I just finished the Dance & Music Creations (DMC) Showcase 2017 dance recital at JFHS Cavalier Theatre. DMC had a great show with very few issues. My company Washburn Recording provides lighting and sound for DMC when they have performances at JFHS Cavalier Theatre. Usually my son Christian runs the light board and I run the sound board for these performances.
What’s involved in setting up a show? A DMC Show requires a bit of preparation. I usually get the songs a couple weeks in advance, along with a sheet listing the order of the songs. Songs need to have their volume normalized and beginnings and ends trimmed. Songs will then be converted for adding to sound cue software. I load the songs up in the correct order for the dancers, including any pre / post show music and video that may be provided. Intermissions may also require music or at least a mic available. The week before the show I setup equipment in the theatre, make sure lights are working and focused, setup monitors for sound on stage and test the songs in the cue software. The day of the show work lights must be setup for light backstage, as well as headsets and microphones. A final check of lights and sound is done and we are on to rehearsals. During the rehearsals I set the levels of songs for the audience and monitor levels for the dancers. I make sure the script as well as the cueing software has any notes on levels. Any last minute changes to songs or song order are done as well. I also make sure we have a backup laptop with the show loaded and ready to go in the cueing software. Should anything happen to the main laptop running the show I can quickly plug in the backup and continue. (That last piece comes from experience)
Do you always have rehearsals on the day of a show? DMC usually does the Showcase all in one day. They have 2 other dance recitals that require even more time to prepare for. They have a Spring Recital in June, with 2 completely different shows in one day, that requires rehearsals during the week before. They do a Christmas show that requires extra rehearsals as well. Everything done for one show must be done for both shows in June. The Christmas show might have extra lighting cues, colors and or special effects, like a lit Christmas tree.
What other services do you provide for DMC? Both the Spring show and the Christmas show are video taped. Washburn Recording provides video production services for that. Both Spring shows will have to be fully edited with menus, DVD cover and binder art. The Christmas show also has a video created for it.
Welcome to the world of Dance!