October 24, 2006

Digitizing Dance Community from the Bottom Up

Tony Schultz, a physicist studying applications in human movement analysis and a contributor to The Winger blog, has a post from last month, "The Winger is a Dance Technology," in which he writes about the impact of the online world on dance:

The democratization of space for showing and talking about dance, through the internet, is transforming the way it is seen and practiced. Communication technologies such as blogs and message boards facilitate relationships between artists and opens discussion with viewers. Free video over IP services provided by sites such as blip.tv or YouTube provide an open trading ground for anyone to share dance media with the world.

He then recounts a personal story of how he used the Internet to connect with breakdancers in Paris before traveling to France:

This experience fundamentally transformed the way I think about culture making and dancing. Finding real people dancing, not on stage but in the world, made me shift my perspective on where art comes from, where it belongs and what function it serves. Those who are compelled to create and advance these forms are often not professional dancers. They train hard and sacrifice simply because they know this work is important.

Tony's post led me to think about who will lead the charge (or who is leading the charge) in terms of motivating the dance community at-large to experiment with Internet applications and related technologies in order to enhance communications and collaborations among dancers and the public. Tony pretty much answered the question. It often will be done in an informal manner by individuals who may or may not be professional dancers. And, from my experience, those who experiment with the latest Internet developments - the early adapters - will usually not be the established dance companies, presenters and other institutions and organizations connected to the dance world.

Here's one example of a dancer who puts a number of online tools to work to share her passion for Middle Eastern dancing:

ShanMonster created a blog, Because Nudity is Only Skin-Deep, on LiveJournal. She writes in her profile:

I teach Middle Eastern and tribal fusion dance, am a tribal fusion, North American cabaret, and experimental dancer, and I also sell my self-published dance costuming books. To top it all off, I maintain canadaraqs and am a co-moderator at bellydancing.

In a post "My Drill Routine," she gives a breakdown of her exercise regimen with a link to the music she listens to on Pandora.

And, in her "Warning: Contains Dance" post, ShanMonster links to a Google video of her performing a belly dance.

There are thousands upon thousands of Internet-addicted dancers like ShanMonster who are using the Internet every day to make new connections, share their passion for dance and give the public a multimedia glimpse into their daily lives. I just think it takes time for these everyday occurrences to bubble-up to the institutional level.

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