The streaming of work from those primarily engaged in making and presenting work for the stage was an inevitable consequence of the impact of COVID-19 in 2020. Most significant over the course of much of the year was how artists, producers and venues considered the form this work should take. Of course capturing on camera and live streaming work from the stage is not new to a performing arts and live music sector ever in pursuit of new audiences, and improved access.
April 2020 began with companies raiding their archives for content to keep their audiences engaged, initially providing this content free of charge. They later learned that much needed revenue could be raised and the quality of engagement increased through modestly charging for access to content. However, as we moved into the tail end of the year, some began to question the function of presenting simple registrations of work performed on stage within a 16×9 frame. One remark often heard from audiences was that this form of presentation simply made them “miss theatres even more”.
Seize the time
One organisation had the foresight and, as it turned out, bravery to seek to address this concern from the beginning. It was April 2020 when the UK’s oldest dance company, Rambert, approached me, initially to consult on and scope a live stream that would replace the show they had planned to tour internationally. The show didn’t yet exist and therefore this was an opportunity to make something bespoke for the medium.
Once the project was green lit, my role obtained the title “Broadcast Producer” (working alongside the show’s producer, Rambert’s Senior Producer, Francesca Moseley). Essentially it was the role of creative producer in a film/TV context with a lot of technical R&D and consultancy thrown in. Key to the role was designing and implementing a process that would adapt and hybridise the methodologies of dance creation for stage, traditional filmmaking and multi-camera live performance capture/streaming to deliver on the choreographer’s and, consequentially director’s, ambition to create an “immersive” and “cinematic” work. Wim Vandekeybus had some experience of directing film, having directed a feature in the past, but none of the live, multi-camera production process that underpin traditional live streaming and live TV.
Rolling with the changes – towards fluid metodologies
Central to the approach was forming a tight collaborative creative relationship between Wim and our cinematographer, Emma Dalesman. This is akin to the relationship between cinematographer (or Director of Photography) and Director that exists traditionally in film, but here it is with a view to considering choreography within the moving cinematographic frame. Adapting and hybridising methodologies meant, for example, combining the theatrical technical rehearsal with camera rehearsals in an extension of the the process of developing a camera script where the camera crew would learn and rehearse in much the same way as the dancers. The crew were in fact choreographed by Wim alongside the dancers.
However, the core approach is not having a set approach – not until you understand what it is that you want to make. This is not about designing a new methodology that will be added as a chapter to the stone tablets of a screen arts production bible. Armed with a grasp of all of the aforementioned methodologies and the ability to recruit and lead an experienced but flexible team, the process is one of invention and reinvention.
Diversity and inclusion are also important here. The industry must provide just and equitable training and employment opportunities that will super charge our sector with the diverse, ambitious talent we need to keep our work fresh and inventive. That’s still a journey.
Audience development – the Rambert Home Studio
Rambert also saw the opportunity to innovate around audience development. The company has an incredible asset in a well resourced building to which they have full access beyond its three dance studios. These spaces were fully exploited on this production, which presented its own technical challenges. However, as a dance company, Rambert doesn’t have a box office operation. They have no ticket buying base but do have an audience, the relationship with which is mediated by venues.
Any marketing professional will tell you that minimising the barriers to fulfillment is fundamental to any buying experience and yet Rambert created a number of steps towards engaging with the show. The company’s realtionship with multiple venues around the world, to which they would have toured in 2020, provided an global box office base. The venues would sell the tickets, but with an eye on the future beyond the pandemic, Rambert would require their audience to register with their new digital platform, “Rambert Home Studio“, in order to redeem “tickets” and watch the performance. The “…Home Studio” is now providing Rambert, via an offer of online classes and exclusive content in the form of podcasts and short film, with a direct relationship with their audience.
Rambert understood that providing a live online experience, not a replacement for attending the theatre, was going to be key to that engagement. This meant performing the show three times for the various time zones. They opted very early, much to the consternation of some, not to deliver one live show and event broadcast the recording of that first show ‘as-live’. This paid dividends in the nature of the audience engagement with the piece, evidenced by the buzz generated on social media, and the necessarily exhilarating experience of the performers. Some audience members even paid to catch it twice!
Necessity, the mother of invention
I’ve written elsewhere about how, in the midst of the tragedy and hardships, it feels like we’re in a new golden age of pioneering creativity in digital creation, especially at its intersection with live performance. A period not seen since some people in Wall Street and the City of London started blowing into that infamous dot-com bubble at the turn of the millenium, appropriating and all but ending the socially engaged creative experimentation of the ’90s.
A crisis always focuses attention on that which needs fixing and with that emerges an appetite for innovation and change. In amongst all of the social upheaval and hardship of 2020-21 there is cultural innovation that could give us something to look forward to.
ADDENDUM: Following the success of Draw From Within, Rambert have commissioned me to produce a season of three live streamed shows for 2021. You can read about Rambert’s intention here and watch the season trailer below.