New York -- Actors’ Equity Association, the national labor union representing more than 51,000 professional actors and stage managers in live theatre, celebrates its eighth annual Swing Day tomorrow, Wednesday, January 18, 2023, honoring the hard-working performers who go on stage, sometimes at a moment’s notice, to cover multiple chorus roles.
A swing is a member of the ensemble who learns multiple parts, or tracks, and is on standby to cover for multiple members of the chorus. Depending on the needs of a production, a swing could go on for any number of tracks, including those written for other genders, ages or even more than one track at once. A swing may only learn they are going on moments before a performance begins, or even in the middle of a show. During the pandemic, the availability of understudies, and swings in particular, has at times determined whether or not a show will go on as planned.
“Swings exemplify the best of the chorus and have kept the curtain up time and time again,” said Al Bundonis, Actors' Equity Association's second vice president (representing the chorus) and chair of the Advisory Committee on Chorus Affairs (ACCA). “We are excited to spend the day celebrating and uplifting swings by acknowledging all the work you do.”
Equity will kick off Swing Day 2023 with an Instagram Live interview with swing and dance captain Brittany Nicholas at 9 a.m. ET on the union's Instagram account, @actorsequity. Throughout the day, the union will share content from swings, as well as their supporters, on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Equity also invites anyone who has worked as a swing to chime in on social media about their experiences using the hashtags #EquityTeamSwing or #SwingDay2023.
ACTORS' EQUITY ASSOCIATION, founded in 1913, is the U.S. labor union that represents more than 51,000 professional actors and stage managers. Equity endeavors to advance the careers of its members by negotiating wages, improving working conditions and providing a wide range of benefits (health and pension included). Member: AFL-CIO, FIA. www.actorsequity.org #EquityWorks
January 17, 2023
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