Faces to Watch
Though the pandemic has certainly done a number on the local performing arts scene, there’s a lot to look forward to when it comes to fresh fall faces to watch. We talked to four talented folks in the community who stand to leave lasting impressions on performing arts to come. Here’s a taste of our discussion.
What are your proudest arts moments, locally?
Jamie Tharney: Being able to bring up serious subjects like mental illness and feminism—I talk about being diagnosed with bipolar disorder a lot in my comedy—I think it’s really important for people to hear that, because representation does matter. I feel like people who have been diagnosed with mental illness sometimes feel like they’re not able or welcome in these sorts of spaces. I want to make sure that people see that just because you have a mental illness diagnosis, no matter what it is, you can still pursue your dreams, you can still be creative and you can still be welcomed into the community.
Pictured: Jamie Tharney (Credit: Peter Chapman)
Yi-Chun Lin: The reason I started Sioux Falls Chamber Music Collective (SFCMC) is that I just enjoy when there’s a creative idea that I might be able to make happen. Earlier this year, I wanted to do something with dancers. I’m a terrible dancer, but I just feel like there’s such a wonderful thing for the audience to experience. I wanted to talk with choreographers to coordinate and collaborate with dancers. We decided to do Moving Music with ArtïTanzer Project, a student group at Augustana. The concept was that the dancers and the performers were all a part of the presentation. I moved around—I’m not really coordinated from bottom down, so it was really hard for me, but I think it was such a cool experience. And I can’t wait to do it again.
Madeleine Scott: I personally had a really great experience performing at TEDx recently. There was a very good energy from the audience, and it was my first time performing on behalf of South Dakota Ballet in this community, apart from small pop-up shows here and there. It was just really special to be in a real environment that’s conducive to my artform. Because ballet is not showcased well when it’s not in a proscenium. That was a really beautiful experience.
What do you think Sioux Falls is looking for in its performing arts offerings?
JT: I think Sioux Falls is a little more reserved. People kind of keep their crazy, their freak flags, to themselves, so I like to wave mine pretty proudly. And I think once you see somebody waving that flag and you see, “Oh, they’re doing fine,” you might feel like you’re not so strange. And I think that’s an important message to give to people, especially in more conservative communities. There’s a big group of us out there who feel not so welcome sometimes, so you have to be loud and proud. When you do that, you welcome others to be loud and proud as well.
MS: I believe that there are still some holes and gaps in our performing arts scene. And I think that’s great because it leaves our current and established organizations room to grow and expand. There’s room not just for a ballet company to be perfect in ballet, but we can also expand into dance on film and become very proficient in that, because we have awesome cinematographers in the area. I think our community is naturally inclined to collaborate.
Pictured: Yi-Chun Lin (Credit: Peter Chapman)
YL: I do hope we have more of that here. Each type of artform is just a type of expression. In the future, where I want to head toward is merging artforms together. I feel like collaboration is certainly a big part of achieving that. Different types of art have such unique energies. I feel like there are no boundaries—it’s about what we want them to see and feel.
Clinton Store: With COVID and everything that’s happening, some of the things I’d like to see have already started. The collaboration, the outdoor stages—seeing that out there where we’re combining music, dance… brings it to more people.
MS: One thing that’s been on my mind—a performing arts festival. I’d like to see that. I would love for something like that to happen. Yi-Chun and I have talked about doing something more immersive—it’s very tricky, because you play with proximity and presentation—but that’s something I’m interested in, too.
JT: In comedy, I think Sioux Falls is looking for something that’s not a bunch of white guys talking about masturbating.
[Laughter]
So I think I offer something quite different. I’ve gathered other women and comics who are maybe a little bit more alternative. Maybe have a little bit quirkier style. I really want to highlight those comics. I think the Siouxland area is hungry for that. And I’m happy to be a part of bringing that to light.
How are you seeing arts groups responding to COVID?
CS: There are challenges. How do you rehearse? How do you put people inside a theatre? One of the things I’ve seen is a lot of people upping their game and streaming. Maybe we didn’t do that before, but now we do. It’s about being able to meet the challenges that are out there but still deliver quality performance.
Pictured: Madeleine Scott (Credit: Peter Chapman)
JT: We do things outside as much as possible. We try to be far apart. We make sure to clean the mic in between comics. I work in a laboratory that deals with these kinds of things and testing COVID samples, so I think it’s close to my heart to make sure that we’re all very safe. The Drive-In Comedy that Boss’ has been doing is so awesome. You’re outside, so it’s kind of hard to project your voice, but we’ve got Sunny Radio allowing us to use their radio station so that people can listen to us in our cars. We can hear ourselves, they can hear us in the cars—and even though we can’t hear them laughing, they honk their horns. It’s been pretty fun.
MS: I would agree that South Dakota Ballet has had a chance to up our ante in terms of our approach to our work—logistics stuff that you normally don’t have time to conquer. Right away when COVID struck, we launched one of the first virtual online dance intensives in the country. We got professional dancers from American Ballet Theater, The Lion King national tour, Royal Winnipeg Ballet involved to teach our local children virtually and for free, which was also very cool. We had about 400 kids, so that was definitely a moment for us where we celebrated. I think it’s something we’ll keep. We also launched outdoor outreach programming—free complementary classes where kids can come and experience ballet with world-class teachers.
YL: Changes are great in a way—it shifts you into different directions. When COVID started, we had to cancel a few concerts. It kind of pushed me to think about virtual. I was actually so excited. I’d never had time to organize performance footage we had in the past, so I was just going into editing mode every day. I woke up and edited. Before I went to bed, I was still editing. So this year SFCMC launched “Music Over Fear” from our YouTube channel, and the concept is creating a happy, fear-free corner where people can still enjoy “live” performances, even though they’re pre-recorded. Also, when the Black Lives Matter movement picked up this year, I thought, “What can I do as a musician to benefit and support the black community?” That’s when I decided to program a concert that features African-American composers and musicians. I have friends from the South Dakota African-American History Museum, so I decided to help promote awareness of the museum and help raise some funds for them through two concerts.
CS: That connection piece is so crazy. We couldn’t physically be together for a good three months, and yet, I felt like I connected with more people during that time. It was amazing. I stopped, I read, I discovered so many things that in my normal life I wouldn’t have paid attention to. That connection during this time—we need to keep that going and not let it fall by the wayside into routine again.
Why do you do what you do, and what keeps you doing it?
JT: I do comedy because that’s just how my brain works. Ever since I was a kid. I think those of us who have lived through trauma and difficult childhoods, dysfunctional families, a lot of tragedy—you find a way to turn things into a more ridiculous situation rather than a serious situation. You have to find the humor. In my family, we always found humor in things that maybe were a bit morbid or tragic. I think that molded my brain to see the world in a more ridiculous way. So it’s very difficult for me to take things seriously, but, at the same time, I find that it’s a very healthy way to deal with the world and the traumatic things we deal with—especially right now.
Pictured: Clinton Store (Credit: Peter Chapman)
CS: One of the reasons I like doing what I’m doing is my daughter. She was in theater at Lincoln High School and was in dance with Balleraena Dance Studio. Seeing her do that… my daughter is the mini-me, except she did all the things I wanted to do in life way earlier. She’s willing to get up and perform. I’d always wanted to do stuff like that, but I was too scared to do it. And as I watched her go through high school dancing, singing, I thought, if she can do this at her age and she’s not afraid to be in front of people, then why can’t I do that too? I was a pretty shy and introverted person for most of my life, but seeing her do that motivated me.
YL: Music has always been something very special for me. I just want to share experiences with people. I just wish people had more exposure to a variety of different types of music or dance or theatre—more art. That’s the first thing I want people to experience—more options. Musicians are craving smaller, more creative collaboration. When I started SFCMC, they volunteered their time, their energy, because they just wanted to do it. In order to cultivate young artists, they have to be exposed to a variety of different artforms. It triggers them to crave more of that.
MS: With ballet, I definitely feel the most alive and the most present. There is nothing that can enter my mind but that when I’m practicing it. I’m 150 percent committed to that character and whatever is going on in the space. With dance and ballet particularly, there’s definitely a timeline for it. You have to cherish every moment so you can look back when you’re older and say, “That was me. I can’t believe that was my body doing these steps.” I knew I wanted to dance when I was little. I performed every single night in my living room for my mom—I performed Cats.
[Laughter]
I took ballet when I was 10 for the first time at Dance Gallery downtown and my whole life changed. It’s like entering a whole other culture. Everyone’s holding a bar and standing in the same way and speaking in French. But what’s interesting about it is you can find it almost everywhere, trickled around the world. It’s really opened a door for me. It’s taken me all over the world. I was raised by a single mom in Beresford, S.D., so that’s something that never would’ve happened without ballet.
How has the local scene evolved in your time here?
JT: I see Sioux Falls as sort of this utopia of band nerds and theatre nerds and comedy nerds. There’s no gatekeeping—if you want to be involved in something, everybody is so welcome and everybody is so kind to each other. The more involved in it I become, the more I see that. There is just so much opportunity if you want to do something different—there is always going to be somebody there to support you.
What are you personal performing goals?
JT: I want for Prairie Madness to do a different show with different material every season. We’ll do Cutest Uterus probably through the wintertime and then get together and write new material for a new show starting next summer. I really would like to tour the Midwest with our show next summer—I see us in the next five years maybe even going further, beyond the Midwest. I’ve got big goals, but I’ve got a good crew behind me. We’re all very supportive of each other. I want Sioux Falls comedy to be on the map the way Minneapolis comedy is. I really would like to add music and burlesque to the show. So every time you come to a Prairie Madness show, it’s going to be different every time.
CS: Keep doing what we’re doing—being bold, breaking barriers. Not having fear of doing a performance. If this dumb kid from Chicago can be where I am today, being able to do what I get to do, anyone can do it. I want people to not be discouraged from getting involved, as early as high school, especially with the reality of COVID. It’s not over—you can still do it. Trust me—coming from a person of my advanced age. You can still do it.
[Laughter]
MS: It’s extremely common that if you’re going to pursue a career in dance you “must” leave South Dakota. And within the next few years, I hope to see that changed. South Dakota Ballet will offer promising dancers positions as trainees within our company, so they won’t have to leave to seek that. I want them to have the safety and support of their family while they do it.
YL: I think classical musicians are similar to the dance scene. There’s a lot of isolation. But the world is changing. I want to bring high-quality musicians here. The world is actually quite small for when you’re in a specific discipline. We’re all connected. So it’s possible to expose our community to even more.
JT: My hope is for people to come here from far away just to come see a show because they know we’re going to put on something that’s different from anything else they’ve seen.