For the Yellowknife Choral Society, the show must go on. 

The group resumed in-person rehearsals this week with participants wearing masks and maintaining safe social distance from one another.

Mary Kelly, president of the society's board of directors, says that even though this choir experience is going to be different, with so many activities on hiatus, SA国际影视传媒減eople are hungry for the community, and to be with other people.

SA国际影视传媒淪inging is something that helps us feel better and to kind of soothe the soul when there's lots of anxiety and maybe even boredom and loneliness,SA国际影视传媒� she says.

For the adult choir, open to anyone high school-aged and older, more than 60 people have registered, surpassing the group's in-person capacity limit of 45. As such, the society is adopting a SA国际影视传媒渉ybrid modelSA国际影视传媒� for in-person participation as well as those able to join rehearsals through Zoom.

Kelly suspects there may be some who would be more comfortable participating virtually anyways, but they may create shifts of in-person participants. 

Though singing is an activity that is challenging to resume in a Covid world as it increases the omission of spit particles, YCS director Margo Nightingale assures that the choir puts SA国际影视传媒渟afety first.SA国际影视传媒�

SA国际影视传媒淲e're going to stay engaged, but we're going to do it as safely as we know how,SA国际影视传媒� she says.

Following the return of the first in-person rehearsal, Nightingale says SA国际影视传媒渢he mask and the six feet (of distance between people) just make it feel like we're being standoffish with each other, which, as a group has not been our way of operating.SA国际影视传媒�

Still, Nightingale says the society has SA国际影视传媒渢ried to develop that really open, friendly, welcoming persona.SA国际影视传媒�

SA国际影视传媒淚tSA国际影视传媒檚 important to us for people to know that if they want connection, if they want a common cause, activity, point of friendship and support, that is what choir offers us while we're learning new things together.SA国际影视传媒�

Overall, Nightingale and Kelly agree the new measures are a small price to pay for coming back together, getting the SA国际影视传媒渟urround soundSA国际影视传媒� musical experience, and allowing people to SA国际影视传媒渃ontinue this activity that is really meaningful to them,SA国际影视传媒� Kelly says. 

As far as performances, Nightingale is looking into producing a new format. 

She says itSA国际影视传媒檚 likely they will do another virtual choir project, as they did in April and June, but sheSA国际影视传媒檇 like to ask performers to bring their own writing forward SA国际影视传媒� be it poetry, journal entries, or whatever else they choose. 

SA国际影视传媒淚'm hoping it will add a more personal element to what could be otherwise potentially quite impersonal,SA国际影视传媒� she says. SA国际影视传媒淓verybody understands that an online presentation is a canned product, and it can leave you feeling somewhat at a distance from the people who are in that project, at least that's a fear that I have, and so I would like to engage with the singers in a much more direct level, and let them engage with our audience in a more direct level too.SA国际影视传媒�

The choir has been active for more than 40 years. For the group to continue in spite of restrictions, Kelly says is SA国际影视传媒渁 testament to the history and the legacy of choir in Yellowknife.SA国际影视传媒�