Iklektik Performance & Takeaways

Over the course of the last two weeks, I had the opportunity to assist with our course’s performance showcase. Initially, I had a set in the works with another student where we had planned to blend our experimental styles in a performance setting. Some sample pieces came from this collaboration, but in the end, our schedules didn’t line up to be able to put our work together; so the set did not end up coming together. Regrettably, I could have used the material I put together to put together some sort of performance, but this was a very new environment for me. I have not performed my own work ever, so the loss of my partner hindered my confidence to function well enough in this area, so I did not follow through with this in the end. I can take away a lot from myself in this one moment where I know I had material to perform but was just too nervous to just do it on my own, which I can recognize and hope I can get past now. Regardless of being able to perform, I still had a heavy hand in the organization and the documentation of this performance, which I can absolutely use to my favor in the future. (huge shout out to Travis for really putting in the work to make this whole thing happen) In planning for this performance, I took the lead in organizing the social media presence to get the word out to people; requesting artist pictures and bios to post in order to decorate the page with our course members and get their names out. From this, I also took on the documentation of the performance, providing a stationary camera as well as a GoPro for a dynamic recording for the artists to have quality footage for their portfolios. Though this sort of work with social media and documentation is not necessarily what I want to focus on, I know this is an important aspect of developing a portfolio for myself and others. From this experience as a whole; I have learned some of my strengths and weaknesses when it comes to a performance setting. 1. I need to get over myself and let go of the idea of perfection on the stage because that will not happen; I should learn to lean into this. 2. I have the required skills to function in this setting on and off stage and with this I can absolutely expand on finding similar opportunities. I feel like this experience alone gave me lots of insight to the ins and outs of what it requires to perform on and off stage. Overall, the performance showcase was a valuable learning experience for me, both in terms of the artistic and organizational aspects of creating a successful performance. While I may not have performed my own set, I gained insights into other creative process and learned how to collaborate in this sort of environment with effective communication and collaboration. I’m hope to to continue exploring my own artistic voice and learn how to apply what I’ve seen and experienced to future projects.