Oran, Algeria
Oran, AlgeriaBattery Dance Company worked and performed here in 2010 before its tour of Africa. For Lessons Learned, Program Specifics and Narrative for Oran, see Algiers, Algeria.
Dates
Sponsors
Program Specifics
Schedule Rest Time
When Sean and Robin Arrived at the theater in Oran, they had a lot more to worry about than their own performance.
They had to prepare the Dancing to Connect students for their performance in a new location, fulfill technical duties and prepare for their own performance. Fortunately, the dancers had taken the morning to rest so that they could put on a great show in Oran, later in the day.
On February 19th at 6:45 AM, Battery Dance Company left Algiers for Oran to prepare for their first performance later that same day!
They rested in the morning because the company knew that the rest of the day and evening would be a marathon. When BDC arrived at the theater, they had the unusual triple duties of preparing themselves for their own performance, preparing the Dancing to Connect students for theirs, AND being in full charge of the lighting and technical aspects. The theater had very few functioning lights and the lighting designer was a novice. He either ignored BDC's suggestions or simply didn't have the capacity to follow them. There was much conversation between him and his co-workers which the company couldn’t follow – and which didn't yield any recognizable results. A few times Robin had to raise her voice to get his attention. Trying to run the students’ pieces and simultaneously talk to the sound guy and lighting designer and trying to patch up holes in the floor off stage was not a happy job.
Overall the performance went well, the theater was packed and there was lots of applause. The students seemed really happy. After the show, they were clapping and singing and throwing the dancers up in the air. There was a wonderful feeling of everyone working together to do a fine job.