The Malaysian Insight

THE social-distancing standard operating procedures (SOP) for the performing arts have put a dent on revenue, said those involved in this branch of the industry.

The new ticketing rules effectively reduced audiences to about a third of the venue, they said.

The SOP also require performers to keep a distance while doing dance routines which makes it difficult to stage performances.

This being the case, some decided that the curtain will only go up at venues when there is a vaccine for Covid-19.

Damansara Performing Arts Centre (DPAC) founder Ma Jinquan said its venue has more than 200 seats, but only 72 people can be accommodated under the new SOP.

The theatre has three sources of income – ticket sales, sponsorship and sales of products – he said.

“Products are relatively rare in the local scene and sponsorship is not easy to find, so our main source of income is from ticket sales. However, if the audience has been halved or cut to one third, the costs will be higher than the revenue.

“We also have to take care of other staff members, so in short, we will lose money even if we perform.”

According to the SOP, performers must stand at a certain distance to dance and cannot do team dances, he said.

“As we are seeing the recurrence of Covid-19 in many countries, it’s still a risky situation. I don’t want the audience, performers and staff to take risks.”

As such, live performances will only resume after a vaccine is found, said Ma.

“I have asked the opinions of some dance groups at home and abroad and everyone estimates that it may take three to four years before returning to the stage.”

The shared space professional dance troupe has existed for 22 years and the first full-time professionals in Malaysia.

Ma decided to transform the dance troupe into online performers during the movement-control order period and all performances have been cancelled until 2021.

“We were scheduled to perform in five countries this year, but all of them have been cancelled. As such, I have decided to turn to online performances and open up to pre-order tickets.”

For RM150, the audience can enjoy the performance of New Visual Show on the Shared Stage.

For information, visit its Facebook page for more details.

The Stone Dance Company founder and artistic director Chen Lianhe believes that the definition of performance is personal and the venue is also flexible.

He is looking at scaling down the size of his troupe’s performance.

Chen said dance does not have to revolve around the size of the troupe and they could still get the message across with fewer dancers.

His group, which started in 1999, last performed in March, and the next performance is set for six months later, so the pandemic has had little impact on it during the MCO.

However, his performers don’t depend solely on shows for their income.

“To be honest, none of the Malaysian dance troupes can survive just by performing and most of them have to teach to supplement their income.

“And we mainly teach dancing lessons and performance is secondary. For now, most are teaching online and normal classes will resume later.”

Putrajaya said live performances reopening next month are limited to indoor venues and operators must strictly abide by the SOP.  – June 26, 2020.