Statement for opening Rambert’s South Bank building

“If people hear a distorted version of what’s being said, that says ‘this is all fine now, it’s gone away’ and start behaving in ways that they normally would have before this virus happened, yes, we will get an uptick for sure. It is absolutely critical people stick to the guidance that has been given, it’s a changed guidance for there are still very significant restrictions socially and there are very signifi-cant restrictions on business of different sorts.”

Chris Whitty – government’s chief medical advisor

·      Social distancing of 2m will be maintained at all times.
·      Temperature checks for all staff on entry to building.
·      Anyone displaying flu like symptoms will stay at home, be tested, and self isolate.
·      Regular and thorough handwashing is encouraged of all staff in the building.
·      Working together “Bubbles” are formed with separated changing facilities, break rooms and studio for class.
·      Studio floors moped when appropriate and when one studio is used by members of more than one bubble.
·      If any Dancer, stage manager or artistic team member displays symptoms the production will be paused whilst they receive a test.
·      Anyone who considers themselves in a vulnerable group will be excused from being present in the building.
·      Public transport will only be used if there are no other alternatives available.
·      Public transport will never be used during rush hours.
·      Rambert Staff to exclusively use the rear entrance and exit to the building.
·      Face masks will be worn when moving through the building. Regular hand washing is encouraged throughout the day and especially after rehearsing a section with shared props.
·      All Staff should bring in any utensils, mugs or crockery they may want and take them home at the end of each day.

Numbers:
Dancers 20
Artistic support 5
Rambert Tech 3
Freelance Tech 7 (maximum)
Company Management 1
Producing Team 1
Cleaning staff 3

Rebalance:
Staff 3
Clients 3 (at any one time)

Please see Rebalance Working practice document for details of rebalance working practice.
In summery the clients will have absolute minimal contact with the building, being prescreened, escorted from the front door to their treatment room (and back again) with face covering and gloves the entire time they are inside.

Office staff will continue to work from home and won’t be allowed to come into the building unless necessary and without prior consent.

Anyone who considers themselves to be in a vulnerable group will not be required to be present in the building at any time.

Bubbling:
From the 20th July, we will have 9 groups of people who will normally work together and will avoid extended contact with members of other groups.

Stage management and costume department will have to be able to float at times and work together as well as with their respective Dancer teams. They should therefore wear gloves at all times and masks/visors whenever they are in close contact with each other or their dancer group.

Stage Management will keep a log of any instances of people working outside their bubble or prolonged contact between bubbles.

Each Bubble will have their own changing room and break area assigned.

NB Studios will sometimes be used by more than one bubble at once. Stage management will clean floors and props more often before and after these times.

If any member of dancer, stage management or artistic team displays covid like symptoms they will be administered a test and the production will be paused until the test result is returned negative.

Deep cleaning of their studio and changing facilities will be made as soon as possible and no later than the following morning.

Cleaning
Cleaning of the building will happen daily (Monday to Saturday).

An afternoon shift cleaner has been engaged to clean the break rooms, and changing facilities while morning rehearsals are happening and to clean studios and ballet bars during lunch break.

Closing down of Production
If anyone involved in the production is confirmed to test positive for Covid 19 we will halt production until all other staff have been tested and found to be negative for the virus at which point a review by the executive team will decide how to continue.

Social Distancing
“Following a review, the Prime Minister has also set out that where it is not possible to stay two metres apart, guidance will allow people to keep a social distance of  ‘one metre plus’. This means staying one metre apart, plus mitigations which reduce the risk of transmission.
 
While the infection rate continues to fall, the Prime Minister has been clear that the public must continue to follow social distancing guidelines to keep coronavirus under control. The Government will keep all measures under constant review and will not hesitate to apply the handbrake, or reverse measures, should the virus begin to run out of control.”

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/pm-announces-easing-of-lockdown-restrictions-23-june-2020

Where possible, in compliance with government advice, we will maintain a minimum of 2m distance between all people even within bubbles.

Those dancers that live together or in one instance, who have formed their own social bubble (outside of work) are exempt from the 2m social distancing.

Face coverings and gloves should be worn at arrival, in all corridors and when moving around the building. All staff will be expected to provide their own mask or face covering.

Passing contact in corridors or stairways is not considered to be a breach of the 2m distancing, though should be kept to a minimum.

Gatherings of people in the building in any space except designated break area, studio or dock for arrival will not be allowed.

Working at a slower rate than usual is to be expected as a result of these restrictions.

Arrival at the building
“Self-isolation if you have symptoms’ means you and all household members must remain at home. Do not go outside your home for any reason i.e. to work, school, or public areas, and do not use public transport or taxis.” www.gov.uk

Any staff member who have any of the following symptoms (even mild):
•           Fever or chills
•           Cough
•           Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
•           New loss of taste or smell

Or severe symptoms of the following:
•           Sore throat
•           Congestion or runny nose
•           Nausea or vomiting
•           Diarrhea

must not come into the building, and should inform their line manager. A test will be sent to them as soon as is possible and they should not return to work until such time as they test negative for corona virus.

Any staff living with, or in regular contact with, someone who displays any of these symptoms, or who has tested positive for Corona Virus must not come into the building.

If someone from a staff member’s household is self-isolating, they will be required to stay at home, however, unless that person develops symptoms themselves, the rest of the production will continue.

All staff will be expected to have their own mask (non-surgical is fine) and we will provide gloves to be used whenever moving through the corridors or stairways. They will not need to be worn in their bubble’s home spaces.

NB We are trusting that all staff are very honest about any symptoms they may have, this is a safety issue for our friends and colleagues, and an issue that effects Rambert reputation and standing.

We will regularly remind staff of the seriousness of breaching social distancing and other guidelines.

Our aim is that where possible no-one will come to the building having travelled on public transport.

We will expect people to commute for a minimum of a 20 min walk, 30 min Cycle, 40 min E-bike. If none of these are possible, public transport (outside of rush hours) may be used as a last resort with a face covering and gloves.

Rehearsal times will be 11am to 7 pm, to allow people to avoid rush hour trains.

The rear of the building will be strictly reserved for Rambert Staff. The front will be reserved strictly for Rebalance clients.

A socially distanced queue will be formed in the dock, masks and gloves should be worn.

All staff will be required to take their own temperature, using one of two contactless temperature guns and wipe clean the equipment with anti-bacterial wipes (provided).

Anyone with temperature at 37.5° or above to wait in marked area in the workshop space for 10 mins (or to cool down) and will take their temperature taken again. There will be 4m area clear around each seat in this space.

If they are still above 37.5° they will be sent home, the area they have been waiting in thoroughly cleaned and disinfected (by cleaning staff on standby and with appropriate PPE) and a test will be administered as fast as possible.

All staff, having a confirmed temperature of less than 37.5° can proceed to their work place via the back staircase.

As far as possible all windows and doors will be opened for the duration of the day, with the exception of doors leading from the stairways which protect the escape routes out of the building in case of fire.

Working in the studios

Class
Masks are to be worn at all times in the Rambert Studio.

Marks are on the studio floor to make it easy to maintain 2m social distancing, including safe space for cuing for any travelling exercises.

We will not use live musicians for class (though could consider using a musician calling in via video link from home).

A video link will be set up between the Rambert Studio and the Mercury and Linden.

Rambert Studio
12 dancers moving maximum, when there is room 3 more may observe.

Mercury Studio
6 Dancers maximum and 4 other staff at any one time

Linden
6 Dancers maximum and 4 other staff at any one time

Rehearsals
The Choreographer has agreed to adhere to social distancing throughout rehearsals.

Stage Management will be present during rehearsals with their respective Bubble’s to act as a reminder and to raise issues as they come up.

NB: All those in the building are responsible for their own and everyone else’s safety. The  Stage Managers should not be seen as  police, but rather an aid to safe practice, and therefore should be included in conversations when considering how to achieve a potentially difficult part of rehearsals (for example involving a lot of movement around the studio).

Windows
As far as is possible (and limited by temperature) as many windows and doors should be left open to allow good airflow around the building.

Non Dancers zones
Safe space zones for staff not required to move during rehearsals will be marked to ensure 2m distancing is easy to adhere to.

Control Room
A maximum of four people will be in the control room at any one time and the door will be wedged open.

Video Link
Any person asked to attend a rehearsal should consider joining by video link if possible.

Anybody attending (who doesn’t normally) will need to be booked in, so that Stage Management are able to keep track of who is in their studio on any day and allow space for them to be marked out.

Physio Treatment for Dancers
The Panter room will be set up for dancers to receive physio.

Gym
No more than 2 dancers to use the gym a day, a sign up sheet has been set up to facilitate this.

Testing Protocol
We will test all dancers and other staff due to come into the building on Friday 10th July (NB some will be tested later on account of them coming to the building later in the process)

We have a stock of swab tests ready to be able to quickly administer a test for anyone displaying symptoms.

As always these practices will need to be constantly reviewed, as the challenges of working in a socially distanced way become clearer and as government guidance changes.