Coping During the Pandemic
Advice for Young Dancers
Like many families these days, the Jones have been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic and have sought ways to adjust. COVID-19 forced OKC Ballet to close its studios back in March and end its performance season early, though the school has since reopened for classes. “As dancers, we’re so used to having a schedule every day,” said Connor Jones. “It’s really hard to suddenly not have that, so we made our own schedule as a family.” This challenging time has presented her with an opportunity to teach Gwyn about perseverance. “Gwyn witnessed me taking many ballet classes in the kitchen and stretching and doing Pilates-type exercises out of necessity,” de- scribes Connor Jones. “When we were allowed to come back into the studio for short times, she was able to see me struggle and continue to push and work hard through the bad days to try to get back to where I was in March.” During their downtime, the Jones family
Connor Jones notes that a dancer’s life is wonderful but also filled with long hours of hard work and dedication. She urges parents who are thinking of enrolling their child in dance to go in with an open mind. “For younger kids, they won’t learn so much ballet [technique] at age 3 or 4, so it’s more about developing listening skills, creative movement and recognizing music,” said Connor Jones. “But if you think that your child has talent or the desire, enrolling them in ballet younger is better since it takes a lot of years of training and fine tuning to get to the professional level. You really develop discipline.” Because of COVID-19, schedules for the Oklahoma City Ballet’s 2020-2021 performances season and/or their classes may change. Find more at their website okcballet.org.
DEVELOPING HER OWN LINE OF JEWELRY PROVIDES A UNIQUE CREATIVE OUTLET AND STRESS RELIEF FOR CONNOR JONES.
enjoys going to Lake Hefner or the Myriad Botanical Gardens to feed the fish, run around and look at the flowers. Connor Jones also enjoys gardening and working on her jewelry line. “I taught myself jewelry making and have been doing it for the past eight years,” said Connor Jones. “It’s a great outlet and stress relief for me.”
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