The story was updated at 3:56 p.m. June 9 to reflect the correction of the virtual performance, Director of the Performing Arts Center Tiina Mittler said was the “Ghost Light Series.”
A correction was made to the graphic art at 4:47 p.m. June 9 to reflect the correct name of the virtual performance, “Ghost Light Series.”
A correction was made to the story at 4:52 p.m. June 9 to reflect the quote from Kristen Campbell, the supervisor of the Visual Performing Arts Department.
Student artists will no longer be performing live, but since art is an adapting field students in the spring 2020 semester can perform virtually through the Ghost Light Series,” Tiina Mittler Director of the Performing Arts Center said in a phone interview.
The “Ghost Light Series” is a new way the art students remain performing live acts. Through Facebook, Citrus continues to support the students so they don’t miss any opportunities.
“There is a specific meaning to the Ghost Light, which refers to a single light left on stage when there are no performances,” Kristen Campbell, the supervisor of the Visual Performing Arts Department said through the Citrus Arts’s, @citrus_arts Instagram direct message.
The COVID-19 pandemic is occurring now, but the show must go on.
The Haugh Performing Arts Center cancelled 20 performances, 16 of which were academic performances. So, students can’t work at the Theme Shop, backstage or as ushers.
The Director of the Haugh, Tiina Mittler said she has adapted, like many other staff members on campus. She also said the theaters are missed by many, but during any type of live show when things go wrong performers have to be calm and adapt.
“Even though the staff is good at solving things like that on stage, we miss our stage, we miss working with the students and the faculty, we miss having artists in,” Mittler said.
Students part of the Haugh will continue to do virtual performances for the fall. Their first full-range virtual performance with ‘Full Motion’ was on May 29 where the student dancers learned choreography and recorded themselves dancing.
The show would originally have been at the Haugh, but due to the pandemic the Performing Arts stage manager, Karen Hallki edited the entire virtual show. She said they’re excited to display it on their Facebook page at @haughpac, Instagram at @citrus_arts and YouTube at Haugh Media.
Some professors and students from the photography department have also adapted to remote instruction. Amanda Keller Konya, a photography professor at Citrus, has adapted to the changes.
“Yes, the first few weeks might have been difficult for everyone to transition to remote learning here at Citrus but however, I was surprised by how well most students have adapted,” Konya said in an email interview.
Professors have been teaching students online. Luckily for her and her students, most of their courses were online before the pandemic so they were able to adapt fast.
“We have a very strong photography community at Citrus and we all miss seeing and interacting with one another,” Konya said in an email.
Additionally, the photography students often work with other departments such as the Performing Arts department or the Cosmetology department.
Moving classes online has led some to drop the semester and the fall like Dominique Domingues, theater and art student.
“It’s just not what I signed up for,” Domingues said. “I miss interacting with other students.”
Domingues said she’s disappointed even though she believes she made the right decision for herself.
The Citrus Performing Arts community feels very strongly that the school is making the right decision for the college and The Haugh Performing Arts Center at this time, Konya said.
