eliminate the possible contraction of the Coronavirus, the administrative staff work primarily remotely from their homes. The company remains healthy and is rehearsing for our upcoming busy season in the studios.

This Spring and Summer look to be a full schedule for Bruce Wood Dance between exhibitions, upcoming auditions, and in-person classes and repertory sessions. How excited are you all to return to a sense of normalcy, and what are you looking forward to the most at Bruce Wood Dance in these coming months?

We look forward to sharing dance through BOTH virtual and live experiences. We are thrilled to have new collaborations in the works with the Dallas Museum of Art, and we are eager to feel that we have overcome an immense obstacle and are now moving into a safe space with boundless opportunities.

*photo credits courtesy of Sharon Bradford, Brian Guilliaux, and the Dallas Museum of Art