The Show Goes OnBy Jaden Jackson
“Be careful and cautious!” your family warns you as you get ready for school. But you do not hear them as you make sure you have everything you need. You feel nervous and anxious, knowing that school is going to be different. As you fiddle with your mask, you begin to ask yourself: “How am I going to be able to adapt? What will be the same, what will be different? Will people understand me even with a mask?” These are some of the many questions that faced the arts teachers at Canterbury at the start of this very unusual school year. Arts programs such as dance and drama have had to change significantly to adapt to the new way of life. But what are the changes, and how are the dance and drama teachers managing to teach their classes in a Covid-19 safe environment? How do you even act if the audience can’t see your face? How do you dance and stay apart? 
"Dancing with a mask is a challenge since you get pretty hot pretty fast." --Rebecca Tee, head of Dance |
“Dancing with a mask is a challenge since you get pretty hot pretty fast, and trying to keep a safe distance amongst moving bodies has been challenging logistically, but now we are quite well set-up,” said Rebecca Tee, head of Dance. In dance, it can be hard to maintain a six foot distance. So the dance teachers have outlined boxes on the floor for dancers to remain in when they're in the center. “We marked out an X in the middle of the room to remind the kids when they are moving across the room to stay on one side of the tape, and the other dancer has to stay on the other,” said Ms. Tee. Grade 9 dance student Rory Haley explained what it is like: “The teachers did a really good job of keeping us apart and still giving us the space we need to dance.” She went on to say, “They would work with the online group and did a good job of connecting them with the in-class cohort.” Dancers who are at home get the same amount of instruction by joining class online. “In a way, sometimes we forget that there is a pandemic,” said Ms. Tee. “You forget that you're wearing a mask, and at the end of the day, our dance classes operate almost normally.” |
There are similar challenges for Canterbury's drama students. How exactly does someone act with a mask when actors rely so much on their faces?
“I was surprised at how little a difference wearing a mask actually made,” explained Matthew Minter, head of Drama. “I thought it would be more inhibiting, especially with some of the moving pieces, since we rely on expressions. I realized that we do tell a lot more with our eyes and the upper half of our faces.”
The floors of the drama rooms are marked with pieces of green tape that are six feet apart. This helps and reminds actors when they block a scene to keep their distance.
“The actor can use green marks as a helpful guide to stay 6-feet apart,” said Mr. Minter.
Even though the dance and drama programs are adapting, many elements of both had to be cut. Teachers had to look at what were the essential learning skills for their programs.
“We thought about what the students want to do the most and what they are here for,” said Mr. Minter when asked about how they adapted the drama program.
Using this approach, it was more manageable for teachers to cut their courses into a quad master format.
“It's very much a team approach, and there's a lot of communication between my colleagues and me of what we can do to improve,” Ms. Tee said of the dance program.
“I was surprised at how little a difference wearing a mask actually made,” explained Matthew Minter, head of Drama. “I thought it would be more inhibiting, especially with some of the moving pieces, since we rely on expressions. I realized that we do tell a lot more with our eyes and the upper half of our faces.”
The floors of the drama rooms are marked with pieces of green tape that are six feet apart. This helps and reminds actors when they block a scene to keep their distance.
“The actor can use green marks as a helpful guide to stay 6-feet apart,” said Mr. Minter.
Even though the dance and drama programs are adapting, many elements of both had to be cut. Teachers had to look at what were the essential learning skills for their programs.
“We thought about what the students want to do the most and what they are here for,” said Mr. Minter when asked about how they adapted the drama program.
Using this approach, it was more manageable for teachers to cut their courses into a quad master format.
“It's very much a team approach, and there's a lot of communication between my colleagues and me of what we can do to improve,” Ms. Tee said of the dance program.
Despite the challenges, many of the teachers described the benefits of teaching in this environment. Teachers were almost universal in their praise of the students’ ability to adapt.
“There have been some challenges due to this unique circumstance, but overall, I think that the students have demonstrated incredible resiliency and have really shown their passion and dedication to their art form,” said Ms. Tee. “They understand that this is the way it is, and they have to cope the best they can. Everyone shares the excitement of being back in school and doing what they love with people who share that love.”
All of the dance and drama teachers are doing an amazing job of working within the Covid-19 restrictions. It is inspiring to see how the teachers are finding innovative ways to teach what they love in a Covid-19 safe environment.
“There have been some challenges due to this unique circumstance, but overall, I think that the students have demonstrated incredible resiliency and have really shown their passion and dedication to their art form,” said Ms. Tee. “They understand that this is the way it is, and they have to cope the best they can. Everyone shares the excitement of being back in school and doing what they love with people who share that love.”
All of the dance and drama teachers are doing an amazing job of working within the Covid-19 restrictions. It is inspiring to see how the teachers are finding innovative ways to teach what they love in a Covid-19 safe environment.