The Covid-19 epidemic and the batch of show cancellations that accompanies it have weighed on the finances of many artists and technicians, even put them on the straw.
Aurore Voilqué, violinist: "I've been doing the round since May 11"
Usually, everything smiles on Aurore Voilqué. This violinist specializing in gypsy jazz notably accompanies Thomas Dutronc. But, for lack of concerts and festivals, it saw its 30 contracts planned for this summer disappear. “I was on the verge of losing my rights to intermittency. So, from May 11, the date of deconfinement, the instrumentalist uses great means. With the two stooges of her trio, she begins to do the round. “I did it for ten years in the metro and on the Place de Vosges in Paris, so I'm used to it,” she explains.
Aurore immediately contacted the mayor of her commune of Brie-Comte-Robert (Seine-et-Marne), who granted her permission to play in the city center on market days. “Even though these several-hour open-air concerts didn't bring in much, we still had the pleasure of playing for audiences. "
With the cash deposited by the customers in the case of her violin, she has enough to ensure 50 euros per musician. “Cheaper than the salary of a cleaning lady, but it's better than nothing. Aurore considers herself much luckier than her colleagues who have attempted the same adventure in Paris.
"If the spectators are enthusiastic, many musicians have been fined in the capital," says the violinist. In recent days, luck has started to smile on him. Thanks to her network, she has just won some contracts (duly declared) in bars on the Côte d'Azur. Result: she will probably be able to keep her rights, eventually. “Everything I earn during these evenings is used to pay for a rental to sleep there”. The operation is therefore not very lucrative. "But at least I have the sun," she smiles.
Vincent Fournier, technician: "I had to put my house up for sale"
Vincent Fournier, installed in Charente, lives "a hell" since confinement. He is an electrician for shows, events and television shows. His last contract ended on March 8. Placed on technical unemployment since, he only provided one mission on the set of an episode of "Fort Boyard".
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In just two months, despite the payment of his allowance, he found himself in a situation of over-indebtedness. “I receive 1100 euros per month, but my charges are enormous. I pay 600 euros for alimony, 275 euros for my car loan, 900 euros for reimbursement of drafts from my home, not counting current expenses. The bank refused to postpone my loan maturities for a few months. "
In March, Vincent registered with Pôle emploi to try to carry out some missions. Alas, he does not get any opportunity. “In July, I put my house up for sale and I can no longer receive my children,” sighs the electrician.
Little glimmer of hope: he is promised a temporary contract as of October 25. But, as the pandemic threatens to resume, the possibility of a new containment is worrying. “Fortunately, I have a large vegetable garden, so to survive I sell my fruits, vegetables and eggs from my henhouse. "
Lisa Magrini, singer: "We are at the limit of the poverty line"
She wonders if she will find the energy to continue. Since March, Lisa has been sailing in uncertainty. “We know that's how life as an artist is, but now it becomes difficult to keep the faith,” sighs the lyrical singer, also singing teacher and choirmaster. Of the dozen concerts she gave this summer, only one has been maintained. Stamps of several hundred euros each time, gone. “Several were canceled, then rescheduled to be finally canceled. For morale, it's very hard, there is always this sword of Damocles above our heads, ”explains this mother of two young children whose husband is also a professional singer. Without counting the hours of work, of rehearsal… for nothing.
We also had to give singing lessons online and animate the choir with masks. “At first it worked, there was the novelty effect, but people got bored,” she remarks. His income then collapsed, from around 2,000 euros per month to a few hundred. “We are at the limit of the poverty line. We had to change our lifestyles, we cut corners on everything, says the 37-year-old artist who does not have the status of intermittent. We talked about the idea that one of us would find a food job, to get by. She was able to count on outbursts of solidarity: baskets of strawberries offered by neighbors, money placed anonymously in the letterbox. “What is frustrating is that we feel that life is starting up again, but not for the performing arts. "
Gaëlle Hispard, actress and director: "Postponing rather than canceling, that changes everything"
Gaëlle took advantage of the confinement to get back to classical piano and painting. Very quickly, the two months of shows planned in May and June for his company for young audiences Regarde il neige at the InPré Catelan festival at the Shakespeare green theater (Paris XVI), in the Bois de Boulogne, were canceled. Goodbye also summer in the United States where she had to organize theater workshops on the campus of a university. So, with her accomplice Mathieu, the actress decided to take the air during the summer.
They got on their bikes and took a long ride through Brittany and Normandy. Financially, his intermittent show allowance allows him to ensure his back. Around 1200 euros per month, minimum. “We also benefited from partial unemployment measures for our canceled dates in May and June,” adds the young artist, who feels less fortunate than others. What about the acting lessons she gives to teenagers? “Working in a mask, when there is no performance at the end, without an audience, without sharing, we wonder a little what is the meaning,” she says. She can't wait to get back on the boards. “We cling a lot to postponements, insists the actress. We may not realize but, for an artist, to say that it is postponed rather than canceled, that changes everything, even if it is in a year. We can hold on to something. "
Laura, singer: "For me, it's an artistic failure"
She released her fourth album, "Home / Chez moi", on March 6th. A soul and country album inspired by his native land, the United States. “It was starting to work well, it was gaining momentum,” sighs Laura Llorens, from the group Laura Llorens and the Shadows, published by the label Q-Sounds Recordings. And containment has arrived. Canceled the recording filmed at the Jamel Comedy Club in Paris. Also missing are the five dates of a tour that was to take her on German roads all summer. Just like a dozen concerts planned in France. For this young mother of 36 years, the health crisis slowed down the chances of her success of her album.
“It was an important moment and we fell back to the bottom. I see it as an artistic failure ", slices the musician, who is not intermittent in the show and finds" very difficult to go up the slope ". She does not benefit from the status but was fortunately able to count on the income of her spouse, an employee. Singing teacher, she benefited from meager income thanks to courses given online. The group slowly resumed rehearsals, masked. With a strange feeling of braving something forbidden. “Bars and restaurants have reopened. And us, it's still dead calm. We have a feeling of abandonment, of injustice. "