The largest undertaking besides costumes for this production was scenery. Scenery gives a performer a sense of the world in which their character lives and helps them to find or create that character by interacting with the other performers and the “world” that has been built around them. Our studio has been incredibly fortunate to have Jorge Perez, Miss Christina’s father to bring the studio’s vision to life. Jorge has worked on sets for Dance Connection’s recitals for 13 years, and his beautiful work has ranged from a larger than life cruise ship to Pride Rock itself. We asked Jorge to tell us about his experience working on the set pieces for the Pride Lands.

“For this year’s production we didn’t have to recreate scenery, we used the existing scenery with just some touch up. The scenery was redesigned about 10 years ago from it’s original staging 6 years before that to give it more impact and more of a feel from the animated movie. While the redesigned concept was a little more elaborate than the one presented this year, it has retained the same major pieces. We did create and add grass to tie in the open spaces on set. The pride rock supporting frame structure is new and took a day and a half to build. The grass sections took another day to build. The usual time frame to put together scenery from concept to final build is three to four months.

The Lion King, like any production with large pieces of scenery is always a challenge. It starts with the original conceptualization of the scenery and figuring out how that concept (piece size, placement, look, colors etc.) will fit on the stage and complement the dancers. After that it’s the actual build and finally making it all work during the production especially when there are multiple scene changes. This involves close coordination with the stage hands so it all goes smoothly especially since there are usually a gazillion dancers on stage or on the wings (not that bad for this Lion King production, but we once did a Disney production and OMG!).

I always look forward to rehearsal week prior to recital as this is the first time we get to see how everything falls together. Working on scenery in the studio and actually seeing it framed by the stage with the dancers are completely different things and when it works and you feel the reaction from the audience its wonderful and satisfying.

I really enjoy the set pieces for this production, and my favorite overall of any that I’ve done for DC are the sets that were created for the Disney production. A lot of work and care went in creating the Castle, Haunted Mansion and Its a Small World.”

Jorge Perez, Set Construction Master, Dad’s Company Alumni, Dance Dad of Miss Christina

From measuring and fabrication to the last brush of paint, Jorge has made every recital come to life with set pieces that are made with artistry and care. We are lucky to have him both to build the sets and also backstage with us to ensure that these beautiful pieces are handled with care while going on and off the stage at recital.