...curious: how would you guys have handled this lighting situation?

I could be wrong, but I thought that as a general rule, you should expose for the brightest spot ...

flash is the answer for me.

yeow_Z wrote in post #13247845
flash is the answer for me.

That too.

Those can be tough shots for sure.

I hate blowing highlights of a scene, so I'll avoid it, meaning I have to crank a few things to get the shadows up there without messing up the highlights.

Raw is invaluable there! But it still can be a hassle!

You're definitely fortunate that the light changed in your favor. The last couple performances on bright sunshiney days that I shot I was not so fortunate!

If I had to shoot that scene, the thought that would go through my mind would be "I'm screwed!"

Flash can help with this but only to a degree. You're limited by the power of the flash unit and the fact that it will make its own shadows. Also, the inverse square law will make it impossible to light the whole group evenly.

You can also expose for the sun and bring up the shadows in post as Tony mentioned but there's a limit there, too.

...cheers all, thanks for your responses!

Curtis N wrote in post #13248298
If I had to shoot that scene, the thought that would go through my mind would be "I'm screwed!"

That, indeed was the thought that went through my head! Its hard to tell, but the bright light was only a sliver that covered the front of the stage, and only the occasional dancer crossed into direct sunlight, but it happened often enough to be annoying and for me to second guess how to shoot the scene...for those advocating flash, what would be your approach? Underexpose the scene and use the flash for fill?