But offstage, just past the wings, there's another woman who's passionately at work, clad in black and wearing a headset: Kristin Colvin Young, the company's production stage manager.
Monday, September 30, 2019
On Tour With Ailey's Production Stage Manager
But offstage, just past the wings, there's another woman who's passionately at work, clad in black and wearing a headset: Kristin Colvin Young, the company's production stage manager.
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4 comments:
I loved this article. Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre is an incredible group. I saw them at Jacob’s Pillow when I was younger and it was an incredible experience. To read about the day in the life of a PSM who is a full-time member of this company is so cool and different than what I normally perceive Production Stage Managing to be. There are things that Kristin Young and her team does that I did this past summer at New York Stage and Film: like making gaff tape arrows to provide actors with clear paths of egress. I also think that it’s interesting to think about how they’re calling location changes from venue to venue. It’s a touring dance show. Less scenery, more mylar; still very similar. It seems as though touring a dance show has its own elements of difficulty. Very cool and a wonderful little snippet into the dance world.
Looking at Kristen Colvin Young’s experience, it is interesting to note that she came to the assistant stage management position with a degree in dance. I think this is interesting makes me wonder if I were to stage manage a ballet or for a dance company what things would be necessary to learn about dance before I took on the job. I’m sure this degree helped a lot with understanding technical skills but also the rigor and demands of being a dance, helping Young relate to her team. This dance background also probably helps her in the casting of the shows when filling all the positions. Something I wish this article went more in-depth into was the challenges that come along with international tours. The article essentially only says that one has to get used to different theatres when touring internationally but that is something that everyone who is on a tour has to deal with regardless of location. I wish the article had talked a little bit more about dealing with language barriers, dealing with different countries legal but also from the article I deduced that the Alvin Aliely international tour travels with a lot of its own people more so than with some international tours. This is only an assumption so I could be wrong but maybe that is why she didn’t go into depth about these challenges.
Touring fascinates me, and similar to Alexander I wish this article had gone more into the difficulties that come with touring, especially internationally. However, for a brief, informative look into the day in the life of a production stage manager, someone who does not usually get the same press or attention as those on stage, this article was quite interesting to me. When I stage manage shows, I love when I am able to get into a routine of checking on the actors, keeping the technical elements on schedule, and prepping the space for performances. Our shows in high school only ran for one weekend, so there was never much of an opportunity to really find a groove in the set up, performance, strike routine that one gets accustomed to on tour. The challenges that come with such a long-running performance, especially when it is in a different location every night.
This article was so interesting. I do not have that much experience in the dance world nor do I see a lot of dance shows. Because of that I am not too sure what the stage manager’s role in the rehearsal room or during the show. Her job seems to be more admin then in the rehearsal room. It was so interesting to see how long their days are. She starts at 6am and has to be at theater by 8am for load-in. I love the Ailey because they have full time company stage managers. This is also something that’s not too common. I wonder what the differences are when you are a full time stage manager for a company vs being a stage manager for a show. Not knowing there schedule I wonder how often her week looks like the one showcased or if it was the first day of the stop.
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