[I am apologizing in advance about the length of this post.] I’d like to try to explain why I think things seem to turn out badly with dance schools. This is not meant to defend the inconsiderate actions of some dance schools. This is general; like anything else, there are excellent organizations. (This is from my perspective as a parent-volunteer
stage manager for a dance studio. I’ve been doing this for 6 to 8 years. Our recitals usually are bigger productions than other schools. I’ve learned things by
book and the hard way, but I corrected a lot of poor practices that preceded my tenure. The studio also has a couple other on-the-ball parents.)
A dance studio owner is a small business owner, and she does things her way. In running a recital, she is choreographer and director, master and commander. Some owners are more head-strong than others.
Because the studio owners were performers, the details of technical
theatre were (probably) secondary during their performance careers. They danced and things happened. (Okay, that’s over-simplified, and no doubt many were aware of the individuals involved on the technical side, but they may not have known or cared about the how or why of technical details.) So, now, when they put on a recital, they expect the same results.
An early discussion between the
venue technical staff and the owner (or their rep) about their needs and expectations is absolutely necessary. I’ve seen many cases (in schools) where there is a communication gap primarily because the
venue personnel in charge of booking the
venue are not the technical staff of the
venue.
All dance schools will have different organizations. For putting on the annual recital, the studio owner may be trying to do it all, in which case first and foremost are the dance aspects. Other technical details may or may not have been thought out. And on the day of the rehearsal and show, her attention is on the dance and may be nearly unapproachable. Now, she may have delegated some technical responsibilities to one or more employee or more likely, a parent volunteer. This volunteer may be obligated to volunteer as part of the dance school requirements. This volunteer may know what they are doing or they may not. Maybe 1 in 20 volunteers [probably closer to 1 in 50] has technical
theatre experience, but that was probably 10 to 20 years ago. This task (and it’s something close to
stage manager) may be so arduous and/or demanding that the individual changes from year to year, and there is little
continuity and anything that is learned is lost.
I think the havoc that can be created backstage (that is, offstage and in dressing rooms) is a function of how much responsibility is given to the children. There appear to be two approaches to this.
In one case, each child’s parents are responsible for getting the child ready between numbers, so you have a high ratio of adults to children, but everyone is looking out for themselves, and in essence, no one is in charge of backstage/dressing rooms. In the other case, the children are responsible for themselves, they arrive with makeup on and the parents are in the audience (or maybe doing other duties). The dressing rooms are controlled/supervised by one or two adults per room, the children help each other and the kids know what numbers they are in and when they go on. Besides, at a certain age (5th or 6th grade), the children are old enough and know the procedures. The few adults help as needed (hair pieces and the like). And there is only one person to answer to in each room and the responsibility of that room is on that person. I think children in general are better behaved than we give them credit for, and (more importantly), I think a single adult in authority (in the dressing rooms, for example) is more effective than the parents. Kids know what they can get away with with Mom and Dad, but not with Mrs. Dressingroomfascist.
Another
level of problems arise during dress rehearsals if other siblings are present with parents in the audience. Occasionally, these kids are not well supervised, or quietly make a mess of the area that they are sitting in. Poorly supervised non-performing siblings have been our biggest problem.
Prior to the start of the rehearsal, we read the riot act to the kids and parents. This is list of
Dos and Don’ts (and a lot of Don’ts).
We’ve used a number of venues over the years. In most cases, someone from the
venue is there at all times, if for no other than to run the lights and sound. But there were two cases where there were no
venue staff present, though were available by phone. Still, we keep an eye on our people (we know who needs the most attention), we don’t move things that aren’t supposed to be moved, and we clean up after ourselves. Our goal is to leave nothing for the custodians to do. When we are done, I make a final walk through of the place and I’m the last one out.
As mentioned in another post, when a dance school has booked the facility, try to talk to the studio owner (or their technical representative, if they have one) ahead of time. Maybe they know what they need or want. At least by talking to someone you will get an idea about things will probably go. Let them know what you expect. Nowadays, the music is burned onto one or two CDs, which simplifies things. But in the old days, we had someone at the sound
desk handing off the cassettes/CDs to the sound technician.
I take the attitude that it’s a live performance and something will go wrong. With only one dress rehearsal, I am still amazed at how smoothly our shows go. In the end, it comes down to organization and communication.
[We “live off the land”, so to speak. The focus is on the dance, and to a certain extent, we just need the stage lit well and music playing when we need it. Anything else is gravy. There is limited time for rehearsal at the venue, and (regarding lighting) we often do not know what is available or readily available. We try to give the venue’s light technician the best information we can, but pretty much tell them it’s lights up or lights down, but if they have any ideas, we are all for it.]
Joe
