Dance club adjusts to their new normal

by Tatiana Montavon

Last fall Abby Glaws and some friends launched a brand-new club sport on Butler’s campus:
dance club. This fall, one year later, they’ve hit some road bumps they never would’ve expected.
Every semester since the launch of the club, dance club has run a student choreographed
showcase. This semester, however, they’ve had to make some changes.
“We've greatly limited the amount of dancers allowed in one practice, and on stage,” said
Glaws, who’s now the current president of the club. “For the showcase, in order to limit audience
attendance, we'll be recording and sending out a digital version of the performance for families
and friends.” She adds that all dancers, when in person, must be wearing a mask at all times, and
there will be no lifts, partnering or any physical contact in any dances.
Rehearsals for the showcase, usually held once a week in Lily Hall, are now being held over
Zoom, which comes with its own set of challenges.
To Taylor Budge, who’s learning two dances for the showcase, the biggest challenge is the audio
lag. “When choreographers play music from a separate device into the speakers of their
computers, there's a delay and slight distortion for the dancers. Then there is a delay from the
dancers timing when they hear the music back to the choreographers' screens,” she said. “It is
difficult to tell whether the dancers know the timing or not.”
To Sarah Ault, who’s the choreographer of two dances, the biggest challenge is finding the
space. “I want to be able to move and get up and get around and I’m constantly running into my
washing machines or this table,” she said. Rehearsing on Zoom also leaves Ault struggling as a
choreographer to figure out how things really fit together.
This is Ault’s third semester choreographing for the showcase. The previous two semesters she
has arranged a K-pop dance and she’s continuing that this semester, while also choreographing
her own lyrical dance on top of that.
With the K-pop dances, Ault utilizes dance tutorial videos that already exist online, meaning
creating the choreography is already done, she’s just got to teach it. For her lyrical dance,
however, she’s got to come up with all the choreography herself, which adds extra anxiety to the
whole situation already worsened by the effects of COVID-19.
Ault has been recording videos of herself going step-by-step through the choreography and
sending them to the dancers so they can use it to practice. Budge, who’s in Ault’s K-pop dance,
notes that communication like this is key for successful online rehearsals.
“We've been utilizing emails, group text messages, and GroupMe much more than we would
have without COVID,” Budge said. This semester, choreographers are doing more than they
have before, “such as recording every rehearsal to send in their group chats, some have sent their
dancers the choreography notes, and creating polls in GroupMe to assess how their dancers are
doing and what is most helpful to them.”
The one thing Ault misses the most from in person rehearsals isn’t the ease of it in comparison to
Zoom rehearsals, but rather the companionship.
“Every day I could come into rehearsals last two semesters and get to see everyone and maybe
stay after and have a dance party or something like that and get to know everyone,” Ault said. I
feel like I’m missing out on those bonds with the people I haven’t met yet, which is the whole
reason we’re a club.”
These changes to the showcase and the rehearsals prior to haven’t been easy on anyone, but they
all recognize that health and safety come first. “Being over Zoom sucks, it really sucks, and it’s
not an ideal way to teach dance, but I’d rather be slightly inconvenienced than to put people I
care about at risk,” Ault said. “So we’re making it work. And that’s the important part.”
On Saturdays like October 3, the basement of Sarah Ault’s senior house on Sunset Avenue
becomes a dance studio from noon to two p.m. while she runs rehearsals with her dancers.

Sarah Ault’s laptop is being held up with laundry detergent and her glass of water in order to
prevent it from falling off the ironing board. Teaching choreography on Zoom means getting
creative.
Sarah Ault answering questions from her dancers over Zoom. Ault gives them the opportunity to
ask questions after each small section they learn, as well as at the end of the rehearsal.

Choreograph
er Sarah Ault demonstrates a move to her K-Pop dancers from her basement over Zoom.
Sarah Ault sets up the K-pop dance tutorial video for her dancers to watch on Zoom from her
basement.