A capella concerts on the Lawn, dance showcases, live theater productions – student performances have long graced the University of Virginia. In the past year, as coronavirus brought in-person shows to a halt, UVA’s performance groups adapted to create virtually and keep their art alive.
Some groups are taking advantage of technology like Zoom or TikTok to allow students in different places to create, practice or learn together virtually, while others have met in small groups with a lot of precautions in place.
UVA Today reached out to a number of student arts groups across Grounds to find out how they survived the past year.
Harmonizing Apart – and On TikTok
Since last spring, students have used technology and social media to blend their individual skills into group performances, regardless of where group members are located.
“Our music director is pretty creative, and he assigns people to different parts of a song and then creates a breakout room for each part,” said Jack Smith T, a member of the a capella group Academical Village People. “In order to make the song, they get all the audio clips and splice them together. We’re very fortunate in that we have a couple of members that have experience with sound mixing.”