How BH Preps for an Outdoor Performance (i.e. Bryant Park!)

We hope you and your family will join us TODAY, September 18th, at 6:00 PM for a FREE outdoor performance by the Ballet Hispanico Company at the Bryant Park Fall Festival!  Seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis; picnics and blankets are more than welcome.

Preparing for an outdoor performance such as this one is exciting, but it also takes a little more behind-the-scenes work. We asked our Artistic Director, Technical Director, and a BH Company Dancer to share the ways in which they are preparing differently for the performance at Bryant Park. Here’s what they said…

Artistic Director Eduardo Vilaro
Preparing the Ballet Hispanico Company for an outdoor performance is no different than preparing for our indoor performance. However, we do need to alter cues that were designed for a dark proscenium theater. For instance, if I asked a dancer to move when the light changes color in a certain ballet, they would not be able to do so under sunlight because you can’t see the color or light change. Daylight also tends to take away texture that theatrical lighting gives on stage. Since the mystery of lighting is removed, the dancers must be more expressive in both movement and, when necessary, emotion.

Technical Director Joshua Preston
Preparing for an outdoor venue is slightly different simply because of the lack of protection from the elements. As a lighting designer, daylight is my biggest foe since there isn’t any guarantee how bright or dark it will be outside. The natural lighting also changes as we progress into the evening. Weather is the other variable that we don’t deal with in a standard theater. Bryant Park has been gracious enough to offer us heaters in our dressing rooms and we have alerted the dancers regarding the possibility of a slight chill.

Company Dancer Donald Borror
Getting ready for this show at Bryant Park has been great. Dancing outside is always an amazing experience… And usually has some pretty important variables!

Temperature is huge, because when the sun goes down, the air gets significantly cooler, which isn’t so good for our bodies. I always try to pack lots of warm-up clothing options because the weather is never what you expect… Sometimes you need sunglasses and swimsuits in the same day you need a blanket to keep warm offstage at night! But that was in Guatemala (where we toured last year) and NYC is far more temperate, so while I’m not expecting anything too crazy I’ll come prepared either way.

Also depending on the time of day, it might be sunny still which means we will have to be extra careful with our exits and entrances because we usually do them with blackouts, making for a more invisible get-away. With the extra light, after a really hard dance it’s an added challenge to get offstage gracefully when we usually run away in the dark, which sometimes isn’t as graceful as you would expect 🙂

It’s going to be a great show! I’m most excited to be performing outside in New York City because that means it’s free general admission! I can finally tell friends “it’s your chance to come check us out! No charge!”  Hope to see you there!