Online operas, concerts and dancing doctors – how Armenians are getting by in quarantine

 To somehow help the residents of Armenia “sit out” the quarantine period at home, local theaters and orchestras, under the leadership of the Ministry of Culture, have organize online broadcasts of concerts and performances.

The theatrical productions and concerts of classical music have been extremely popular, though they’ve recently been given a run for their money by a video portraying doctors and how they spend their free minutes of break from treating those with coronavirus.

On April 7, the total number of infected in Armenia – 853. 87 have been cured, and 758 remain under treatment. There have been eight deaths. From March 16 to April 14, a state of emergency has been introduced in Armenia.

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Theater and classical music concerts

On April 7, Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports Ara Khzmalyan presented statistics on how popular cultural events are in Armenia on online platforms.

The Academic Opera and Ballet Theater since March 17 has had almost 840,000 views on YouTube.  The theater posted six of its performances to the network, and without any advertising over the past few days, another 5,000 people subscribed to the channel.

The residents of Armenia watched the first online play more than 40,000 times these days, which they staged at the Gabriel Sundukyan National Academic Theater.

 The concerts of the National Philharmonic Orchestra, which now uploads recordings of solo and chamber compositions, have not gone unnoticed.  Before the concerts begin, musicians address viewers and urge them to stay at home.

Dancing doctors

Videos of dancing paramedics shot on phones have become increasingly popular on Armenian social media. They are accompanied by the hashtag #ՄնաՏանը (Stay home).

One of the first such videos was a dance of paramedics.

“The reason for their joy or sadness is the state of people’s health.  Dear doctors and colleagues, your work is invaluable, since you work day and night and deserve applause, let there be more reasons for joy,” the author of the video wrote.

Another video showing paramedics in protective medical gear dancing the Armenian national dance, the kochari, instantly received more than 1,500 shares.

On April 7, Health Minister Arsen Torosyan joined the spontaneous flash mob.

On his page, he posted a video in which medical volunteers danced a waltz to music from Aram Khachaturian’s ballet Masquerade.

“I am proud of our volunteers and doctors,” the minister wrote.