Doing a Dance recital is a supply chain story in a way. You need to source out musicians and make-up artists, plan out the rehearsal schedule, venue and guests to invite, design the costumes, stage and invitation cards, make and choreograph the steps for the 2- hour show and finally deliver it to a art-loving audience who will provide a feedback for the consumption of art that happened in the 2-hour duration of time after it is all over. Of course, technically this may not be similar to the usual supply chain process considering the exclusion of servicing and returning but there is a process of starting from nothing to creating something substantial and in that regard dance/ art performances can be seen as a supply chain process.
On 30 Dec 2012, I had my first classical dance public recital. This was the first time I was going to perform alone on-stage to live music for a whole two hours to an audience with a good range of knowledge on Indian classical dance. To say, in lesser words, it was ‘My Show’. So, I couldn’t afford to let any part of this process be done half-heartedly. To say the whole process was smooth without any hiccups would be living in denial. Like any process that requires creation, the 3 months spent on working towards the recital had a series of ups and downs that contingency management was understood in a much better light. While my parents played the role of planners- sourcing out card designers and musicians to carry out various tasks required for giving a recital as well as inviting as many people, my dance teacher was responsible for choreographing the dance acts. As far I was concerned, I had to deliver on that day. If I didn’t give it my best, all the planning would have been in vain. In a way, as a dancer, no matter how many hats you may wear prior to your performance, if the delivery of the dance is not done well or did not connect with the viewer, the whole process would be unsatisfactory to the makers as well as consumers of the art.
Until that day, I was always either a maker or deliverer of dance and choreography and I still am a consumer of dance, but slowly I am involving myself in other aspects like planning, sourcing and designing! 🙂