Jacopo Grabar has been with the Sydney Dance Company for two years. When the first lockdown started he was quite scared by its impact on their work, but little by little the company has found new ways to keep afloat, and even if the shows haven't resumed yet it is doing reasonably well, also thanks to online lessons.
Jacopo is one of the teachers of the so-called Virtual Studio, as he explained during an interview with SBS Italian in which he also recalled his journey from Trieste to Sydney.
Dance is not a family tradition for Grabar, but his mother had an inkling very early on that he might enjoy it. When he was only eight she took him to a Latin American dance class, and he loved it.
Jacopo went on to study ballet and contemporary dance. At 16 he moved to Tuscany to further his studies, then he moved abroad to find work as a dancer.
Jacopo Grabar Source: Pedro Greig
Getting a job with the Sydney Dance Company was a dream come true for Jacopo: when the company was touring in Germany he tried his luck, and happily he was asked to join SDC in Australia in 2018.
When the pandemic at the beginning of this year and the shows were cancelled he was stunned. "Not having a permanent visa yet I thought: 'Here we go, I have to go home. They will deport me tomorrow'," he remembers, but luckily things haven't been that bad and the company has reacted as a team.
Jacopo feels very lucky, despite the challenges. "Most companies have simply stopped, and are waiting it all finishes. But I think it's important for an art company, be it dance, music or theatre, to keep creating art even when there are such big hurdles."
Personally Jacopo has also had to change the university course he was attending, because of the university fee hike announced at the beginning of the year, but despite the uncertainty and the difficulties brought by the pandemic he keeps his positive outlook, and hopes to go back on stage soon.
LISTEN TO
Dai palcoscenici allo studio virtuale: la danza ai tempi del COVID-19
SBS Italian
19:11
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