This Woman is Working 5 Jobs to Stay Afloat....
Mary Roberts is not immune to the hustle as an artist. But the coronavirus pandemic has presented a challenge like she’s never seen before.
“I was thriving, and very excited to be thriving and prove that as a dancer, as a choreographer, you can have financial viability in really awesome cool ways, and then I’m back to surviving,” she said. “This is on me to sink or swim.”
Carmen Reinicke
CNBC
Standing Up for Myself and Other Artists
As a Committee Member of the Independent Sector for National Dance Education Organization, I vocalized my struggles in webinars and presentations. Some choreographers and dance educators continued to thrive in college and university programs during the pandemic. However, most freelancers lost all work and any ability to get back to work soon. As a contractor in the cruise line industry, as long as my industry stayed suspended, there was no telling when or if my work would return. I didn’t sugarcoat how difficult 2020 was for me because I didn’t see how that would help anyone. I wanted to let other artists in similar situations know they were not alone.
I am so glad I was honest because my story resonated with NDEO members and I was nominated to represent NDEO in Ovation TV’s Stand for the Arts Campaign. In being interviewed by OvationTV, they asked if I would be willing to talk to other reporters trying to create accurate and real journalism to highlight the struggles of artists. I gave an absolute “Yes.”
A few weeks later, Carmen Reinicke of CNBC interviewed me. I enjoyed the conversation and her questions were poignant. During the interview, the difficulty and grief of losing so much amazing work really hit me. When the article came out, that was the toughest thing for me to relive: the grief and loss. However, as I posted the article, so many artists reposted and shared with family and friends. My voice, my words were exactly what they needed to hear OR what their families needed to hear.