Purdue Convocations pivots to new forms of live performance

Due to the cancellation of university-sponsored on-campus events under the guidelines of Protect Purdue, the Purdue Convocations team has had to adapt to new forms of live powerful performance, illuminating discourse and learning experiences.

Normally, Convocations offers the region 30-40 performances of widely varying genres: Broadway-style shows, theater, dance, world music, and more. All of them share a vision for connecting artists and audiences in artistic dialogue and for drawing in academic discourse, exploring human cultural expression in a multitude of forms and media.

A Manual Cinema member shows the use of puppet and shadow together. (Photo provided)

The Convocations team recently announced its modified programmatic approach with a care package and two virtual performances. The West Lafayette Global Fest Care Package, which annually honors a federal naturalization ceremony for new U.S. citizens by holding a community street festival, this year had to transition from live performances to a care package with music downloads, recipes, and a yard sign that that celebrates the inclusive spirit of this community.

“Due to the safety precautions set in place and the Convocations team’s promise to Protect Purdue, we can no longer gather in the same room, but we can gather at the same time,” says Todd Wetzel, assistant vice provost for student life and executive director of Convocations. “We are able sit in the comfort of our own homes and watch performances on a screen, but it is still all happening live.”

Coming soon in this mode will be a world-premiere online event created for audiences of all ages by Manual Cinema, an interdisciplinary performance collective. It will present a visually inventive adaptation of Charles Dickens’ holiday classic, “A Christmas Carol,” made specially for 2020. This world premiere will be performed live from Chicago each night, the performance will be held Dec. 4-5 and 11-13.

“Scott Silven’s ‘The Journey’” involves interaction with his virtual audience, surrounding him on screens around a room. The limited-audience show will be Jan. 26-31. (Photo provided)

For early next year, Convocations has invited back critically acclaimed Scottish illusionist/mentalist Scott Silven for his newly developed show, “Scott Silven’s ‘The Journey.’” This remarkable interactive experience in illusion will take place Jan. 26-31.

“The audience interaction is most certainly the heart of this show,” Wetzel says. “The Convocations team may not be able to have proximity within theaters, but we can still bring in proximity in other ways. By gathering at the same time, in different places, Convocations has been able to bring a new dimension to live performance.” Learn more about Purdue Convocations events here.

One of the new pivotal projects for Purdue Convocations is the partnership with the Division of Diversity and Inclusion to host the “Pursuing Racial Justice Together” lecture series. As a catalyst for engaging educational opportunities, Convocations brings its expertise to staging events so that lectures, conversations and similar events succeed.

“We know that we are not able to be in the room shoulder to shoulder with moments of communal clapping and gasps, in that way we are limited,” Wetzel says. “However, we can engage people with more sustained discussion. The medium allows for diverse, multifaceted components within the lecture series. We feel this ability to go deeper has been very beneficial to these pivotal conversations.

“A possible outcome from the pandemic could be the continuation of large educational content that can be done virtually and accessed everywhere, compared to the restriction of live in-person content. We have seen that people have been able to adapt, and actually enjoy the self-selection of when to enjoy content. We have learned that if you produce content well and it is good, people will enjoy it.”

Mike Armintrout, senior associate director at Purdue Convocations, predicts that it may be a long time before Convocations operates like it did in early 2019. Possible permanent changes to Convocations include the reevaluation of refund policies, changes to touring schedules, and more flexibility from staff and attendees. Convocations is still finalizing the Spring 2021 program schedule but will be taking into consideration different precautions strategies to ensure world-class performance experiences.

About Friends of Convocations

The Friends of Convocations are devoted art advocates, stewards of financial resources, and advisors in all areas of work, whose gifts allow Convocations to keep ticket prices low, to bring educational art programs for students of all ages, and to allow us to make big projects a reality. Friends of Convocations were kind enough to donate the price of their tickets for the canceled programs during the Spring 2020 season. Todd Wetzel, expressed his “enduring gratitude for our Friends of Convocations’ continued support during these precarious times.”

Writer: Makenna Fitzgerald, fitzge39@purdue.edu