To a degree, most people behave differently depending upon how they are dressed. Your own choir members are a living example to you of that phenomenon. Notice how they stand, walk, and act in their performance attire as compared to earlier that day when you rehearsed them while they were wearing jeans and t-shirts.
This begs the question for those of us in the choral profession: Do people also SING differently based on their attire? (One’s own experience would seem to indicate that to a degree yes, they do; though that is anecdotal at best.)
Consider this performance from an ACDA National Conference. The choir is singing a work by the late-Renaissance/early-Baroque composer Sweelinck while dressed in costumes that emulate the period. Is their attire influencing their singing, or is it altering our perception of the performance? What would your reaction be to this choir singing a Cole Porter ballad in that wardrobe?
It’s an interesting point to consider at this time of year as you are about to finalize your wardrobe decisions, isn’t it?
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