Princeton University Ballet: Choreographers Reflect on Pandemic Dance

By Princeton University Ballet

Princeton University Ballet has had to get creative to evolve amidst this pandemic. Throughout a difficult and sometimes tedious transition to the online platform, our company has maintained a deep love for our community and the act of making art together.

In preparation for our virtual show, our dancers met over Zoom to learn choreography, then rehearsed in their respective spaces, usually dorm rooms. Dancers learned and practiced the steps themselves before recording and sending the footage to the choreographer. The choreographer then pieced together the footage to create a final product. Though the process was certainly more stilted than it would have been if we had spent a few hours together in the studio, it proved a worthy alternative that kept us dancing and creating together.

”Choreographing for a virtual project definitely presented challenges, but it also presented new creative opportunities. 

I took advantage of the lack of a formal and themed live performance to choreograph to music non-traditional to ballet: “Preach” by Saint Motel in the fall and “Dancing in the Moonlight” by King Harvest. Choreographing to these songs really pushed me to explore different stylized movements and musicalities. 

Not being able to incorporate various formations and choreographic elements that come from an in person performance was certainly a challenge, but the video format presented new creative possibilities. In the fall, I experimented with using multiple “boxes” on screen at one time—using different numbers of boxes, shapes, and timings for these boxes coming in and out. Kyle Ikuma did the actual editing work—a huge shout out to him for making my vision come to life! 

In the spring, the cast for a piece co-choreographed by me and Yuki Chevray were all on campus (yay!), but ODUS restrictions meant we still could only film one person on screen at a time. Luckily, we now could recruit videographers on campus rather than leave dancers to film themselves, which was a huge win for video composition and quality. Yuki and I decided to film at night (fitting for “Dancing in the Moonlight”), which is going to result in a really cool product. The editing is currently still in the works.”

—Becca Berman ’23

“I choreographed a virtual piece for PUB last fall, and it definitely changed my perspective about the choreographic process. Choreographing a ballet over Zoom was easier than choreographing in other dance styles because my dancers were already familiar with most of the steps that I choreographed, so it was just a matter of stringing them together. There was something really comforting about that shared movement knowledge when we were all spread across the country and our bodies were compressed into little boxes on my screen.

While the limitations imposed by the virtual format were challenging, they also provided me with a wonderful opportunity to grow as a choreographer. When I choreographed for our in-person shows in the past, there were so many opportunities and resources that I almost didn’t know what to do with myself. On the other hand, Zoom acted as a scaffold while I constructed my piece in and around the limitations that I had. It also gave me a new appreciation for the resources that we have here at Princeton and more ideas about how to use them.

Virtual format aside, being in quarantine for the past year has changed me so much as a choreographer. As a serial perfectionist, I used to agonize over every single 4-count that I choreographed, cycling through multiple iterations before I decided that it was just right. I was convinced that the more effort I put into my piece, the better it would be. Over the past year, I've learned that no one has time for that! And more than that, I've learned that more effort is definitely not better, and a beautiful piece can be made solely out of what comes naturally to me. Once I gave myself permission to let go of the need to nitpick my choreography, I really grew to love constructing my piece and watching it evolve.

In the end, my piece was short, simple, and sweet, and it was very low-stress to put together. I am so grateful to my dancers who put in the time to learn choreo over Zoom during such a difficult semester, and I hope we can see the finished product soon!”

—Lucy Sirrs ’23