The Dance Concert, this year entitled “The Dream of Home,” was a formative experience to continue building my stage management skillset. Being Assistant Stage Manager allowed me to build show paperwork for a non-theatrical show, work with dance faculty I had not previously worked with, and have more efficient triage and problem-solving skills. I look forward to moving up and potentially filling the Stage Manager position on this show next fall.

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My first goal was to “create professional, working relationships with the members of the dance faculty.” I believe I achieved this goal by learning the names and faces of many of the dancers in the production, as well as working closely with our dance director, Sandra Kauffman. I have the chance this semester to take a dance class with Sandra, which really helped us form a working connection due to the frequency we were in each other's company. I believe her to be a new, strong contact who understands my capability in stage management, and I look forward to working with her again. In contrast, I did not have as much contact with the other choreographers, but there were not any stark issues that arose in other pieces. I communicated quickly and efficiently with Raúl Casasola and Molly Kaiser to determine their furniture and prop needs, but the other pieces did not have any necessities that required me to interact with their corresponding choreographers. I believe I forged relationships with the faculty that were necessary to complete my job.

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My second goal was to “develop new skills in creating documents for a non-theatrical and dance-based show.” This one was difficult, as the stage management team was not needed during the rehearsal process, so everything had to be frantically thrown together during the tech process. It was a tad frustrating to do the tracking documents when all of the dancers were wearing masks and I only had two run-through rehearsals and some poorly shot videos to go on in terms of writing everything down. It would have been much better if the rehearsal assistants took these notes and handed them off to me, but I eventually got all of my documents made. I am proud that I can make these documents myself now, as I have my own templates to work off of. Everything worked pretty seamlessly once all of the run sheets were put together. 

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My third and final goal was to “communicate effectively with Rehearsal Assistants and Choreographers to solve any problems or concerns that arise in rehearsals.” This one coincides with my first goal, but it was also an easy one to accomplish. As Assistant Stage Manager, I took my cues from Wency Hernandez Rubio, the Production Stage Manager for the Dance Concert. There was not a huge need for me to communicate often with any of the rehearsal assistants or choreographers, because Wency usually beat me to it or my services were not required in specific problem-solving. The only times I was needed specifically was once we got backstage with injuries, and thankfully there were only a couple. I was given all the resources I needed to make sure the dancers felt like they had someone to go to if something was wrong. Overall, I feel like communication was smooth and easy.

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In conclusion, though it is only my second time filling an Assistant Stage Manager position, I feel like I have gotten so much better at it already. I was able to correct any mistakes I made during my previous production, and I feel that I will continue to progress on my path to becoming a well-rounded stage management student.