When the world shut down around four months ago, the plan for Dawn’s School of Dance’s annual recital evolved quickly.
“(Students) were halfway through rehearsing for the recital when things closed,” said Dawn Morin, a Greenfield dance instructor who has owned the Hope Street studio for more than three decades. “We had to be creative and ended up doing classes in a number of different ways. Kids continued to learn choreography.”
At first, she thought her 75 or so students could perform their recitals inside the well-disinfected studio with audience members staying far apart. But as the pandemic dragged on, it became apparent that business wasn’t getting back to normal anytime soon.
“Then, it was like, we could do an outdoor venue and just not have a crowd. Then, when it came to the parks still being closed, we thought, ‘let’s convert the studio,’” Morin said. “Our recital plans went from plan ‘a,’ to plan ‘b,’ to plan ‘c,’ to plan ‘d.’”
Gov. Charlie Baker’s recent decree extending the restriction on gatherings forced Morin to think outside the box — on Saturday, 56 young dance students will spin and twirl on the silver screen at Greenfield Garden Cinemas in downtown Greenfield. The weekend premiere will showcase more than talent — it’s a testament to the resiliency of local youngsters in the face of unprecedented challenges.
Without the ability to perform in-person, over the last several weeks, each dancer stopped by the dance space and recorded their routines individually against the same backdrop, within a box marked on the floor with tape. The performances were then edited together by Morin’s 14-year-old son, Jayden, into a synchronized 45-minute piece featuring 20 routines in jazz, ballet, tap and other styles.
“Because they were so used to dancing in limited space in their Face Time and video lessons — sometimes they were in their kitchen, or near the coffee table with their parents watching TV in the corner — it was no problem at all,” Morin said. “It’s definitely something I’ve never experienced in the 33 years I’ve had my studio open.”
For the last few months, Morin says she has been teaching remotely. She uploaded weekly videos explaining the choreography, held group lessons via Zoom and, more recently, taught individual lessons. The digital format has made for an interesting few months that’ve stretched Morin’s creativity.
“We have definitely dipped into an area that I’d never had to dip into before,” she said. “I have done everything from dressing up in safari costumes and going out in my yard and hiding stuffed animals so we can have a safari, to my son recording on a green screen to make it look like I was underwater.”
In this, Morin says her son, Jayden, who has won an award at the Greenfield Public Schools Film Festival every year since kindergarten, “Literally saved my business.”
“He recorded all of my weekly videos, edited them and got them out to the kids,” Morin said. “He added special effects, he added props.”
While Morin says she avoided much of the financial stress that other businesses have faced recently because she owns the dance studio’s building and doesn’t pay rent, the online teaching format has been difficult to adapt to. Students were more easily distracted at home.
“Even with it being one-on-one, they’re picking up their cat and showing me their kitty,” she said. Instead of telling students to “‘face the mirrors,’ it was ‘turn around and face the fridge; face the trash can.”
Some of her students — two-thirds of whom stayed after the pandemic was fully realized earlier this year — didn’t attend the weekly video Zoom sessions. She thought they’d quit.
But when it came time to record the recital, Morin says she was pleasantly surprised to find “they knew their routines. … Most impressive is that although each child learned their recital choreography individually and in their own way, what they created ‘together’ was amazing.”
On Saturday, the premiere won’t just be the first time parents and well-wishers get to see how far the young students have progressed in their skill, it will also be the first time the students see what the finished performance looks like.
“I’m super excited because they all came in one at a time with no one else here. They scheduled a time, came in, did their routine and then left. … This is the first time they’re seeing it edited together,” she said.
To make the recital into more of an occasion, there will be a photo background at the Main Street cinema where attendees can take pictures like it’s a red-carpet premiere. By tagging Dawns School of Dance in any social media posts, attendees can win prizes.
Due to a cap of 25 people per theater, Greenfield Garden Cinemas will hold five show times on Saturday, a few of which are already full. The theater has taken precautionary steps such as sanitation to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Tickets are $5 and must be purchased in advance. For tickets go to gardencinemas.net.
Starting Aug. 24, Dawn’s School of Dance will begin registering new students. Parents can call 413-774-2763 to make an appointment to see the studio, which is moving ahead with in-person reopening plans but is ready to be flexible if things change. Free ice cream will be served and parents can visit the space to see what sort of prevention precautions are being implemented. Cleaning will be stepped up; masks will be required; parents will drop off their kids outside; bathrooms will be closed except for emergencies; the lobby will be closed; extra fans will be installed in open windows to increase airflow; among other things, the studio will have a no-touch enter and exit policy with doors propped open. For more information, visit dawnsschoolofdance.org.
Andy Castillo can be reached at acastillo@recorder.com.