Eli Williamson performs a humorous interpretation of “Albuquerque” by Weird Al Yankovic during a virtual DDF meet. Williamson won first place for his interpretation.
The Haines Glacier Bards performed in its first drama, debate and forensics virtual meet of the season and four of the students took first and second places in multiple categories.
Eli Williamson took first in humorous interpretation. Stella Ordonez took first in solo acting, third in humorous interpretation and fourth in dramatic acting. Yzella Miramontes, a newcomer to the Bards, took second in solo acting. Hannah Boron and Williamson took first in duo acting. Haines took fifth place in readers theatre.
Bards coach Hannah Bochart said the team will not only practice their deliveries, but work on staying comfortable in front of a screen, where they have to ensure they stay within the frame and where they can see themselves as they perform. Students prerecorded their pieces for the initial rounds, and acted them out in front of the computer for the final rounds.
“Now that we have a taste of what it’s going to be like, we’re going to change how we practice our pieces,” Bochart said. “We’re going to start having a zoom call going so they can practice framing themselves in the shot, while seeing a little avatar of themselves staring back at them and having virtual practices.”
Williamson said that although he was initially concerned about having virtual meets, he was pleased with how the weekend’s meet progressed and hopes the success can be carried through the season.
“We had two workshops about the difference between live acting and in-front-of-camera acting,” Williamson said. “It was definitely an adjustment. I’m a lot more confident and comfortable. Of course I don’t prefer it but it’s better than I expected it to be.”
Williamson performed a humorous interpretation of the song “Albuquerque” by Weird Al Yankovic.
“It’s a 10-minute song that entails this details of this random guy’s life and it’s completely ludicrous. It’s not a very story-driven piece, it’s just really just random stuff, the kind of stuff you’d expect from Weird Al,” Williamson said. “I’m able to interpret it how I wish rather than copying what Weird Al did which really appealed to me because I wanted to make it my own thing.”
Newcomer Miramontes performed her first-ever meet virtually after only two weeks of practice. She performed a humorous piece called “For Whom the Bell, Like, Tolls” about a college freshman who is upset with a poor grade she received for an essay about Ernest Hemingway’s “The Old Man and the Sea.”
First-time performer Yzella Miramontes performs her solo acting piece “For Whom the Bell, Like, Tolls.” She placed second after only practicing for two weeks.
“After last year, when the DDF team put on a final performance for the community, I was like ‘Wow that’s so cool,'” Miramontes said. “Being a senior, I realized how I missed out on other activities or haven’t taken advantage of being in different groups and being with different people.”
“She jumped in, never having done DDF, with both feet first,” Bochart said. “She took home second place in her solo, which I find pretty impressive.”
Metlakatla hosted the tournament where the Bards competed against Thunder Mountain, Metlakatla, Skagway, Ketchikan, Sitka and Mount Edgecumbe. Their next meet is Nov. 13 and 14.
The Alaska School Activities Association last week canceled DDF competitions after Nov 21. It’s unclear how they will move forward when school continues after the holiday break.
“They’re hitting pause on the 21st and meets will be renegotiated at a later date in January,” Bochart said. “We won’t do anything in December. Hopefully we’ll be able to argue our case and continue with the format we’ve been using or a reduced format.”