Light the Way

The bright lights. The fanciful footwork. The spry musicality. The… pavement?

For those seeking safe, creative live performance during the COVID-19 pandemic, there was perhaps no more collaborative, innovative space than a parking lot. And not just any asphalt playground—but one transformed, just for an evening, into the Headlights Theater.

Engaging local musicians and vocalists, as well as professional dancers from across the country, Headlights Theater was a culmination of necessity—how does one produce live entertainment in a pandemic, while keeping safety and precautions front and center?

“It was born during a pandemic as a way to uplift and support our intimate arts community, while giving performers an opportunity to perform and be compensated for their art during a time when there weren’t many opportunities for that,” co-founder Madison Elliott said of the culmination of Headlights, “while bringing our community together in a safe and innovative way.

“It challenged the traditional views by which we usually experience and view art by changing the location.”

That location has varied since the troupe’s inception in 2020, and as season two came to a close this past fall, it has included various downtown parking lots in Sioux Falls, as well as picturesque rural fields just outside the city limits.

“Our first season, we had no idea what we were getting into,” Elliott said. “It really was, at the time, a band-aid for the community. Little did we know that it would be something that would grow and blossom to something that can continue past COVID.”

The “park and art” series of performances have paired the Headlights Theater dancers, a rotating troupe of local and out-of-town artists, with local bands and musical performers from a variety of genres—hip hop, alternative rock and even musical theatre. Patrons can RSVP a vehicle or lawn chair for each performance, and they are notified a few hours in advance of showtime of the “secret location.” And once the sun—and the stage—are set, the headlights of the surrounding audience members’ vehicles come on, and the Headlights Theater is born.

“From an artistic approach, we’re not so strict about what we do,” Elliott said of the style of dance you experience in a Headlights show. “In season one, almost everything was choreographed. With season two, what the audience is really watching is the process. You’re watching the dancers make decisions in real time versus just doing the steps that were given to them. It’s a lot of improv. It’s a lot of playing games and using the space and collaborating with the musicians in the moment.”

And those dancers range from trained professionals to area youth getting exposure to a whole new style of performance. This is a part of Headlights’ season-two initiative to include residencies with each monthly event, inviting people of any age or dance experience to participate in the performance, learning and growing alongside professional dancers and even contributing to the week-ending performances themselves.

“If you love to move, we invite you in,” Elliott said. “It doesn’t matter what studio you normally train with. We’re trying to bring everybody together.”

The experimental nature of the process can also be eye-opening for a young dancer just starting out. “For younger dancers, they’re so good at and used to being told what to do. They can hit a 5-6-7-8 like that—that’s what their training is.

“We really focus on improv, choreography and movement games—how we can get them out of their comfort zones and express their own artistic voices through movement. It’s something I wish I was taught as a kid. Nothing is wrong, everything is right—as long as you give it 100 percent, you can’t make a wrong choice.”

So what of summer 2022, which would usher in the third season of Headlights Theater in Sioux Falls? “We’re not going away anytime soon,” Elliott said. “We want to continue to be a resource for the community and for local artists to come together—indoor, outdoor, different dancers, different styles of music

“What you can expect is that we will be there, creating a safe space, no matter a pandemic or parking lot or not.”

“As long as we stay true and genuine with our mission, and with the support of our community, anything is possible.”