When Wittenberg University was selected to host the 2019 American College Dance Association (ACDA) East-Central Region Conference, opportunities to take leading roles in all aspects of hosting the event were offered to students by Shih-Ming Li Chang, chair of the Department of Theatre and Dance and conference coordinator. For four days (March 1-4), these students not only kept the lights on and the music loud, they exceeded all expectations.

These Tigers stepped up to the challenge, allowing a conference that included nearly 400 participants from 26 schools across five states to operate smoothly. What follows are first-person accounts of the experience from Jessica Sutherly '22, Joylyn Heino '22, and Gabby Szydlowski '20, and comments about his experience working with the Wittenberg students from Terry McGonigle, technical and operations manager of John Legend Theatre.

Jessica Sutherly
Class of 2022

I was asked around October of fall semester to be the Production Manager and the Stage Manager for the ACDA conference at Wittenberg. At first I was shocked that as a freshman I was being asked, but that didn’t stop me from stepping in the position. It was difficult at first because I had no clue the amount of work it took to be a Production Manager along with all of my classes and shows that I was working on as well. At some points when we would be finalizing the tech schedule and get the order for the performances just right for everyone involved I would be up until three in the morning working on things. I had to arrange the schedule around when the schools would arrive, how long their songs were and some of the schools had multiple pieces.

When we were getting near to the big conference I asked some of our technical students if they would help me with lights and sound. August Tiemeyer and Joy Heino saved the day when they said they would work. Keep in mind that all of the students involved worked this over
the begining weekend of spring break. The adjudication concerts ran so smoothly. They couldn’t believe that it was students who were running it. I was chatting with some of the dancers about Wittenberg’s involvement and they said that all of the other schools would hire professionals to
do the work that we were doing. They couldn't believe I was a freshman. When the concerts were over Terry McGonigle the Technical Director for John Legend, offered all the students who ran tech for the concerts jobs at the theatre. Our students have now worked with different equipment that we don’t have in our theatre. It was a truly amazing experience and I’m so thankful for Shih-Ming for providing me with this opportunity.

Terry McGonigle
Technical and Operations Manager, John Legend Theatre

Working with the technical theater students during the ACDA Conference was a great experience. Although we had never had the opportunity to meet and work together before, we were able to fall into a routine that was smooth and comfortable for all. The sound and lighting equipment in the John Legend Theater can be a bit overwhelming to say the least. The Witt students faced the challenge and adapted quickly to the tasks placed before them and seemed undaunted during the four very long days. Their positive attitudes were second only to their willingness to learn from each experience and give the visiting dance teams the very best they could.

Their professionalism, attitude and willingness to adapt on the spur of the moment as things needed to be changed made my life as the technical supervisor much easier and allowed me the flexibility to be available to float and deal with other areas and put out fires as the need arose. I would gladly work with these students again, and will utilize them in staff positions for future John Legend Theater events.

Joylyn Heino
Class of 2021

I worked as a sort of lighting technician for the ACDA conference. I programmed light cues into the light board however the different choreographers and lighting designers wanted. This was the first time I'd ever done something like that. It was actually the first time I'd ever worked a light board before. The whole experience was intimidating at first, but I appreciate what I learned from it. Because of it I feel more versatile and confident as a theatre "techie."

Gabrielle Szydlowski
Class of 2020

My name is Gabby and I am a junior Early Childhood major at Wittenberg. I am from Twinsburg, Ohio. I have been involved with the dance department since I stepped foot on campus. I have been involved with dance since I was a little girl. Making the decision to continue dancing at Witt was easy because it allowed me to continue doing something I love for fun. Since coming to Witt, I have participated in every dance concert and choreographed for two of the concerts. The dance department also allowed me the opportunity to attend the American College Dance Association. I attended the conference both my freshman and sophomore years. The American College Dance Association provides collegiate dancers the opportunity to take classes from amazing faculty and see inspiring performances from other universities. My favorite part of the conference was performing a piece at the University of Illinois-Champaign.

Professor Shih-Ming Li Chang brought me on as the Volunteer Coordinator for the ACDA conference after Wittenberg was selected to host the conference of over 400 attendees. It was nerve-wracking at first to have a large role in a conference of such grand size. In this position, I was given the opportunity to coordinate Wittenberg dancers to be the leading volunteer for each of the master classes on campus, assist with registration, and help keep everyone calm and prepared to do their duties. None of this would have been possible if it were not for Sue Apple and Professor Shih-Ming Li Chang. I thank them both for this great opportunity for leadership and growth.