Choreography and Lighting Design
In October and November of 2017, students had the opportunity to work with theatrical lighting specialist Conrad Bender and professional dancer and dance professor Bethany Formica.
While working with Conrad, students learned about different light fixtures, learned how to position and focus theatrical lighting, how to use gels to change the color and warmth of lighting, and how to light a moving body on stage.
The same group of students was simultaneously working with Bethany to learn some basic dance techniques which eventually led to the group learning a choreographed dance piece. Once students had learned the dance and some lighting techniques, they were divided into three groups, and each group was tasked with designing the lighting for another group’s dance performance.
Students learned how lighting and movement can work together on stage, and were then able to use that knowledge to help choreograph and light two of the year’s productions: Bakkhai and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. While Conrad and Bethany provided specific input for those two shows, students also came away from the workshops with enough knowledge to act as lighting designers and choreographers in their own capacity for future Yoh productions.