Presenting our 2026 program: Is It Recording?
No one records something they’d want to forget.
Is It Recording? explores the importance of capturing on video the most important moments in our lives and the lives of others. Analyzed through the lens of home movies, pop culture, and archival footage of historical moments, this production emphasizes our need to put everything on the record. So that way, even if footage gets corrupted, lost, destroyed, or manipulated, there will always be the people and things that prove its existence, in the way it was intended.
Prologue:
A camera connects to a TV, footage is now loading. Static. Colored Bars. Glitchy Audio. And now the footage has emerged. A child being born. You hear multiple people asking if the camera’s out, and if it is recording.
Act I.
The next decades are now recorded, home movies that follow their early years. Feeding time, playtime, their first steps, first day of school, birthdays, a trip to the park, vacations, school plays, speeches, performances, diplomas, driving off for college, holiday gatherings, a college degree in hand, working their first jobs. Chaotic yet nostalgic, going through all emotions positive, negative, and neutral. These recordings provide us with the humanity that we possess.
Act II.
Some of the most iconic recordings come from the media we watch and listen to. Shows, movies, video games, podcasts, music. Whether it’s real or fiction, educational or entertainment, pop culture becomes an important part of our existence. We’re cruising through time and analyzing what was and what is relevant. They shape how we view the world, similar to how the creators or these forms of media shape how they’re seen and heard.
Act III.
Our focus now shifts to recording the real world. We notice the beauty. The tender parts of humanity, breathtaking nature, and remarkable achievements. But for every beautiful thing out there in the world, there is something that is painful. Showcasing the worst of humanity and nature. Steps back in our society. And yet, we record them anyway. We do it to remind ourselves where we were, where we are, and where we could be. We film the pain as chilling reminders that progress is not linear. And to make the beautiful moments more rewarding.
Act IV.
As easy as it is to record these moments in time, it is just as easy for these recordings to be lost. The corruption, loss, destruction, and manipulation of footage leads to decay until… nothing. This is to send a message: If these recordings aren’t preserved properly, they could all go away. What we saw and what we heard is now in jeopardy of being lost forever.
Act V.
Just when we think it’s all gone, we come out from the shadows. Footage is gone, and yet… it’s not forgotten. Everyone remembers the good and the bad, the personal and the widespread. And the recordings that were deleted? We discover copies, or perhaps the original recording emerging from the darkness. Despite nearly losing it all, we come together to rebuild it all. As long as we have the records of these important moments in time recorded, whether in the form of people or documents, then we will be alright.
Musical Selections
- Stare – Alex Somers [Youtube]
- Tezeta (Nostalgia) – Mulatu Astatke [Youtube]
- What Is Hip? – Tower of Power [Youtube]
- Baltimore – Tokio Myers [Youtube]
- stay volk – Mobley [Youtube]
- Alright – Kendrick Lamar [Youtube]
Design Team
- Marco Iannelli – Program Coordinator, Brass and Front Ensemble Arranger, Sound Designer
- Joshua Boulis – Battery Arranger
- Christopher Moore – Visual Designer
- Jessie Tawney – Color Guard Designer
- Danielle Moore – Design Consultant