TECH TALKS
DanceATL Tech Talks are production and design workshops that provide a platform for experts in the field to share their knowledge and an opportunity for members of the Atlanta dance community to learn about production and design for dance and performing arts.
Upcoming Tech Talks
Production Management 101 | March 1, 2023 at 7pm
DanceATL is hosting a virtual Tech Talk focusing on production management on March 1st at 7:00pm EST. Tech Talks are production and design workshops that provide a platform for experts in the field to share their knowledge. This event will feature two Atlanta-based artists, Heath Gill and Scott Wheet, as they speak to their varied experiences curating unique productions and performances throughout the city.
This event is free for DanceATL members and $5 for non-members. The zoom link will be provided to registrants via email prior to the event. Please reach out to marketing@danceatl.org with any questions.
This event is made possible with support from Georgia Council for the Arts, Fulton County Arts and Culture, and the Community Foundation of Atlanta.
Panelists:
Scott Wheet
Scott Wheet, born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, began dancing at the age of 17 following nearly a decade of studying music & theater. In 2015, Scott graduated summa cum laude from Troy University with a BFA in Dance. During his journey from academia to the present, Scott studied alongside artists including Kristin O’Neal, Germana Civera, Tracy Gilland, Dominique Angel, Kyle Abraham, Claudia Lavista, Jen Nugent, and Pamela Pietro to name a few. Since moving to Atlanta, he has worked with T. Lang Dance, Core Dance, Staibdance and Fly on a Wall as a collaborator and artist performing new and innovative works. In his free time, Scott dove head-first into the world of production, honing skills as a stage manager, electrician, and lighting designer. In 2022, Scott joined Terminus Modern Ballet Theatre full-time as Director of Production; he continues to teach regular movement classes and support independent artists around the Atlanta-metro area.
Heath Gill
Heath began training and performing at the young age of three. While his primary focus through most of his artistic career has been in many styles of dance, his performance experience also includes trumpet, piano, musical theater, and film. Straight out of high school, Heath began a distinguished career with Atlanta Ballet performing their varied classical ballet and contemporary repertoire. Over his 10 years there, he performed in works by renowned choreographers such as John McFall, Christopher Wheeldon, James Kudelka, Twyla Tharp, David Bintley, Jean-Christophe Maillot, Jorma Elo, Val Caniparoli, Helen Pickett, Liam Scarlett, Jiri Kylian, Alex Eckman, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, Michael Pink, and Ohad Naharin. A few of his critically acclaimed roles include; Mercutio in Jean-Christophe Maillot’s Roméo et Juliette, 1st Seminarian in David Bintley’s Carmina Burana, Kilroy in Helen Pickett’s Camino Real, and the Improv Soloist in Ohad Naharin’s Minus 16. Heath has been recognized for his dancing as one of ArtsATL’s “30 under 30” and Dance Magazine’s “25 to Watch”. Through his many created works for Atlanta Ballet’s Wabi Sabi and as Resident Choreographer for Terminus Modern Ballet Theatre, he has also become a prominent choreographer in Atlanta. Notable works for TMBT include; LORE, Horizons, In the Fallout, and Marley Was Dead, To Begin With. Behind the scenes, he also served as TMBT’s Production Director helping facilitate the bringing to life of each new Terminus performance or idea. Daily, Heath continues cultivating his athleticism, artistry, curiosity, and choreographic voice.
Past Tech Talks
Costume Design | October 12, 2022 at 6:30pm
DanceATL is hosting a free virtual Tech Talk focusing on costume design on October 12th at 6:30pm. This event will feature two awesome Atlanta-based costume designers, Cynthia Church and Sara Perez, as they share their experiences collaborating with dancemakers, how artists can approach the process of costuming their own work and more.
Advance registration is required, secure your spot by clicking the button below.
This event is made possible with support from Georgia Council for the Arts and Fulton County Arts and Culture.
Producing in the Era of Covid-19 | October 27, 2021 at 7pm
DanceATL is hosting our latest Tech Talk on Wednesday, October 27th at 7PM EST. Tech Talks are production and design workshops that provide a platform for experts in the field to share their knowledge. This free virtual event will feature two panelists as they share their experience with Producing in the Era of Covid-19.
Join us as we hear from Catherine Messina and Keith Reeves. Each of these artists curated outdoor festivals when the arts industry shifted in response to the pandemic, prompting them to exercise a unique sense of creativity to gather and perform safely. During this talk, the panelists will provide an overview of their productions, answer a series of questions provided by our Production Committee, and partake in a Q&A with attendees. A recording is available for members and can be accessed in your member dashboard.
Live Streaming 101 | May 27, 2021 at 7pm
Want to learn how to seamlessly livestream your event or performance on a DIY budget? In this one-hour interactive workshop, we will discuss different applications for live streaming, what equipment is necessary, the personnel needed to manage a successful event, and what skills are transferable to live streaming among our existing network & peers. We will also cover how to make a livestream more accessible to viewers with hearing impairments as well as how to keep a stream more engaging (i.e. zoom fatigue and how to beat it)! The discussion will be geared towards performances, classes, and workshops in the dance community, but the best practices can be used laterally for any type of live streaming. A recording is available for members and can be accessed in your member dashboard.
Stage Management | November 11, 2020 at 5pm
At the helm of every smooth running show is a well equipped stage manager. You’ve heard them calling cues or reminding you to sign in at the callboard, but what else do stage managers do and why is it so important? Join us on Zoom as we clear up some of the mystery behind the stage management profession. During this talk, we will discuss the roles of a stage manager in a variety of settings, why stage management is vital to a production, what to look for when hiring a stage manager, and how to best communicate and interact with your stage manager. We will also provide samples of stage management paperwork and then open up the floor to a Q&A session. A recording is available for members and can be accessed in your member dashboard.
Angelina Pellini is currently a freelance Stage Manager based in Atlanta, GA. She is a part-time staff member at Emory University, serving as the Resident Stage Manager for the Emory Dance Program. Additionally, she works for companies such as Terminus Modern Ballet Theatre, the Atlanta Ballet, Full Radius Dance, the Modern Atlanta Dance Festival, staibdance, Kennesaw State University, Theatrical Outfit, the Atlanta Lyric Theatre, and Georgia Ensemble Theatre. Angelina spends her summers in Vail, CO at the Vail Dance Festival as the Assistant Stage Manager. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Dance with a concentration in Ballet from Kennesaw State University where she graduated summa cum laude and with honors scholar distinction. While pursuing her career in production, she finds joy in teaching ballet and contemporary to high school students at Cumming Ballet Theatre
Sharon C. Carelock graduated from both the Emory Department of Theater and Dance and the Florida State University School of Dance. While pursuing her undergraduate and graduate degrees, she spent time with prestigious faculty and notable guest artists honing the skills needed to become a proficient stage and production manager and developing her artistic voice as a director and performer. Carelock is grateful to those who have poured into her and for the opportunities to share her gifts.
Lighting Design for Dance
November 23, 2019 at 4pm
Schwartz Center for Performing Arts, Emory Dance Studio
The tech talk we know you’ve been asking for. Greg Catellier (Emory Dance) and Heather Pynne (Emory Performing Arts Studio) will discuss some basic lighting design information and tips on how to talk to your lighting designer. Following this discussion, we’ll show you how each of us would approach lighting the same piece and give you a chance to try it out yourselves.This discussion will take place between two of Emory Dance Company’s performances, and we highly encourage you to attend one of the two performances to spark your questions before or to re-frame your thoughts on lighting after.
Q Lab
October 20, 2019 at 11am
Schwartz Center for Performing Arts, Emory Dance Studio
Q-lab is the industry standard for playing sound and video files in live theater, but this Mac based program has a lot offer choreographers rehearsing in the studio. In this hands-on workshop, Greg Catellier (Emory Dance) and Heather Pynne (Emory Performing Arts Studio) will give you a primer on using QLab in the studio and as a tool to improve the structure of your tech, rather than an obstacle to overcome. We’ll go over the basics and also get into more advanced topics, as time and interest allows. While we will primarily be focusing on audio, we will touch on using QLab for video projection and lighting. Heather will also go over QLab’s little sibling for the smaller Apple devices (iPad, iPhone, etc.): Go Button.
Production and Design
June 2, 2019 at 2pm
Core Dance Downstairs Studios
You have the vision; we have the framework.
Seasoned dance professionals Greg Catellier, Joe Futral, and Heather Pynne sit down together to answer your questions about production and design for dance artists. Why should I hire a designer? How do I make a production schedule? Do I need a tech rider? (What is a tech rider, anyway?) We’ll do our best to answer all these and more, hopefully sparking some creative flames along the way. In the first of these free talks, we’ll look at the broad strokes of production and design, taking plenty of your questions along the way.