Volunteering for Embody Art Performance

The dance performer which was broadcasted on a large screen installation.

              Practice is an important part of every educational process, especially when we talk about creative courses in the field of photography, design, film, etc. While books and articles teach you some essential rules already delineated by the best professionals before you, the real involvement in a production could not only combine and maximize your scope of theoretical knowledge but also underpin the bases of your own style and its influence on the contemporary forms of art. For this reason, as a design student, the first thing on my MA activity list was to take action. This happened to be my volunteering period in Embody - an MA student collaboration with Dance4, part of the October dance festival. Producers of this event were Ali Northcott who is a current MA student and Becky Bailey, assistant producer in Dance 4. The performance consisted of dark 3 rooms through which the observer should pass through by taking off his shoes on the entrance. One of the rooms was completely dark, the second one had a big screen built on one of the walls and the third one had lamps. On the screen was projected the dance of the artist from the picture above and there was an female actor which participated in the action from the third room. There was one participant allowed in each performance and afterwards it was repeated with again with the next guest. This performance stimulated the participant to experience a unique connection between an artist and art forms.
             Throughout my assistance in that performance I was still far from  determining my future contribution to the design scene but I managed to gather some initial tips which could be useful for every future artist without experience while planning a similar low budget event:

1.              1. The team consists of 3 groups of people –producers, technicians and volunteers. Producers (can be one or more) are responsible for the whole performance and how it should look like which basically includes everything – idea, set design, order, stage costume, performance schedule, etc. They are the bosses and they conduct the rules starting from the writing and inventing of the scenery and end with the realization. Technicians build the set structure – lighting, installations and stage or in other words all the technical work. And finally volunteers which can play a very essential role during the realization and the presentation of the story. They are most often students who are taking a related subject at the university so they need to acquire experience before they could apply for future job, so they desperately need to get involved in anything practical enriching their CVs. On the other hand, volunteers can be more helpful than a producer would expect. In my case we did technicians assist, acting in the performance, cutting and sewing some props, shopping, cleaning and many roles as part of the backstage support.

2.           2. Don’t reject any help. As I already mentioned – there is quite a lot of work to be done so never reject some assist from volunteer, especially for the backstage support. It’s hard to calculate exactly how many people will be needed before the very last minute. Our team consisted of around 7-8 people including the producers, but always keep in mind that unpredicted circumstances can occur.

         3.Avoid confusing the observer. Producers should always imagine how an observer will see their performance, in particular when it requires the spectator to be in an active role (so he becomes a participant). The more objects you use, the harder it gets for him to use them  especially when you expect him to do it in a current way. So, my point is that a producer should always use signs to display how he is expecting his project to be performed. I can depict this rule with an example from Embody. The final room of the performance had 3 doors  and some of the people were opening the wrong one and entered the backstage which was quite awkward for all of us. It probably wouldn’t have happened if there was a sign showing the way out. However, these circumstances could rarely be predicted and sometimes it’s hard to illustrate participant’s desired movement using signs compatible with the interior design and the atmosphere of the presentation.

My role as an assistant

• I was responsible for the initial shopping of props including safety pins, flannels, towels,etc.
• Preparation of the art space (The Bohunk Gallery) for the performance - cleaning, building the sets.
• During the performance I took the position of a curtain manager. My work was to hold the curtain while the actor passes through them (4 or 5 times for each participant) without revealing anything from the backstage.