Among the sectors hardest hit by the lay-offs and lockdowns resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic are those engaged in culture: theaters, cinemas, production companies, museums, performance companies and all those people working in them. A visit to The Prado these days offers the unheard of privilege of standing alone in front of Las Meninas, but after wandering through its halls a couple of hours one notices not only the smaller number of visitors but also of workers. Cinemas and theaters have reopened to similarly limited audiences, with every other seat marked vacant for health safety. But what of the performers themselves? What about the standard programming of visiting companies and the scheduling of tours? The pandemic is international. In conversations with the director of Spain's National Dance Company, the CND, Joaquin de Luz and with the director of Madrid's Teatro Real Royal Opera House, Joan Matabosch we learn how, with imagination and compassion, restrictions can be turned into opportunities. A emigré Spanish dancer from the New York City Ballet, his work there suspended until next fall, is now performing in Madrid and a flamenco company here steps in to cover when an opera from Munich has to be cancelled.
