Nobody would accuse me of being a technophile. I am not computer savvy. Nobody would have accused me of being a videographer either.
In fact, there are many things I am not...or perhaps I should say "was" not before the 2020 - 2021 performance season.
Then, wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles! A new vaccine made with old research that got new funding unfurled before us!
We were saved! All we had to do was innoculate the world! This is what we'd been waiting for, right?
Apparently, only some of us were waiting for it.
Either way, the world is open before us once more. Everyone wants the old normalcy to begin. Let's go back into schools, play festivals, and other types of venues all over the country.
The David and I are facing the exact same question we had last year.
Is it safe?
Apparently, that depends on who you ask.
So, how much are you gambling? What is the difference between hope and preparation? Does anything we do matter? Can we keep ourselves and our audiences safe? What is our part in any of this?
Have you put any policies in place for your business?
What are the circumstances under which you mean to go into venues?
Do you have some plans for practice and procedures?
Are you building those into your contracts?
The David and I are putting together our 2021 policies. I suspect they will change as more and more people contact us for in-person work. So far this fall we have been asked to participate in the following types of work:
1. In-person shows in schools - I would be performing for hundreds of people at once
2. In-person shows at conferences. I would be running a one hour workshop with about sixty people
3. In person residency - Three days of hands-on contact with about one hundred middle and high school students for four hours each day
4. In-person shows at small venues
5. Live-Virtual and Pre-recorded shows.
Our Plan?
1. Whenever possible, weather permitting, we are encouraging school assemblies to be done outside. That many people squeezed into a multipurpose room or gym in a system where vaccination is optional and most of the people in the room aren't even eligible to be vaccinated does not seem like a good idea to me. I will bring my sound system, so we will need access to electricity.
2. I am not sure I will be flying this year. We are going to have to make that decision soon, however.
3. All of the venues we've book who have asked for in-person shows understand that there is a caveat for me being there. It will depend on what their personal COVID situation looks like. If by the time the show comes up on the calendar, half the school is out with COVID, then we might have to pass on that venue. So far, everyone has been understanding.
My biggest fear this year is not me getting COVID - I am vaccinated, my husband is vaccinated, all of my family and friends are vaccinated, and I will be in line for that booster shot.
My concern is that I could be a major disease vector.
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| Bee with full pollen sacs |
Think about it like bees visiting flowers. I could end up with a mild or a-symptomatic case of COViD. If that happens, every single time I go into a school, I could be a problem.
If I ever even once thought a teacher or a child ended up in a hospital or a morgue because of me....
That doesn't change the fact that I still have to make a living -
This is how we mean to proceed:
1. I will be masked until I perform...maybe even as I perform, if it doesn't interfere with my mic, which I will check soon, I may remain masked as I perform.
2. I will continue to do the elbow bumping, though, in my defense, I have always done that during flu season. People have always thought it was weird, but now, the times have caught up with me.
3. We will continue to monitor my own health circumstances even as we keep an eye on the counties and schools I will be visiting.
That's where we are now.
What about you?
What are your performance, teaching, audience plans and procedures for 2021?
I just finished an IRL musical where all had to have masks on. Which kept me and the rest of the cast from getting Covid when the person next to me came down with it, that tells you something. Be masked AT ALL TIMES. Heck, be careful about drinking your water--get a straw and slurp from under the mask if you can, even.
ReplyDeleteI think you can perform with a mask on--people could be heard onstage with or without mics and the audience that came said they were fine without being able to see entire faces. (Though a couple of people told cast members they wouldn't go to a show without faces.)
The one issue I had is that the more you move around/move your jaw very actively (which is to say, during the most intense dance number and the most intense singing number), the mask is likely to slip the heck down your face, regardless of what kind of mask you are using. I don't have the issue with KN95's totally strapped around my head (note: NOT just over the ears), but I couldn't wear them correctly due to costume issues, as I had the top strap hidden under my hair since we had headpieces for each outfit.
I have been doubling masks--a surgical or KN95 and then a fabric one over it, though the fabric has been more for a combination of fashion and tying the mask on my head to make SURE it doesn't come off. Most of the people in the show were just using one surgical, but I can't keep masks on my ears alone for very long, so I don't do that.
Anyway, practice ahead of time with different masks and see how well each of them goes for you. Definitely helped to hash that stuff out at rehearsal, especially if you like to sing. I think these days seeing a nose slip out of a mask is pretty concerning for the audience (+ unsafe), so doing whatever you can to hide it is good.
We also tested those clear masks, which unfortunately I can't recommend. I stuck out using it the longest, but again, the more your jaw moves, the more they come off your nose.
Thank you so much for sharing. We all know things that will help each other. I will go into shows masked with confidence!
DeleteHi Donna,
ReplyDeleteI have had both my shots, and I wear masks and I socially distance. And I got COVID, I think from a school gig! As soon as symptoms showed, I masked up at home. As soon as I tested positive, I wisked myself away to self-isolate. No one in the house caught it - they were tested - and I put that down to me masking up inside home as soon as I felt wonky.
I am not sure what I am going to do with in-person gigs.
I think distancing rules will have to be stronger. Outdoors - yes! Where possible. I do a low-toe instead of a high-five, bumping shoes with students! Been doing that for years, and it keeps your faces away from one another as you lean back to low-toe! No flesh contact either, if you have sleeve-less tops, or in my case rolled up sleeves! I have done hybrid shows at a couple of school summer camps. I performed outside, but we broadcsat the performance to other kids inside. After the first one, I put the camera closer to the kids in the audience so I could look into the lens and talk directly to those indoors. The first one, the camera was off to the side. A teacher was behind the lens zooming in and pulling out a little and it was wiped down before and after. The teacher at the camera was optional!
Be careful out there.
Simon, thanks for the advice. We are all trying to get throuh this safely.
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