Anonymo/us Project has seamlessly adapted to remote learning methods and is an innovative way to keep students engaged in the arts and connected to one another while under social distancing restrictions. By providing students with opportunities to share their stories and collaborate creatively with one another, Anonymo/us Project supports students and their mental health during these difficult times.
"Frame of You" was written by Santa Fe Prep student Emma Lawrence in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Students remotely filmed themselves performing Emma and Angelina Miller’s choreography. The individual videos were spliced together into this final piece.
By March 2020, Santa Fe Preparatory School was set to perform a live stage production of Anonymo/us Project when the school quickly switched to remote learning as the COVID-19 pandemic spread. Project leaders at the school shifted gears and seamlessly transitioned the script–originally written for the stage–to an entirely virtual performance.
Students used their ingenuity and creativity to adapt scenes, monologues, dances, and songs to remotely crafted content. Some students tried their hands at stop motion animation and drawing, others at careful video editing paired with well choreographed movement, and more still with beautifully voiced over and visually engaging monologues from the solitude of their own homes. And of course, there were a couple of recorded zoom calls thrown in.
“I felt like the project kept me sane in a time that would have otherwise been a lot harder and stranger.”
The result was a beautiful compilation of artistic expression. Many students remarked on the experience being especially comforting and engaging at such a turbulent time. One student involved with the Santa Fe Prep project remarked, “it was really nice for me to have a commitment and a creative outlet when I was adjusting to the lockdown. I felt like the project kept me sane in a time that would have otherwise been a lot harder and stranger.” Another noted that “something cool that came out of COVID times was that [we] brought other modes of art, filming, editing, and directing skills to the project” that wouldn’t have been showcased otherwise.
For questions about conducting Anonymo/us Project remotely, contact Chloe here.
Images from “Text Message Flirtation.” shadow puppetry by Noquisi Christian-Smith & Revely Rothschild. Animation by Atlas Power.
“[Watching Anonymo/us Project] made me miss Prep so much, and it made me realize how much time we have missed because of the COVID-19 virus, and even before that, how much we took the school and our friends for granted.”