COLLABORATING THROUGH THE QUARANTINE: PERFORMING ARTS PROJECTS SHOWCASE STUDENTS’ INNOVATIVE SPIRIT While there is no replacement for making music or performing together, Masters musicians and actors were determined to carry on despite the challenges and restrictions brought by the COVID-19 pandemic. They resorted to cutting-edge apps, video lessons and recording platforms, and the results were highly impressive. Social distancing didn’t stop Jazz Band from its spring tradition of focusing on a masterwork. This year, the group covered and recorded songs from singer and songwriter Joni Mitchell’s fourth studio album, “Blue.” The musicians recorded their tracks using a collaborative cloud application called Soundtrap, and the completed songs were released on bandcamp.com. Zia Foxhall ’20, one of the band’s vocalists, described recreating the album as being completely different from anything she had experienced before as a musician. “When performing live, body language and the physical cues of playing together can make or break a performance,” she said. “It was a learning curve to feel comfortable recording alone.” The effort was well worth it for Foxhall, who noted, “It felt so wonderful to have a completed album that we felt proud of, despite losing an in-person spring together.” Guitarist Julia Levin ’21 shared a similar sentiment about both the difficulties and rewards of the project. Despite the challenges of playing her part without the rest of the band present, “It helped me practice and get better at learning and playing outside of an ensemble,” Levin said. Not only did the process allow her to grow as a musician by stepping out of her comfort zone, she also got to learn more about production. She also enjoyed Mitchell’s work, and said, “I loved getting more familiar with this album.” As the Jazz Band musicians were remotely collaborating on “Blue,” students in Devised Theater and Acting 1 classes were working on their own project: a virtual choose-your-ownadventure story. Inspired by the transition to remote learning, the interactive project tells the story of a dystopian future where remote learning is the only form of education and is used as a form of government indoctrination. The acting students and the
viewer play the role of high school students. The viewer watches videos created by the acting students and then decides how to proceed in the story; there are seven possible endings. Nolwenn Favre ’21 noted that taking a camera and filming herself “feels very different than acting in the moment with people around and an audience.” Despite these hurdles, Favre felt that the experience led her to a deeper appreciation of her fellow actors and what they were able to accomplish while working together remotely. “It also made me reflect on my acting skills and how I perceived them,” she shared. Fellow actor Teddy Masters ’21 explained that the most difficult part of the process was ensuring that the videos the students were each creating matched up with the story line. “We would largely work independently when making our videos,” Masters explained, “so we had to make sure everything fit together thematically and to make sure we weren’t contradicting each other.” The students spent time during every class ensuring that they were creating content that aligned with the story map. “This experience changed me as an actor by teaching me how to act when I am alone,” Masters explained. “It was a new kind of experience and I hope I can bring it into future projects.” Like her classmates, Rachel Schwartz ’21 expressed tremendous pride in the work the group did and the end product. “We had to trust the process and ourselves,” she said. “I’m very proud of what my class accomplished and am so happy with how it turned out.” Schwartz, too, felt that the experience helped her to grow as an artist: “It changed my perspective on what theater is as a whole,” she explained. “Theater can be anything you want it to be and can be shown through a number of different mediums if you are open to new experiences. Another thing I took away from this is that being able to think on your feet and try new things is really important as an actor. You have to take what life throws your way and use it to your advantage.”
THE BULLETIN FALL 2020 | 23
