The Leffell School arts department hosted a variety of performances on April 16 for parents, teachers, and students via Zoom. Many students had been looking forward to this event for months, especially considering that it was the first digital performance this school year.
While last year’s Arts Madness show, ultimately canceled, was centered around superheroes, the high school arts committee shifted the theme to heroes this time around.
“With the current pandemic, the new theme takes on a new meaning, of not just celebrating the people in capes, but we’re celebrating the people on the frontlines who are out there working in high risk places every day,” sophomore Sam Stein said.
With all of the changes throughout the past year and a half, the concept of celebrating the frontline workers, doctors, nurses, teachers and public workers has become more important than ever.
“For Arts Madness this year, we did the whole thing as a movie,” Upper School Performing Arts Coordinator Ariana Tullai said. “Usually it would be a live performance, but this year, we collected video submissions and compiled them into a movie for everyone to watch.”
The presentation, filmed in advance, included singing since it could be recorded in a COVID-compliant way. It was streamed for students during Friday Special Programming.
“The other shows we’ve been in this year we weren’t able to sing, but now I get to do a duet, which is a lot more fun,” freshman Abigail Farca said.
By performing more music in different styles, students were able to express themselves in ways that they hadn’t been able to do for a while.
“It’s so much fun and such a great way to express myself, and I get to be with friends and do duets with them,” freshman Bailey Goldberg said. “We also get to meet people in other grades and work with people who are interested in different types of arts, and you get to know people who like different things.”
Since it has been such a long time since students were able to truly work together, the show was even more special for the performers and for the TLS community.
The show also gave students the chance to show off the visual arts.
“I feel like some students can’t really express the art that they want to express at school because some people just won’t see it,” Goldberg said. “I know people who do drawing and painting and their art isn’t showcased as much throughout the school. This is such a great opportunity for everyone to come see what we are doing and it’s exciting.”
Click here to view a recording of the event
