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Arts & Comms: Behind the Cameras

August 24, 2021 12:00 AM
BYU CFAC alumni reflect on their return to campus for the Arts & Comms videos
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Preparing Exhibitions is a Multi-Faceted Process at BYU’s Museum of Art

February 01, 2021 12:00 AM
Museums can be filled with anything from ancient statues to modern sculptures. Some even display historical documents, colorful paintings and illuminated texts. The BYU Museum of Art displays art through its semi-permanent and traveling exhibitions. Behind the art displays and interactive elements of exhibits are the museum staff — each member fulfilling unique responsibilities to aid in the acquisition and installation of art. Acquiring art Before art can be displayed at the MOA, it must first be acquired by the museum’s curators. Ashlee Whitaker, the Roy and Carol Christensen curator for religious art, has been in charge of curating a number of art pieces displayed at the museum. Whitaker’s curatorial responsibilities include searching for art to be added to the museum’s collection. “We’re always looking for acquisitions and pieces of art that will enhance our collection and mission as a university art museum,” Whitaker said. She explained that art can be acquired by the museum in many ways, from art auctions to open galleries. Read the full story written by Rebecca Nissen at universe.byu.edu.
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Behind Camera and Curtain: Students and Faculty Work Behind the Scenes at BYU Dance LIVE

October 02, 2020 12:00 AM
Arts production and dance departments join forces to produce weekly virtual performances
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Meet the Students Behind the Piano in BYU’s Ballet Studios

July 15, 2020 12:00 AM
BYU provides pianists a rare opportunity to train in ballet accompaniment
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BYU Magazine: BYU, Still

May 12, 2020 12:00 AM
How campus went quiet, yet BYU continued on, during the coronavirus pandemic Day by day—and sometimes hour by hour—elements of the BYU experience were suddenly shifting, disrupting everything from budding relationships to Sunday meetings to major university events, including BYU Women’s Conference and April graduation ceremonies—both canceled. All NCAA competition was suspended. Meanwhile professors and campus IT personnel scrambled to take BYU entirely online by Wednesday, March 18. Many faculty turned to the video program Zoom to stream or record instruction, innovating new ways to teach hands-on subjects like dance, music, and nursing or to simulate lab research remotely. Read the full article by Michael R. Walker at magazine.byu.edu.
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Scott Cook: Meet the Videographer Behind Department of Dance Films

February 29, 2020 12:00 AM
Videographer and media arts alum Scott Cook shares his experience with dance film, collaboration and mentoring
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Behind the Photo: A Look at BYU Dance Photoshoot

December 18, 2019 12:00 AM
Creativity, hard work and a couple of miracles result in a unique dance poster
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Christmas Around the World Showcases International Choreographers

November 27, 2019 12:00 AM
Dancers from the International Folk Dance Ensemble worked with artists from across the world to bring a diverse performance to BYU
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A Bridge to China

November 12, 2019 12:00 AM
A bond forged 40 years ago was renewed this year by BYU’s largest-ever performing tour. In the most unlikely of long shots, BYU’s Young Ambassadors became the first Western performing group to enter communist China in 1979, finding sudden fame and forging an improbable bond with the Chinese people—a friendship now 40 years strong. It’s a relationship marked by academic and cultural exchanges, faculty collaborations, long-standing study-abroad programs, and 30 repeat trips by BYU performing groups. In nearly six decades of sending student performing groups abroad, BYU had taken on some pretty ambitious tours, but the 2019 tour exceeded them all with eight groups combined for 167 performers in total. Throw in the tech crew, directors, and other support staff, and the company numbered more than 200. For two years Janielle Hildebrandt Christensen, producer Michael G. Handley (BS ’83), and others worked to craft a show around various Chinese audience interests—including Broadway, Riverdance and American clog, ballroom dance, a capella, and an addition of BYU's dunk team for basketball-crazed Chinese audiences. Wanting more than just a variety show, the creators wove together a theme of shared values—family, learning, friendship, harmony, and love. Calling it BYU Spectacular, they built a show to live up to the name, with pump-up lighting for the dunk team’s acrobatics, laser projections for a John Williams fanfare by the Chamber Orchestra, larger-than-life lion puppetry operated by Cougarettes for a Vocal Point cover of “Circle of Life,” and stilts and a Segway for a dreamlike Greatest Showman number by the Young Ambassadors. When technical director Travis L. Coyne arrived in Beijing five days before the first performance in May, he expected his 20 pallets of lights, sound equipment, scenery, staging, projectors, puppets, and trampolines to already be in country and working their way through customs. However, the shipping company told him there had been a delay, but—not to fear—it would all arrive shortly. Two days later, the equipment still not in China, the company admitted that the load had been bumped from its flight and sent instead to Newark. New Jersey. USA. There was no way it could arrive and pass customs in time for the Beijing performances. “We were praying for a miracle,' said Christensen. Read more at magazine.byu.edu
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Behind the Scenes of BYU Spectacular! An Inside Look of the 2019 Performance

November 07, 2019 12:00 AM
A member of BYU’s Men's Chorus shares his experiences preparing for a dynamic performance This year’s BYU Spectacular! lived up to its name with energetic performances by campus ensembles and guest artists Ben Rector and Hilary Weeks — the product of hard work behind the scenes during an expedited rehearsal process. Brian Merrill — a member of BYU’s Men's Chorus — shared his experiences preparing for the event. “Something a lot of people don’t know about Spectacular! is how last-minute a lot of the preparations are,” Merrill said. “We started learning our songs a week before the performance and sang with Ben Rector a day or so before we performed together. It’s amazing that all of the coordination for Spectacular! can come together so fast.” Due to the collaborative efforts and diligence from each BYU performing group — Men’s Chorus, Young Ambassadors, Ballroom Dance Company, International Folk Dance Ensemble, Vocal Point, BYU Cougarettes and the Dunk Team — BYU Spectacular! showcased a refined performance that could have easily been rehearsed for months. “I love all of the collaboration between the performing groups,” said Merrill. “It’s really cool that we have this community of performers and we can come together at events like this. It makes it better than just one or the other performing.” This year’s Spectacular! performance was also an emotional time for BYU’s Men Chorus as conductor Rosalind Hall announced her final year as director of the choir. “I wasn’t going to do Men’s Chorus until I found out that it was going to be her last year, so I rearranged my whole class schedule,” Merrill said. “It was really special that we sang a Welsh folk song medley because she’s from Wales. The fact that we got to do something native to her is pretty meaningful for most of us.”
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BYU Student Creates Improvisational, Science-Fiction, Live Stream Web Series

August 07, 2019 12:00 AM
In February, BYU media arts major Nathan Young was playing Dungeons and Dragons with some friends when one suggested that Young start a role-playing game (RPG) show and take on the role of Dungeon Master. Young said most of his friends laughed it off, but he stayed up all night thinking about the idea. Over the next few months, Young rounded up volunteers from the media arts major to help him with this project. Young said since the idea for the web series was sparked in February, all the grant deadlines had already passed. “We had no budget. Fortunately, we were able to scrape together enough willing people who think the idea is cool from all over campus to help put this together,” Young said. Young’s show ‘Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die’ was live-streamed on July 18 through Youtube. Read the full story at universe.byu.edu.
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‘Romeo y Julieta’ Actors Share Their Experience Portraying Iconic Shakespearean Characters

February 27, 2018 12:00 AM
Rachel Leishman, Maximillian Wright and Daniel Mesta share their experience portraying the characters of Shakespeare's most famous tragic love story
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18 REASONS TO STAY UP LATE FOR NIGHT AT THE HFAC

March 25, 2016 12:00 AM
Night at the HFAC is a student-run event designed to showcase student performances and projects as well as any type of creative work from all the departments and schools in the College of Fine Arts and Communications (CFAC) to the entire student body at BYU. Students will share through dance, theatre, music, the visual and media arts. This exciting event aims to help BYU students see what fellow classmates are working on behind-the-scenes. Our college has an extraordinary amount of talent and we are excited to experience it, so, we made a list of all the reasons you should attend this glorious mashup of all things CFAC. First off, here are all the details you need to know for a fun-filled night. >>>>>
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