PIVOTAL PERFORMANCE A
rtists have a unique way of shining through the darkness, using their creativity to spread joy and bringing hope for a better tomorrow. But, at a time when their light was needed the most, circumstances separated artists from their audiences, prompting a pivot from performance in the traditional sense.
this through. We know it’s going to get better, and we need to have something to look forward to when it does.’ ” In the meantime, with venues unable to host performing artists for live, in-person shows, artists like Tucker found a space in the virtual concert movement. “I never thought I would do a whole concert on live-stream,” Tucker said. “But by allowing change and evolution to be a welcome space, I found a way to make it something worth doing. And, through that, I realized that it’s OK to sit still for a second and think about what does and does not make me happy — and to say when things don’t resonate with me.”
“I was on my phone the other day, scrolling through my pictures from this year, and suddenly, I realized I had hit January,” said Shana Tucker, cellist, singersongwriter and Wortham Center Artist in Residence for the 2019-2020 season. “I see January, February — and then there’s nothing. I can’t believe I don’t have more pictures of this year. There was just this big shift in everyone’s lives, and life as we knew it was obliterated.”
And at first, she admitted, the virtual live format wasn’t her ideal solution. Because each artist navigates the medium in a different way to match their personal style, the format comes with a built-in learning curve, taking quite a bit of trial and error to get right.
Tucker’s performance at the Wortham Center, originally scheduled for April 4, 2020 in the Diana Wortham Theatre, would have been the pinnacle of her season-long residency, which began in September 2019 and included a hikeout performance in nature, as well as songwriting and performance workshops for both adults and children. After building relationships with the Asheville community all season, her highly anticipated concert was among those postponed when the country went into lockdown in the spring.
“I just thought, ‘Either you’re going to sit in this purgatory and be paralyzed by what you can’t do or you’re just going to try — and trying allows you to see what you’re actually capable of, what works for you and what you’re good at,” Tucker explained. “And hopefully you can find your space and have the courage to do it again.”
“It just felt like the other shoe had dropped. Once we realized everything was shutting down, it just became a big ball of stress. But,” Tucker said, “we didn’t cancel. We rescheduled. It felt like hope. People were like, ‘No, we’re going to see
Eventually Tucker found her niche among the new virtual world, recording concert segments in advance to preserve the quality of her performance, while jumping in live between songs to chat with her audience in a more personal way. 16
