REPOST: If undercutting was an issue before COVID-19, what’s going to happen post pandemic?

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about life in the performing arts business post pandemic, imagining the possible trends, and whether or not undercutting would become worse. During the 2018-2019 school year, I took a sabbatical from teaching high school English to be a performer full time. It was an incredible year, and I learned a lot of valuable lessons.

Namely, I got to experience first hand how life-force draining the hustle can be without proper self care. 

Then COVID-19 happened. Events were cancelled, festivals were postponed or reconfigured online, and gigs were nonexistent. 

I watched as thousands of dollars of expected income disappeared from my future and the futures of my professional performer friends. It was devastating. For a while, I even felt guilty, because I was blessed enough to have a full-time teaching job again, which kept my rent paid and my lights on.

And then...

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