EVENT: This show is part of St. Louis Fringe Fest, which is the local branch of an international theater festival.
Date: TBA by FringeFest. Will be 2 or 3 performances during the same week. Last year it was in August.
Project Trello board: This is where you’ll find details about characters, scenes, and other show elements. It’s a place to brainstorm with scene partners & directors, communicate about music and costuming, etc. Trello is our main tool for organizing and communicating information.
The first column is random notes, second column is the cast list, and after that each column represents one scene in the show.
Compensation: We don’t do this show for the money. We receive a portion of ticket sales, and share that with performers after paying expenses. However, it amounts to a token payment (last year it was $26 each).
Overview
This show tells the story of Medusa from her childhood to her death.
Medusa’s story has been told for centuries through the male gaze, in which women are passive victims, and their relationships with one another are characterized by jealousy and competition for — you guessed it — the male gaze.
In our version, Medusa is the feisty hero of the story, which means she drives the plot forward through her own decision-making.
Also, her friendships with other women are vital to her story.
Although we’re telling a story it’s still primarily a bellydance show. Please don’t feel like you have to play-act the storyline in a literal way with your dance.
Between dance scenes, there will be narration and animation to lay out the finer points of the story for the audience. So your job is largely to evoke emotion and enterain our audience.
Process
The show is modular, meaning each scene stands by itself as a dance number. That way, each troupe, duet, or soloist can be responsible for developing their own scenes independently and there’s less demand on your time or need for full-cast rehearsals.
I’m envisioning one full-show walkthrough (scenes can still be in rough form) in May and a final rehearsal of the full show in July. We’ll also have a tech rehearsal just before the performances begin in August, where you’ll have an opportunity to work with the lighting and sound director.
We want each scene to feel completely different, so we want you to express your creativity in your scene! At the same time, we want a cohesive show, so we’ll need to communicate and work together to make sure everything is seamless and makes sense to the audience.
If your scene is a solo or duet
You can choose your own music. Fringe has ASCAP licensing, so you have freedom to use whatever music you want.
We need to keep each dance performance under 4 minutes.
3 minutes is even better. If you need help cutting a piece of music to fit, please reach out!
I know that seems super short, but from the audience’s point of view, it’s a very lengthy monologue for one character in a stage show! Plus, our entire show is limited to a 60-minute time slot by Fringe Fest and we’re trying to do A LOT in that time, so be a good team player and help us keep things moving!
I will have final approval on all music, to make sure the show flows well and we strike the right emotional arc to match the storyline. Please submit your music choice as early as possible so we know how the timing will work to fit everything in.
You (and your scene partner, if any) will be given some background information about the mood you’re creating, the emotion you’re interpreting, and what “job” your dance has in the storyline. You’ll create your dance from that information independently.
If you’re in a group scene
You’ll be sent the music for your scene so you can get familiar with it.
You’ll be invited to an in-studio brainstorming session where I’ll communicate my vision and we’ll noodle through the music together. You’ll leave that session with a clear plan of what you can work on independently or in small groups and then we’ll get together again to finalize.
Time Commitment
We’re trying to keep demands on your time to a minimum. Here’s what I’m thinking:
Everyone:
- January: Full cast meeting
- May: Rough walk-through of the full show & costume photoshoot for promos
- July: Full rehearsal
- August: Tech rehearsal & performances.
Group Scene Participants Only (Ceto, Graeae, Medusa’s Sisters, Priestesses, High Priestess of the Sea & Pegasus)
- Feb/March: Group Scene Noodling
- April: Group Scene Finalization
- May: Rehearsal
- July: Rehearsal