By Emily Deskevich

Collegiate has long prided themselves on their Fine Arts performance programs: music performance, dance, and theater. However, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, all of that came to a screeching halt. Since then, Collegiate has worked to provide spaces and opportunities for performances, while also abiding by safety guidelines as they have evolved over the last two years. Each one of these programs struggled in their own ways to showcase the talent and hard work of students in the middle of a global pandemic. I sat down with a few students and faculty members to discuss the challenges and triumphs of performing, dancing, and playing instruments at Collegiate for the last two years. 

A student performing in front of a green screen in the production of Almost, Maine.

Collegiate’s esteemed theater department was one of the programs most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. In spring 2020, Collegiate’s theater department had decided on the 2020 fall show being Rachel Sheinkin and William Finn’s musical The 25th Annual Putnam Spelling Bee. However, safety guidelines advised against musicals, as well as having a whole cast on stage. Thus, Collegiate opted for a smaller-scale play: John Cariani’s Almost, Maine. This play provided something many other plays could not: the ability to be performed socially distanced, with only two or three actors on stage at a time. The theater department decided on having students, standing on opposite sides of the stage, perform facing a monitor, which was then streamed live for audience members at home to watch. 

Students in Silent Sky performed with glass doors in between them.

Since fall 2020, Collegiate has now put on five additional plays. Thicker Than Water, a series of scenes by various authors, was the 2020 winter play, and it was filmed socially distanced and then showcased to viewers later. 2021’s spring play was Silent Sky by Lauren Gunderson, the story of astronomer Henrietta Leavitt, and it was a fully-staged live-streamed performance. The 2021-22 school year brought back a more normal approach to theater. Harvey (fall), Love and Information (winter), and Our Town (spring) were all performed for a live audience in Oates Theater.

One of the greatest challenges for an actor during the pandemic was to perform to a monitor in an empty theater. Upper School theater director Steve Perigard stated, “theater is about connection, and actors connecting with each other and the audience. All of that goes away when you put a mask on or tell actors they can’t stand closer than six feet.” Similarly, from a performer’s perspective, senior and Thespian Troupe President Alice Hallock (‘22), stated “without an audience in the theater, like we had last year [2020-2021], there was no connection.”  Hallock, who had roles in Almost, Maine, Silent Sky, Harvey, and Our Town, and also directed parts of Thicker than Water and Love and Information, believes connection is crucial to actors’ success as performers. Hallock continued, “Connection is how you gauge the people you are performing to.” 

Students in Harvey perform in front of an audience for the first time.

Despite this lack of connection between actors and members of the audience, Hallock discussed how casts and crews were still able to form connections as a whole. Hallock recalled, “we were still able to create bonds as casts, and I still got to watch people who were younger than me enter theater in the Upper School and fall in love with it.” Even through the pandemic, theater has flourished at Collegiate. However, the fear of losing the interest of younger grades was something that was not just limited to Hallock. Collegiate’s Director of Arts Mike Boyd stated, “the first challenge during the pandemic was getting students to buy in to want to do it, and we were fortunate that happened.” Having the support of the students was something that allowed Collegiate to go through with their rare approach to presenting three productions with the strict social distancing guidelines of the 2020-2021 school year, something not many other schools or professional companies were able to do. Boyd stated, “we always found a way to keep things going. We didn’t just cut a program, which I think some schools had to do.” Boyd elaborated by explaining how he had heard schools had tried outdoor performances, but sound and other technical problems caused too many conflicts. Collegiate’s ability to keep going helped develop a larger interest and support of Collegiate arts, audience-wise, since the pandemic. An increase in attendance since the return to live, in-person audiences, has brought along with it sold-out shows and more interest from younger students. 

As an outsider looking in, watching the transition from great musicals, like the Upper School’s 2019 production of Chicago, to small-scale recorded plays, to live-streamed full stage shows, to once again being present in the audience has been incredible. Throughout the pandemic, Collegiate has not skipped a beat when it has come to putting out exceptional theater. While some modifications and challenges have arisen, the hard work of students and faculty has allowed Collegiate to give the theater experience to performers and audience members, despite our uncertain times. 

Masked dancers perform in the 2021 dance concert.

Sharing the stage with the theater program is Collegiate’s dance department. Upon return to in-person school in fall 2020, Collegiate’s dance studio was altered in order to accommodate for safety guidelines. Tape lines created 10-by-10 boxes restricting where students could dance. Students were forced to dance on their own and not use physical contact with peers when dancing during the 2020-21 school year. 

Struggling to create connections was something that was not exclusive to the theater department. Many dancers had to tackle the new challenge of dancing on their own. Dance is an art form that often relies on peers working together to create a narrative or send a message. However, when that is taken away, dancers must rely on themselves to create something. Collegiate senior AC Phillips (‘22), who has been dancing at Collegiate since third grade, stated, “it was hard, because a lot of what we do is physical contact and working together to create pictures and motion.”

2021 seniors perform on Oates stage.

Due to social distancing concerns, the class of 2021 Honors Dance group was unable to host an in-person dance concert. In order to showcase their hard work, students turned to dance films, creating the first ever Honors Dance Film Festival. The film festival carried over to this year’s Honors Dance class as well. However, this year students had the chance to choose between recording a solo or a group piece to showcase as a film. The dances not chosen for the festival were performed live in the spring dance concert on April 30. In regards to the concert, Phillips stated, “it was good for us this year and last year’s class to learn how to show dance in other ways.” 

Another advantage to the film festival was the expansion of the audience. Prior to the pandemic, the Honors Dance Concert was a small-scale event hosted in the dance studio. However, due to safety protocols, the event in the dance studio became the film festival. Phillips stated, “it was great last year with it being live-streamed, because more people could view it.” Phillips continued, “the film made dance more accessible to the community.” Similarly to the theater’s new approach to sharing art last year, dance was able to create something new that engaged more people. This new approach is what warranted what Boyd described as, “a renewed interest in the arts.” 

A large group number performs masked in the spring of 2021.

Through all the restrictions and challenges, the Collegiate dance program was able to share their year’s worth of work with the community last. This year the Honors Dance class shared half of their work via film, but they also performed live in the spring dance concert. One of Phillips’ proudest moments was “getting to choreograph a piece with classmates when restrictions changed last spring.” A similar sentiment was shared among most student dancers; as guidelines changed, they were able to create art together. 

Theater and dance were not the only performing arts departments that were significantly impacted by the pandemic. Collegiate’s music department also had to make serious adjustments to their programs in order to keep playing safely.

The strings ensemble plays masked in the winter of 2022.

Many instruments, such as the wind instruments, were no longer able to be played during the first stages of the pandemic, as they were deemed unsafe due to the spread of aerosols. A solution to this was made by Upper and Middle School band director Karl von Klein, who created percussion ensembles, where students could experiment with new instruments. Eventually, some students were required to wear alternative masks with small openings for wind and brass instrument mouthpieces. Additionally, many instruments had to have coverings on them in order to prevent aerosols and germs from spreading. Other instrumental programs, like the strings ensemble, were able to continue their playing through the pandemic. While some instruments were still safe to play, other restrictions had to be set in place. For example, shared instruments, such as the keyboard, had to be wiped down and sanitized between each musician who used it.  

Senior flutist plays her instrument while wearing a modified mask.

In addition to modified instrument playing, there were no live concerts for students to learn music for. Hugh Williams (‘22), who plays keyboard, trombone, and guitar, recalled last year as being “hard because there was nothing to work towards, performance-wise.” Williams was a member of the band who had to modify and switch instruments due to COVID-19 restrictions. Not having the ability to perform to an audience and showcase their talents was a struggle for most student musicians. Williams stated, “I loved getting to jam with my friends every day, but after a while I missed the drive and deadlines of working for a concert.”

Students play their instruments masked in a concert in 2022.

Despite the restrictions for the band and orchestra, there was still an interest and desire for new students to join Collegiate’s various music programs. Boyd stated, “this year we’ve had a renewed interest in the younger grades of all those programs.” Boyd credits this to the exposure that playing instruments outdoors brought to the music programs. By the end of the 2020-21 school year, various music programs were able to go outside to play their instruments more freely than they could have inside. Boyd believed that students had a desire to try new things during the pandemic, and getting to see other students go outside and have fun was the way to do this. 

In spring 2020, as a tribute to the Class of 2020, some music students, with the help of faculty, were able to create a video compilation of Collegiate’s song “Hail Collegiate.” This video was used during the final assembly that was broadcast over Zoom on May 22, 2020. This year, with the return of live Convocation, Pep Rally, and performances, students were able to once more showcase their hard work and talents for the entire school to see in person. When the entire school was present on Grover Jones Field this fall for Convocation, the sounds of the Collegiate Upper School band performing “Hail Collegiate” had a greater impact than it had prior to the pandemic. 

Collegiate’s performing arts programs have always been held in high regard. This sentiment remained true, despite the pandemic. Despite all of the challenges and alterations students had to face, each performing arts program was able to modify their approach and keep moving forward. Boyd credits the success of Collegiate’s arts programs to the dedication of all of the students and faculty involved in the department over the past two years. Boyd stated, “the desire for people to be engaged in the arts was still there. Yes, there was a lot of disappointment when we had to take things away, but now that we are able to put them back, there is more interest in our arts.” The return of live performances and audience-packed theaters coincides with Collegiate, and the world’s, return to some sense of normalcy. While the Collegiate community could not gather during the 2020-21 school year to witness all of the performing arts students’ talents, the ability to be together this year to support students has made avid audience members like me more grateful and appreciative for all Collegiate’s arts programs.

All photos by Taylor Dabney.