![\"Joel](\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/04\/REMOTE_-_Joel_Ivany-Feature_image.jpg\")
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For this iteration of REMOTE, we connect with Joel Ivany, Against The Grain Theatre<\/a><\/span>\u2019s artistic director, who is celebrating the latest addition to the AtG family while in quarantine. The company indefinitely postponed the much anticipated April world premiere of BOUND<\/em>, the realization of a project three years in the making. With help from donations<\/a><\/span>, the company remains committed to compensating the production\u2019s cast and crew as much as possible. Ivany writes in to discuss life at home, upcoming AtG projects and some thoughts on getting through this crisis together.<\/p>\n I\u2019m doing as well as we could be. On March 31, we welcomed a new little baby into our family. I was able to be with my wife, Miriam for the birth, but then had to leave the hospital afterwards. We\u2019re all home now and adjusting to life in a new way. Our #OperaBoy Sammy is now six years old, so in a weird way, having this time all together is a gift.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve been growing a COVID beard and trying not to listen to the news that much. I\u2019ve become the primary person for laundry, cleaning and cooking at the house (man\u2026I took a lot of it for granted and appreciate Miriam even more!) I’ve cooked more in the past two weeks than I have in almost 10 years of marriage. It\u2019s funny how simply re-directing your energy and focus can accomplish a great amount of work!<\/p>\n I\u2019m trying to read as much as I can given the above. AtG has a couple video projects that we\u2019re working on, to stay engaged with singers and music. A lot of thinking. Thinking about our artistic model, thinking of how the arts have been disseminated, how they currently are now and how they will be in the future. Zoom meetings with friends, colleagues and of course many check ins with our amazing and talented Executive Director at Against the Grain, Robin Whiffen.<\/p>\n Started reading the first Harry Potter<\/em> to my six-year-old, reading Danny Newman\u2019s Subscribe Now!<\/em><\/a><\/span> for myself. Looking forward to watching the Pavarotti documentary on Crave<\/a><\/span>, and we just finished the wild third season of Ozark<\/em><\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n This hasn\u2019t happened to us in over 100 years. We are ALL in the same boat. We are all VERY different. We need to take care of ourselves, but once we do that, I think it\u2019s healthy to connect with others. Email them, text them, FaceTime with them. The new normal will be gradual and cautious, and we must be prepared for that. The floodgates will want to compete for everyone\u2019s attention once we\u2019re allowed to heal and I\u2019m guessing it will be overwhelming. For example, my new infant son wants to eat as much as he can, to the point where he spits up as he\u2019s taken on too much. We are starving ourselves of art and for community and I\u2019m guessing we\u2019ll need to gradually ease back into whatever the new normal is. I can\u2019t wait for the time when we can.<\/p>\n Be patient. You most likely know as much as the leaders all over the world. The fear, anxiety, boredom, helplessness, we are all feeling it. We can\u2019t go back and change the past, the future is unknown, so be in the present. You don\u2019t have to create, you don\u2019t have to practise, you don\u2019t have to get out of bed. We\u2019re all in mourning, we\u2019re all wanting to create and reunite with colleagues and friends. Be patient. Things will get better.<\/p>\n Want more updates on classical music and opera news and reviews? Follow us\u00a0on <\/em>Facebook<\/b><\/a><\/em><\/span>, <\/em>Instagram<\/b><\/a><\/em> <\/b><\/span>or <\/em>Twitter<\/b><\/a><\/em><\/span> for all the latest.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Joel Ivany, Against The Grain Theatre\u2019s artistic director, talks about celebrating the latest addition to the AtG family while in quarantine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":89,"featured_media":67819,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[33451,35839,39,43,62,63],"tags":[186,35697,1736],"yst_prominent_words":[36116,9008,10966,7941,36114,30016,6985,7668,10976,11829,14762,9971,14777,10167,24439,36115,36113,10395,8590,12016],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/04\/REMOTE_-_Joel_Ivany-Feature_image.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-hDQ","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67818"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/89"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67818"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67818\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":67821,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67818\/revisions\/67821"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67819"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67818"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=67818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}How are you doing during this pandemic?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"Joel](\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/04\/Joel-Ivany-and-baby.jpg\")
How are you keeping busy artistically?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Any books, films, or TV on the go?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
What do you think arts communities can do to better prepare for adjusting to a crisis such as this?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Any words of wisdom to get through this?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
For more chats with artists in social isolation, read on HERE<\/a><\/span>.<\/h2>\n
#LUDWIGVAN<\/em><\/h3>\n