If you haven’t heard, things have been flip-flopped, criss-crossed, upside-down, inside-out, twisted around in this past year. We, as a company, have shifted alongside the world and in efforts to keep things safe with the coronavirus procedures, we have decided to present our shows as virtual performances. It’s an avenue we hadn’t explored prior to our Fall show, but moving into Black History Month we are proud to present our second virtual show.

This brings up a burning question – is a virtual performance considered lesser than a live audience version of a show? There are so many things to ponder in answering this question, so today I thought I’d walk you through my thoughts on the differences and potential benefits of a pre-recorded and virtually broadcasted show. What perfect timing as we are just two weeks away from the premiere of our Black History Month Series presented virtually on February 20 at 7:00pm CST. (P.S. Now is the time to buy your tickets if you haven’t already…https://scdtblackhistory.eventbrite.com/ GO NOW and then come back to finish reading my thoughts!!)

I have to start out by saying, nothing (and I mean NOTHING) can compare to the thrill of performing for a live audience. Dance is a performative art and is was made to be seen. Although we’ve had to adjust so much in this past year, I miss interacting with the audience and the adrenaline rush I get being in front of a crowd. We were born to entertain – theatres have been empty for almost a year now and it pulls at my heartstrings. I cannot wait for the day we get to sell out auditoriums and share our work LIVE and in person again.

This being said – live performance can stir up just about any recipe for disaster. Music, lights, staging, dancer mistakes, falls, injuries, you name it – it can happen live and it’s scary. One of the benefits of taping the show prior to presenting it is making sure the run of the show is as smooth as possible. Miss an entrance or mess up spacing? Re-take that piece. Lights or music stop working suddenly? No problem, just take it from the top again. Filming ahead of time allows us to make sure we are presenting the most smoothly run show for our virtual audiences (I will say, I do thrive off of the thrill of the live and in-the-moment action and adrenaline of showtime and small mistakes, though! Makes for memorable stories!!)

One thing that remains the same between both live and virtual performances is the preparation leading up to the show – all the marketing, promotion, choreography, training, tiring rehearsals, practice, and hours of hard work are paralleled regardless of the performance platform. This past week we ran each piece twice through each day – some sections three or four times through if it needed cleaning! The week prior to our filming was no joke and we worked just as hard as if the show was in person.

It’s been discussed that for audiences it just isn’t the same watching dance on a screen as it is in person – which I would definitely have to agree with! What I will say, though, is that through a virtual platform, we have the opportunity to extend our reach to even more audience members. With a show that has as important of a message as we have to share, this is huge. No longer are you required to be in Chicago, Illinois on the night of February 20 to see Kia’s impactful choreography. You are able to login from anywhere around the globe! And, our tickets never sell out – so you’re sure to get the chance to see it unfold!! This is also big for me – I have family members all around the country as well as dear friends and mentors from my college town who get to tune in and watch since the show is online. (Shout out to my WMU fam as well as my actual fam if you’re reading this – you’re the BEST support system and I love you!)

Lastly, what does “show day” look like? Typically, we would arrive on site anywhere from 4-5 hours ahead of time for call time, hair and makeup, warm-up as a company, and then last minute touches before the show. After the performance we would greet our supporters and audience members and then leave and do it again the next day. Since our show is pre-recorded, we have a much longer day working with a videographer making sure he gets all of the angles and shots he needs to edit together a beautiful virtual event. We still arrive early, do hair and makeup, warm-up, and perform, we often just have to run the pieces multiple times as opposed to the one-and-done of a live show. What the most strange part for me is is watching yourself perform on the night of the show – we’ve never really been able to watch ourselves while performing before! It’s both nice and strange – if you’ve ever met or been a dancer, you know that most of us are HIGHLY critical when we watch ourselves dance. The best part, though, is seeing the resounding appreciation and support of the show through social media as it premieres. I say it all the time, but we are beyond thankful for all of the support we receive! We wouldn’t be a company without you as our audience.

So, who is to say which is better? It’s hard to tell. I miss the adrenaline of a live performance, but I’m thankful we get to send our message out across the globe. Regardless, we are thankful we have a show to put out and the ability to dance our way through 2021!! (Now go buy your tickets!!)