Dancer's Survival Handbook

Sara Torres is a full-time lighting designer and stage manager. I first met her while working for Seattle International Dance Festival (SIDF), but Sara has worked at nearly every theater in Seattle. Originally, she did not set out to be a stage manager until she began lighting for SIDF and had to learn a lot of skills very quickly. The primary job of a stage manager is to keep track of all the moving parts in a performance. This includes light and sound cues, moving set pieces, transitions, and scheduling performers to run through tech rehearsal. Sara discusses the differences between lighting for theater and dane: theater is more cerebral and text-based, while lighting for dance comes from emotion and intention. Theater requires more face light because it is difficult to hear someone when you can't see their mouth move, whereas dance requires lighting the entire body. In both genres, the top priority in lighting is to suit the mood of the piece and serve the director or choreographer's vision. On that note,