Lily Rosenberg ’22
The 2021 winter dance season will look very different from years past due to COVID-19 precautions. The dance team has had to adapt to a series of changes to the regular winter season, including not being able to perform in front of a live audience. Dance team member Julia Memmo ‘22 shares some of the alterations to the traditional end of season show, explaining that “Previously, the dance team performed a series of dances in front of a live audience. However, due to COVID guidelines, we are currently only rehearsing two dances, a hip hop dance and a lyrical dance and we will be recording dances for a virtual performance. Luckily we are still able to practice and perform socially distanced.”
Photo courtesy of Emily Staid.
Even though the annual winter dance concert will not be performed live in the Carrafiell Family Theater, the team still wanted to incorporate some sort of a performance to showcase their hard work. Memmo explains, “The hip-hop dance is currently being filmed in the student parking lot recorded by a drone. We will utilize the drone footage and incorporate it into our dance video.”
For Sona Bardakjian ‘21 this is a somewhat disappointing way to finish her final dance season at EA. “I definitely will miss the live audience and the night of the dance concert most: the energy of the audience mixed with our excitement makes it one of my favorite nights of the year. I also miss having the whole team together at once, since CDC guidelines don’t allow for all of us to be together anymore.”
Bardakjian continues to explain how the ever-evolving guidelines and restrictions have made the season particularly hard, sharing “I think the most challenging part has been planning what to do for the coming weeks, since regulations and restrictions are constantly changing. We’ve definitely had to be super flexible in our plans, which took some getting used to since this year has been unlike any other.”
Despite these hardships Bardakjian still expresses gratitude for at least still having a season, commenting “While the restraints seemed challenging at first, this year was a year where we could experiment with dance for the camera instead of a live audience, which is something we have never done before. We also have had the opportunity to play around with different filming techniques, like using drones, which we wouldn’t have been able to do any other year.”
This altered season is not only affecting the dancers themselves. Its impact will extend to the greater student body, who will not have the chance to attend the traditional dance preview. But even though this year will be different without that preview and concert, Bardakjian continues to see a silver lining concluding that “overall this year was a memorable one filled with unique and fun experiences.”