COVID-19 Closures: High School Student Actor Alex Angrist (NYC)

The COVID-19 pandemic continues change the world as we know it. As closures and performance cancellations have put actors out of school and work, I’ve been reaching out to the artists affected. Here are their stories.

My name is Alex Angrist and I live in New York City where I am currently a junior in high school. A little bit about me: I grew up training primarily in ballet at New York Theatre Ballet, but transitioned into musical theatre after an injury at a ballet summer intensive opened my eyes to the broader realm of musical theatre. During my rehabilitation period, I realized just how detrimental injuries are to ballet dancers, and because I knew that I wanted to pursue performing arts as a career and had always loved to sing, I decided to hone all of my skills into musical theatre. As of now, I currently participate in my school’s productions (I recently played Johanna in Sweeney Todd!) and dance at Steps on Broadway and Broadway Dance Center when I am not engaged in a show. This summer I will be headed to the MUNY to participate in an intensive and perform in Smokey Joe’s Cafe!

As I write this brief story/article/what-have-you, I have already read some of the articles other artists have written for Actor Aesthetic about how their college experiences have been overturned due to the virus and the preventative measures that colleges and universities around the country have been taking. I am not in college nor am I a senior in high school, so my situation is not as emotionally draining as those who physically have to return home for the rest of the semester or miss graduation, but I still think it’s worthwhile for everyone to have the ability to share their experiences. Thank you, Maggie, for providing this opportunity for all of us to share our stories.

From the moment I saw that COVID-19 was spreading globally after originating in the metropolitan city of Wuhan, I immediately felt a small rush of fear come over me. I knew that the virus would severely impact New York City as well as the lives of the city’s inhabitants. But my routine was still intact; I was still going to school, doing homework, and dancing. The effects of the virus seemed far away at first, and I thought that I had ample time before anything in my life would be altered as an effect of COVID-19. For a while, I was in a state of denial, hoping that the virus would not have a great effect on New York City and that I would still be able to take my final exams, travel during spring break, finish my semester, and take dance classes in the city in my free time. Little did I know how much of my intended plans would be overturned in such a short period of time.

The first thing that happened to me that opened my eyes to the extent of the global pandemic was when I had to cancel my spring break trip abroad that I had been planning for a couple of months. My family made this decision as a preventative measure; even if the country to which we were going to travel did not have a severe outbreak, my family and I did not want to get stranded and quarantined in a foreign country. As a result of this, I started planning a lot of college tours and information sessions to do during my two-week spring break in March as a way to get a jump-start into the college process. I remember the day when my family decided to cancel our trip and do college tours instead. I felt a rush of panic engulf me as I scrambled to set up seven college tours that would take place in the final weeks of March. Though I felt upset not to be going on the adventure I had initially desired, I felt reassured knowing that I would start visiting colleges, have time to read books, maybe start writing essays and supplements, and be able to take dance classes every day at Steps on Broadway and Broadway Dance Center. My training in musical theatre started primarily with dancing, so dance has always been a significant part of my life and holds special value to me. But dance is not only a creative outlet for me - it also helps keep my mental health in check. Having grown up a dancer, I am accustomed to physical activity and enjoy movement. I find that when I cannot find time or space to move, I feel very isolated and distraught, so I planned to continue dancing during spring break at Steps and Broadway Dance Center where I dance throughout the week.

But the universe threw another curveball at me. About a week ago, while I was in the middle of taking my final exams before spring break, my school announced that it was closing and that my classmates and I would be taking classes virtually after spring break via an online platform called Google Meet. This news came shockingly to all of us, and I felt a lot of mixed emotions. On the one hand, I was relieved to have more free time on my hands to prepare for college auditions, do some standardized testing preparation, and find extra time to prioritize my physical health (dancing, working out, etc.). Knowing myself, I felt somewhat anxious thinking that I might have to be cooped up in my apartment for a prolonged period of time. I knew that because my physical health impacts mental health I wanted to do as much as I could in the coming period of time before everything in the city was shut down. But on the other hand, I was incredibly disappointed to not be able to complete my final exams for which I had spent a tremendous amount of time preparing for. I felt frustrated that all of the work I had done and the time I had spent study would amount to nothing. In addition, a lot of the schools that I was planning on visiting during spring break were shutting down all of extraneous admissions programs and were sending their students home. So my plan B for spring break was now deterred as well.

I took a breath, and decided to maintain a positive outlook. Even though learning thorough online classrooms would be awkward and uncomfortable to deal with and I would not see my friends as often as I usually would, I would persevere and do my best even with this setback. I was grateful to have been given an extra week of spring break, so I took extra dance classes that week. I tried my best to make the most out of every class, afraid that at any second the studios could close and my plans would be hampered yet again. There was a lot of anxious energy in the studios, as everyone was worried about what might happen in the upcoming weeks and whether the studios and New York City were going to close completely. Ironically, even though there was the mob mentality going around that the virus is the “apocalypse,” which I think is a bit far-fetched, I had some of the most fulfilling dance classes this past week. Knowing that I might not be able to dance for a while gave me and the rest of the class the motivation to dance to our extremes and really soak it all in. But being in this “all or nothing everything could change in an instant” mindset taught me a lot this past week and helped me reflect more deeply about the entire COVID-19 situation:

First, take nothing for granted.

Moments are so fleeting, and we never know what tomorrow has in store for us. Take every day as a gift and as a new opportunity to manifest, work, study, train, sing, dance, revamp your resume, create a website, read a new book, and do what makes you happy. Of course, take rest days, journal, and be sedentary when you need it. Mental health is very important to maintain, especially during this time when there is so much toxic and anxious energy present. But whatever you chose to do, do it with purpose and conviction!

Second, we can never be too sure of the future.

I can create the most intricate schedule or plan for what I want to do in the next month, but nothing that I write down in my bullet journal is for certain. Nothing that I hope to do the next day is for sure going to happen. Take Broadway, for instance. The entire industry has shut down for an entire month, leaving actors, stagehands, and all those working in the industry without a paycheck for multiple weeks. Performers currently working in shows did not know their last show for the while would be their last show and they did not know that they would not get to perform the following night. I have pondered this thought for a while now — mostly because it is incredibly crippling to think about — and the most I’ve been able to conclude from it is to enjoy today and do what you can while you can do it!

Third, reach out to loved ones, friends, and family that either you talk to a lot or you rarely talk at all.

This is an incredibly stressful time for all of us, physically and emotionally, and we all need each other’s support. Do not be hesitant to reach out and speak! It is imperative that we keep our social connections intact during this time when we are more or less isolated from each other. And even though we are physically separated, we can still utilize FaceTime to watch movies together, cook meals, eat dinner, and talk!

Fourth, take everything with perspective.

Fitness classes and gyms are being closed and social media is blowing up with images of supermarkets being ransacked and purell being bough off of the shelves in record time. But this is not the apocalypse. Places will eventually reopen. Schools will eventually return to physical classrooms instead of virtual meeting spaces. Offices will eventually be filled again with workers. The subways will eventually be packed again with commuters. This too shall pass. Being as flexible as possible with your plans and mindset during this time period is incredibly important and valuable. If you need some sort of physical movement, the internet is a wonderful place for at-home workouts. Or maybe just have a family dance party in the living room!

Fifth, do what you can to be creative.

As Maggie wrote in her previous article, “art unites us all.” Though we may all be confined to our homes and neighborhoods now, that does not mean we cannot be creative. Art will always persevere and thrive even when it becomes confined. Some things to jumpstart creativity: create your own workout routine, try to learn a new skill (drawing, yoga poses, crocheting….), make a new audition tape, connect with new people over social media, choreograph a dance, start a Facebook group, write a song, learn a new instrument, create a playlist, write poetry - the list goes on and on. There is no reason to stop being creative just because you are restricted to your home!

Sixth, remember to breathe. Here:

Breathe in…..2…….3…….4…..Breath out……2…..3…….4.

This too shall pass. This too shall pass.

I’ve been repeating this mantra to myself for a while now and I find it incredibly helpful! You are not alone. We are all taking this day by day.

I wish you all the best for the rest of the semester, and I hope that we all can continue to thrive as people and as artists until this chaos subdues.

Stay healthy and safe y’all!

Alex (@alexangrist)

Alex Angrist is currently a junior at a private school in New York City and plans on pursuing musical theatre after graduating from college. She has performed regionally and nationally in both dance and musical theatre productions, including the national tour of Keith Michael’s The Nutcracker with New York Theatre Ballet, Liza Gennaro’s Twas the Night Before Christmas at Carnegie Hall, and multiple cabaret performances at 54 Below. She recently played Johanna at in her high school’s production of Sweeney Todd, and is elated to be performing in Smokey Joe’s Cafe this upcoming summer at the MUNY as a part of the MUNY/Webster Conservatory intensive!

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