Staying Inspired and Healthy through Covid-19

We spoke with Svāhā cast member Malavika Santhosh about what’s keeping her dancing and inspired through these challenging times.

How are you keeping your art alive at this time?

 I think when [the pandemic] started out, I was definitely like, “where am I going to do this?” The May process [with Nova Dance] was kind of the first time I looked around my apartment and thought, ‘maybe I can make this work’. I think what I really enjoyed about that process was that we looked at the space we were in and started to see it as a studio; we talked about all these little things to shift our perspective, and all of a sudden your idea of where you can practise kind of changes -- it doesn’t have to be what you’ve been so used to doing for such a long time. That really helped and it was after that that I started going back to class through Zoom.

I have been lucky enough to be back in studios recently here in Vancouver. But even with that there are small differences, like we’re required to wear masks so now it’s getting used to a new way of breathing. And so much of the artform has so much to do with facial expressions, so we always joke about it like, “I’m smiling! I’m making all of these expressions but you have no idea”.  So it’s kind of been an evolution, throughout, and now it’s kind of moved into, ‘well this is what practise will be like for the next long while’ and kind of just accepting that.

How has the pandemic reshaped your idea of what practice is?

I think for me it’s kind of broken down the idea of what I can do with what I have. If I’m confined to this much space, how can I change my movements or fit the choreography to work in this space? It’s fun too, because it’s a creative challenge.

I was part of an event in Toronto in June with Jaami Esplanade and this question reminds me of it… We had a 1 x 1 m wooden plank and we’d move it around with us to different locations throughout a park in the Esplanade and that was our performance space. We had two minutes to do whatever we wanted in that space, and that is exactly what is going on now -- there are so many confinements with our spaces, with our time, and we’re all kind of just figuring it out as we go.

Jamii’s itinerant performances - Kisanii Hub. Photographer: Gillian Mapp

Would you say that from the beginning of the pandemic to now there have been periods of more or less stress? What has the shape of that been for you?

I think it’s such an up and down. There are days ad periods that are incredibly productive and it’s probably bad just how high that goes, and then there are the days that you don’t want to do anything but stay in bed and you’re really unmotivated. And it just kind of fluctuates. But I think that makes sense – if you think about the news, there are periods when it’s just so overwhelming and all you’re hearing about but then you find ways to distract yourself and not focus on it so fully. I think for me those shifts have a lot to do with who I’m surrounding myself with, the conversations I’m having, and the media I’m focusing my attention on.

Do you have any structure around your intake of news?

Yes. I do not like to do that at morning or night, so usually mid-day I take a look at things. That pattern has changed over the last many months too, obviously I was consuming it was a lot in March and April, and then it was less over the summer, and then as we hit the second wave it started increasing again.

What strategies are helping you cope with stress?

 Exercising has been the number one thing for me. Even if I don’t get to do a full workout, just taking 30 minutes before I go to bed to do some stretching. I’m very ‘go go go’ as a person, so if I don’t have a scheduled time to do it, I don’t do it. I think of that time stretching before bed as a time that is for me, and to focus in on my thoughts.

I feel like meditation was here and there, but I don’t want to say I do that in a routine way -- I know its benefits, and everyone talks about it, and I want to be the person who can get into it and make it a routine but… I don’t. If it’s a really bad time and I’m really feeling down then that’s something I take the time to do and I notice the benefits immediately. But it’s not part of my daily routine.

What mental health supports, if any, are you accessing at this time?

No professional supports, but I have my personal support system – my sister and one or two friends who I know I can pick up the phone and just say anything to about how I’m feeling or how I’m doing. 

What is inspiring you these days?

I have been loving social media and all the performances people have doing there! And that is as small as 15 second Tik Tok dances and how much that has blown up in the last little bit, all the way to Zoom performances and the ways people have been using it and its functionalities. The ways people have adapted to what we have now I think, is super inspiring. And I’m excited to see how that shapes the future of what the performing arts look like.

Is there a particular social media account that you would recommend?

Ooooh, there is one. Aayana Dance Company on instagram. They are a bharatnatyam-based dance company in Bangalore in India and throughout the pandemic they had the most interesting short-clip videos. They did one to the Harry Potter theme and edited it together and had all the four houses… it was great. They’re really fun, I like what they do.