What might go on backstage during Mountain Views winter dance concert?

The house lights go down and everything is dark for a second until the first beats of the song start up and the stage lights come up. The dancers keep everybody captivated and watching throughout the whole song and when they finish they move off for the next group. What nobody sees during all of this are the other people moving around behind the scenes quickly changing, finishing getting ready, practicing and waiting. So what was happening backstage during the Mountain View dance concert, A Season of Gratitude?

Hair, makeup and clothing are a very important part of the dancer. These things help really bring forth the story or mood of the dance, so it’s very important everybody has what they need. Dancer hair and makeup are done usually at the beginning of the show, but the dancers continue to fix and adjust as necessary throughout the show to make sure everything is looking good for when they finally perform on stage. During hair and makeup some people will help each other with getting ready. Dancers may offer to help someone else with their makeup or hair while others will offer up supplies for others to use.

Clothing is a really interesting part of the backstage process. Some dancers only have one dance number and therefore only have one costume they need to be in, while others can have multiple different costumes they have to move through. For example, some people have to make quick changes. As the name suggests, these are really quick changes that some of the dancers have to do because they are needed almost immediately after they get off stage for the next dance. To help aid with some of these quick changes tents are set up backstage where dancers can quickly slip into to get ready. Even if dancers don’t have quick changes but are dancing frequently they change and move very quickly because each dance number only lasts for a few minutes.

Waiting backstage can be kind of boring at times. If someones not constantly jumping on and off stage or helping around they’re probably waiting in a back room for when they finally do go on or for the final bows. Something some people do to pass time is to practice and go over their steps since it’s good to have a fresh memory. Some dancers bring things to keep themselves entertained. They are allowed to have things like a phone, headphones, or a book to pass the time. One thing they also did backstage to pass time was play charades. It’s very important to be quiet backstage because the walls are very thin so anything you want to do backstage should be kept to a low noise level.

Cues are very important to get down. Being in a backroom backstage makes it hard to tell what dance number is on and when somebody has to go on. Maybe somebody will cue the dancers in but it’s usually their responsibility to know exactly when they go on and what to look for to make sure they are in the right place at the right time. Usually waiting for a certain group to return is a good indication. When dancers are ready they wait in what is called the bowl before they can go offstage. This helps minimize the amount of people off stage and to leave as much room for other dancers to get off as well. There are a few rules to follow when being offstage. It should be silent and there should be no talking because noise travels well. Costume pieces or props shouldn’t be touched or moved because it might be important for a dancer. There’s also a candy cane striped line that the dancers have to be behind to avoid getting in the way of the stage crew helping to pull and lower lights and other heavy equipment.

Being backstage instead of in the audience during a performance is a very interesting experience with a very different atmosphere. There are things that the audience never sees, the things that only happen backstage. These things, although hidden, are often a very important part of a dancer’s experience during a concert.