Senior & Junior Choreography
Showcase Stage Management
Instruction Manual
Compiled by Marcus Carroll
Table of Contents
1. Auditions
a. When They Are
b. How To Set Up For Them
c. What To Do During Auditions
d. Post Auditions
2. Pre-Rehearsal
a. Communication With Choreographers & Lighting Designers
b. Paperwork
c. Notifying Crew
3. Rehearsals
a. What To Do During Rehearsals
b. Rehearsal Reports
c. Split Rehearsal Time
d. Showing
e. Meetings
4. Tech
a. Pre-Tech Set Up
b. Organizing Tech Schedule
c. Running Tech
d. Assigning Crew Jobs
e. Lighting Design
5. Dress Rehearsals
a. Running Dress Rehearsals
b. Setting Up
c. Archive Night
6. Performances
a. Call Times
b. Pre-show Set Up
c. Running The Show
d. Strike
7. Sample Paperwork
1. Auditions
a. When They Are
The auditions for the Senior Choreography Showcase are at the
beginning of the fall semester, and auditions for the Junior
Choreography Showcase are at the beginning of the spring semester.
The dates for these vary year to year, so consult the calendar for the
exact dates.
b. How To Set Up For Them
Arrive at KDS about an hour before the auditions begin. The faculty
advisor for the show should be there. He or She will have printed off
the audition forms and procured the numbers and safety pins. Set up a
table (you can use one from the office or KDS) in the lobby and
arrange it so that the dancers can take an audition sheet, a number,
and pins. It is helpful to number the audition sheets so that they
correlate with the numbers, as many of the dancers will forget to put
their number on the audition sheet. The number of dancers
auditioning will vary, but if you have around fifty audition forms, you
should be fine. The choreographers should also be there and setting
up tables in KDS.
c. What To Do During Auditions
As the dancers arrive, have them fill out an audition form and take the
number correlating to the audition form. As they turn in the audition
forms to you, keep them in chronological order. This way if they
forgot to fill a part of it out or did it incorrectly, you can look at the
number they took and easily find it. When it is time for the auditions
to start, bring the audition forms into KDS and place them on the
choreographers’ table.
For the next part of the auditions, you will be running the music.
Three or four of the choreographers will have prepared routines for
the dancers. They will bring you the music (usually on a smart phone
or laptop) and you will have to plug it into the sound system. They will
let you know if they need it to play from the beginning or a certain
part in the song. Pay attention to the choreographer as they are
teaching the routine so you know when they want the music. Usually
they will teach it in sections, playing the music after each section.
Then they run the full routine with music a few times. Then they will
call out groups of dancers and watch them audition.
The sound system is fairly simple to use.
Start by turning on the machine at the bottom of the stack. Then turn
on the power strip. This will power everything else. Because you will
probably only be using a computer or Smartphone, you will need to
plug in the 1/8” plug and make sure the sound is turned up on the
device. If you are still not hearing anything, check the fader labeled
“ipod”. If it is all the way down, push it until it is at an appropriate
level. If the fader is up but there is still no sound, check the Master
Fader on the right side of the board. Push the fader up if it is down.
This is the most common issue. If you have done all of these and there
is still a problem, call your supervisor or dance faculty.
d. Post Auditions
After the auditions finish, have the dancers place their numbers on the
table you used out in the lobby. Collect the numbers, pins, and any
spare audition forms and give them to the faculty advisor. Put away
the table and clean up any trash left around.
In KDS the choreographers will choose their dancers as well as their
rehearsal times. Stay and make sure you get when and where they will
be rehearsing. You will need this information for your paperwork. The
faculty advisor should take care of locking everything up.
The faculty advisor is responsible for creating and posting the cast list.
2. Before Rehearsals Begin
a. Communication With Choreographers & Lighting
Designers
Before rehearsals start, you should email all of the choreographers so
that you can get their contact information. You can get their emails
from the faculty advisor. This should be a friendly email to introduce
yourself (in case you were not at the auditions – only applicable to fall
semester) and share your contact information. You should ask them to
add you to any facebook group that they create, as many of them use
facebook groups to communicate with their dancers. Include the
calendar you created so that they can look over it and tell you of any
days they know ahead of time that they will not rehearse. You should
also remind them to tell you when they cancel a rehearsal. Because
the dancers are at Ball Gym they may tell their dancers in person
about a canceled rehearsal, but forget to tell you. Keep in mind that
this email may set the tone of your relationship with the
choreographers, so make sure you are clear and respectful.
Because of the limited number of lighting designers in the program,
they are not specifically assigned to this show. Generally the Lighting
Faculty Advisor recruits the designers who are available to do the
show. You should send an email to the lighting faculty advisor to let
them know that you are the stage manager for the Junior/Senior
Choreography Showcase, and you should include how many
choreographers are working on the project. You will want a designer
to design 2-3 pieces. You may need to be persistent, as the lighting
designers are busy and spread out over the entire department.
Make sure that you CC the Production Stage Manager and the Faculty
Advisor of the showcase on your emails. Once you have your lighting
designers, CC the Lighting Faculty Advisor too. A good rule of thumb:
If you think you should CC them, then you should CC them.
b. Paperwork
Sample paperwork is attached to the end of this document. You
should create a contact sheet that includes the names, phone
numbers, and emails of the choreographers, the lighting designers, the
practicum students on your crew, the faculty advisor, the production
stage manager, the lighting faculty advisor and yourself. You should
create a calendar that includes rehearsals, the showing, and
performances. You will also need to create the cue sheet that you will
use to call the show.
Once the order of the show is determined, create a sheet with that
information that you can post backstage, in the dressing room, and for
yourself.
c. Notifying Crew
A crew will be assigned to your show at the practicum meeting. You
can get their email addresses from the practicum list when it is sent
out. If you have not received the practicum list, talk to the stage
management office staff. Send your crew an email introducing
yourself, confirming that they are assigned to the correct show,
including the dates that they will need to be available, and to keep you
updated if anything comes up that will affect their practicum. Make
sure to CC the production stage manager on this email, and make sure
they include the production stage manager in any email they send to
you. Keep the production stage manager up to date with anything
related to practicum as they are the one that assigns the grades.
3. Rehearsals
a. What To Do During Rehearsals
During rehearsals you should take note of what each choreographer
did that day. It does not have to be extensive, just a summary of what
they did. If the choreographer has any specific question or note that
you feel should go in the rehearsal report, go ahead and do it. Also,
this the time that you get to know the dances. This will be helpful
when calling the show because you will be familiar with the pieces.
You may also need to run the music for rehearsals. This depends on
the preference of the choreographer. If they are playing their music
through their phone on a Bluetooth speaker, they will probably take
care of it themselves. Ask the choreographer if they want you to run
the music for the first few rehearsals. Once you get a handle for their
preference, you do not need to ask anymore.
Usually at the end of a rehearsal, the choreographer will take a video
of what they have done and post it to their facebook group. Ask them
if they want you to take the video so that they can watch and take
notes.
Additionally, the choreographers are responsible for bringing a device
to play music on. They are not allowed to use the sound systems in the
rehearsal spaces.
b. Rehearsal Reports
Rehearsal reports should be sent to all of the choreographers, the
faculty advisor, the production stage manager, and the lighting
designers and their faculty advisor when you have the lighting
designers.
c. Split Rehearsal Time
Because of the number of choreographers (usually ranging from eight
to ten) you will have to split your time between rehearsals each night.
Try to spend as equal amount of time in each rehearsal as you can.
The choreographers know that you are going to different rehearsals,
so you can leave when it is time to head to the next rehearsal. If it
appears that they are going to run through what they have worked on
or the entire piece thus far, you should go ahead and stay to watch.
The time spent in each rehearsal does not have to be too rigid.
d. Showing
Halfway through the rehearsal process there will be a showing of all
the pieces for the faculty and lighting designers. This will be on the
production calendar, so you should get the date from there. You will
want to know the lighting designers before the showing so that they
are able to attend.
At the showing, you should run the music. The faculty advisor will
decide the order ahead of time. After the showing, you will assign
lighting designers to pieces. Ask the designers if they have any
preferences, and they will work out who designs which piece.
e. Meetings
There will be a day set aside weekly for meetings with the
choreographers and the faculty advisor. You should attend these
meetings so that you can make sure all necessary things are taken
care of. You will not be leading this meetings, however, that is the job
of the advisor. Take notes about things that pertain to the show and
things that you may need to know. Some items that are determined by
the choreographers are the order of the show and who will perform
what jobs, such as making the CD with all of the tracks in order. As a
tip, make sure that the CD is made before tech begins.
4. Tech
a. Pre-Tech Set Up
The light board will need to be set up before tech begins. The lighting
faculty advisor will have an advanced student come in and oversee the
lighting designers. This student will set up the light board and teach
the light board operator how to set it up as well. You should also learn
how to set it up as a cautionary measure.
The curtains will need to be in their proper place. The dancers and
faculty advisor will know how to arrange them. To do it yourself, you
should start from the left to the right as if you are facing the
performance space. Make sure that there is an alley space where the
lights on the wall are.
b. Organizing Tech Schedule
Tech for the showcases are on Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday you
will program the lights for each piece, and on Sunday you will make
any changes or adjustments. Each piece will take approximately an
hour to tech. For Saturday, you should block out the day so that you
tech for an hour and take a five minute break in between each piece.
Depending on how many pieces there are, you may need to take a
break for dinner. In the past the faculty advisor has provided a fruit
tray and pizza, but this depends on the tech. Consult with the faculty
advisor and production stage manager when you are working on the
tech schedule.
c. Running Tech
Before you start programming cues, you will have the dancers
perform the piece full out without lights so that the designer can see it
again before you start. Then you will have the dancers mark through
the piece, stopping to add cues. Whenever a cue is added, make sure
you confirm with the choreographer when they want it to be called.
Then write it down in a way that you will know when to call it.
The most important part of this process is communication. Some of
the choreographers will know exactly what they want and others will
not be so sure. Make sure that the communication between the
designer and choreographer is clear and understood.
d. Assigning Crew Jobs
This is a show that requires few jobs for the crew. Ideally you want 5
crew members. You will need a light board operator, a sound
operator, door openers, and a runner. Depending on how many crew
members you have, you may need to have the runner also be a door
openers. The light board and sound operators will be with you in the
corner of KDS. The door openers will be in the back area to open and
close the doors for the dancers. The runner will be going between the
backstage area and the dressing room to let the dancers know which
piece is next.
e. Lighting Design
You must remember to program the cues for the start/end of the
show as well as in between each piece. For the start of the show the
first cue is a blackout, and the second cue is the front three lights so
that some of the choreographers can give an introduction. Then third
cue will be another blackout. The fourth cue will be the blue lights for
the dancers to get to their spots (if they start out on stage), and the
fifth cue will be the blackout before the dance. These cues can be
programmed as .2 (blackout), .4 (introduction), .6 (blackout), .8 (blue
lights), & .9 (blackout) with the cue for the first dance being cue 1.
Make sure to have a blackout at the end of each piece, and make sure
there is a blue light before each piece. Make these point cues so that
5. Dress Rehearsals
a. Running Dress Rehearsals
Dress rehearsals are for you to perfect how you call the show. The
choreographers and the faculty advisor will decide what time that
they want to call the dancers. You should decide what time you want
to call your crew. This is when you will run through the show with
them, so you need to explain to them how you want everything to go.
You will run the show at 7:30, when the actual show will be. The first
dress rehearsal is more relaxed. The main purpose is to see the
costumes in the lights. You will run through each piece and the
dancers for the next piece will come up and wait for their run. The
second rehearsal you will want to run the show exactly as it will be for
the performances. You will have the dancers in the dressing room (BG
101), with the runner calling for each piece on deck, the door
openners opening and closing doors, and the breaks in between each
piece. The third dress rehearsal is to make sure that everything is as it
needs to be for the show. After each dress rehearsal, a few of the
choreographers will want to run their pieces again. Run through all of
them if there is time. If not, run them before dress rehearsal the next
day.
b. Setting Up
You should print out the order of show and tape it to the walls in BG
101 and in the backstage area as well as a sign in sheet for the cast
and crew. Have your crew set up the lights and sound and test both of
them. Make sure that the cue light is also set up and working.
c. Archive Night
Contact Kip Shawger about which night he is planning on coming to
take the archive photos. He usually comes on the Tuesday before
opening, which should be the second dress rehearsal. On the night
that he comes, you will have the dancers take 3 poses (chosen by the
choreographers) and run through the piece with lights, costumes,
hair, and makeup.
6. Performances
a. Call Times
The call time for crew on the Friday performance will be earlier than
Saturday and Sunday performances because they will need to set up
the risers, platforms, mats, and light board.
b. Pre-show Set Up
On Friday the choreographers will arrive early to begin the set up for
the show. This includes closing all the blinds, putting paper over the
mirrors, setting up the lobby display, printing out the programs, and
other things. These jobs will be predetermined by the choreographers
and the faculty advisor. The sheet of responsibilities is included in the
sample paperwork section.
Your crew will be responsible for setting up the platform for the stage
manager and light board operator, the two audience sections with two
levels, and the mats that go on the floor in between them. These
platforms can be found in the backstage area underneath the stairs.
c. Running The Show
After you have your crew set up, remain in contact with the faculty
advisor. Have your crew inside KDS before 7:00pm. Once it is 7:00pm,
send your crew to places and the house will open. At this point you
will wait until you get a thumbs up from the faculty advisor that the
doors are closing. Once the doors are closed, turn off the main lights
on the wall behind you. Then begin the show. Depending on the length
of the show, there may or may not be an intermission.
In between each piece you will need to bring the house lights up so
that the audience can see their programs and the dancers can move to
position behind the curtain. You will need to use the cue light to let
your door openers to know when to open the door. Make sure they
understand that when the light is flipped on, that is the standby, and
when it goes off, that is the cue to open the door.
Once the show has ended, hold your crew until the audience has left.
Once the house is clear, have them strike the light board and lock up
the sound cabinet. The platforms and mats can stay out for the
weekend.
d. Strike
Strike is usually a fairly quick process. Have your crew strike the light
board, the platforms and the mats. The choreographers will also be
helping out with tearing down the paper over the mirrors. Check in
with the faculty advisor when strike is finished. If they are satisfied
with the job, then you can dismiss the crew.
7. Sample Paperwork