I started thinking, “what can we do that we’ve never done before?”

That’s a big question, so let me back up to the simpler parts of my very big problem.

Problem 1: No live, in person performances, all performances would be online (which is a really simple declaration to make with only a million possibilities as to how to actually do it… but this is what was said)

Solution: Dance films. Luckily I had thismuch experience with making screendances and dances for the camera. Luckily when I told my husband that I would need to upgrade my smartphone (you need to film at a high quality? iPhone 11 and up has got you covered. For real.) and my laptop (needed way more storage, RAM, a higher processing speed, and a better video editor – went with a macbook Final Cut Pro X because that’s what I knew, but it certainly isn’t the only option) he just said “makes sense.”

Also luckily, the chair of our theater department knew a cinematographer that was looking for more work, because pandemic, and had a theater background. We ended up contracting Ron Gonzalez for both dance and theater online performances. While I didn’t use Ron for every part of our dance performances, having him work on the more complex projects (like RABBIT HOLE) brought up the level of our shows immensely!

Problem 2: What if we stay online all year? What if the kids can never come up to the school? How will we rehearse and perform?

Solution: Zoom and performances filmed off campus, preferably outside.

Now, I admittedly made this problem even more restrictive. So much was up in the air in terms of what might be possible, that I thought, “ok fine, what if I can NEVER see them in person, then what?” While that’s not what happened, I’m glad I planned for it, because it meant that, no matter what happened I had a good, and also a SAFE, plan that would actually work, especially for those students that were not comfortable with coming back to school or meeting in large groups to rehearse or perform.

While we were not restricted to this solution for ALL of our dances that were put into online performances, this is the solution we used for RABBIT HOLE.

Problem 3: We normally use 1-2 guest choreographers… how could we ask a guest choreographer to choreograph remotely on 26 dancers or make a dance film? How could we expect them to be able to create good, substantial (8 minutes or longer) work under these circumstances?

Solution: Split the budget between 10 guest choreographers and ask them to make 2 minutes worth of material instead.

Yes, really. (more on this in part 3 of this story)

Problem 4: There are 26 dancers in the company. How can we put that many into a piece when, at the moment, we’re not supposed to have more than 10 people gathered? How can that many dancers rehearse over zoom?

Solution: 26 solos.

Yes. 26 solos. Yes, it’s a lot.

And before I wax poetically about my hatred for dance solos, let me talk a little bit about rehearsing group dances over zoom. I hate it, personally, but I will say I’ve seen many do it and do it well, including my student choreographers. While we quickly moved away from only using zoom to rehearse (by October we had at least some students on campus, and that number increased and fluctuated throughout the year), we used Zoom as a part of our rehearsal process all year long for students that were at home learners, and it came in handy when school was closed suddenly due to inclement weather or a power outage. I’m glad it’s in our toolbox, and I’m excited to bury it a little deeper in there this next year.

But rehearsing over Zoom for dance is soooo hard (and don’t @ me musicians, I know it’s hard for you too!) You need a very specific sound set up, and it’s different depending on whether you have students only on zoom or some on campus, some remote. Students have to take control of the space they’re in (and many don’t have much choice in that area) and even in the best situations (for example a student in an at-home studio with a large screen which allows them to keep track of what’s happening in class easier) you have to do so much translating of direction and pathway, and explanation of steps and details that the process is much slower. I’m proud to say that we did it and improved at it throughout the entire year, but, again, I’m happy to leave that behind except in cases where we really need it. That being said, Zoom allowed us to rehearse with choreographers and dance-artists who were teaching from their New York apartments, or their studio in Seattle as well as those based here in Texas. The flexibility of the format was quite freeing.

But let’s get back to those solos.

I hate dance solos. Like, really, truly hate them. They are my least favorite thing to watch. They are difficult to rehearse (there is a very delicate balance between supporting your soloist, giving them notes, and letting them figure it out. I almost always get it wrong). They are difficult to perform well. And they are the hardest thing to create. Give me 8 or more dancers and I can whip up a 3-5 minute dance in less than 3 hours. Having more people means more possibilities, more formations, more material (well, repeated material is not as obvious, which saves time in creating), more visual design and movement onstage. A few years back I choreographed a solo for myself, and it was definitely the most difficult thing I’ve ever created. It’s the most isolating experience.

That solo is one of the pieces I was most proud of, because it was so difficult to create and to perform… But that was before 2020. Once I created the dances I had to in the pandemic, almost everything before that pales in comparison.

And RABBIT HOLE, though it is not fully my choreography, is at the top of my list of dances I’m proud of.

Maybe I can make it at the top of my list of items I’ve produced rather than at the top of my list of choreographic works.

Yep, that’s it, I feel better now.

Sorry, I write both for myself and whoever is reading this. Please forgive me for random asides.

 Anyway, so if I hate solos so much… why did we do it?

Remember when I said I was researching what other people were doing? There was a document published by a well-known dance organization that gave some suggestions as to precautions to take and ways to move forward. I’m sure this isn’t true, but as I read it, it seemed like every other section ended with “consider focusing on solo work for students this year.”

It felt like I read that phrase fifty times, and I just wanted to throw my computer across the room, yelling “I HATE SOLOS!”

I did not do that. Or if I did, I blocked it out, which is also entirely plausible.

But eventually I did start to think about why solos would be a smart thing to do.

With just one dancer, no matter the location or set up for rehearsals and performances, you could limit the people involved or in the space much easier than with a group, keeping everyone safer even if/when the community has a high level of virus spread.

With just one dancer, you have little to no danger of contact.

With just one dancer, they can safely perform without a mask.

And with just one dancer, rehearsing with a guest choreographer over zoom is a possibility. A much easier, much simpler, and much more productive possibility.

I thought to myself… “so… solos. 26 solos. That’s 30 minutes long. That’s an evening length work. I’ve never made an evening-length work.”

What can we do that we’ve never done before?

To be continued…