Let’s be real: 2020 sucks. Pandemic, isolation, economic recession, stress about the election. And I say this as a person who still has most of her employment, still has health benefits, lives in one of the most progressive areas of the US, and who is white in a society engineered for the comfort and success of white folks. This year has been far harder for people of color and in other parts of the country.
A lot of people are wondering where arts education even fits in all of this, and are deciding that it doesn’t. Partners I’ve worked with for years have deprioritized their artist-in-residence programs. I don’t blame them. 2020 sucks. Their plates already too full figuring out how to provide quality online education when some students have reliable internet and a computer at home and others get their wifi in the parking lot of the public library using a smartphone.
Who has the headspace (or heartspace) to figure out teaching taiko online in all of this? US - and that includes every single teacher of taiko providing classes right now. Does it even matter? YES. Kristin and I end our online classes with a few moments for students to share thoughts or comments. Almost every time someone says they came to class in a rough frame of mind (or heart), and that the class gave them a lift they desperately needed. Everyone who is teaching taiko online right now is providing this same critical point of connection, community, creation, and - dare I say it? - joy.
The online classes you are teaching right now MATTER. If you can, offer classes on a sliding scale so people who are hurting financially can still participate. If that’s not financially viable, give the option for your students who still have income to pay extra so other folks can take the class for free.
Keep it up, friends. We’re not out of the woods, but our classes are helping the woods be a little less scary.