Which Dance Community Has Been Most Transformed By the Internet?
As I've delved into Argentine Tango over the past six weeks, I've been wondering how different dance communities use the Internet and are impacted by the Internet.
Have some dance communities been changed to a greater extent than others as a result of online interactions, resources, education, recommendations and guidance? Or has the Internet only had a modest or limited impact on dance?
I started thinking about these questions over the past two weeks as I've delved into Argentine Tango. For the past three years, I've taken a large number of concert dance classes--mostly modern and jazz and a limited number of ballet, West African and contact improvisation classes.
I started taking Argentine Tango at the beginning of January for a number of reasons. First, I just wanted a change. Second, I've always wanted to become a good social dancer and Argentine Tango has always attracted and intrigued me. Third, my body needs a break from concert dance classes. While I like taking these classes, especially modern, they put a huge strain on my body and I can't even take them without continuing to do the exercises I was taught during physical therapy for my back and hips. So just preparing my body for modern classes is a huge investment in time. With Tango, I just go to classes and practicas and dance, and I'm healthier than I've been for awhile. It's been a lot of fun and I'm being very obsessive about it. I've been taking classes and practicing three to four times a week.
Using the Internet to Learn About Argentine Tango
Since the beginning of January, I've used the Internet extensively to learn about many facets of Tango. I think it's fair to say that I've used the Internet to a much great extent than I've ever used it to help me with modern and other concert dance classes I've taken:
Argentine Tango Instructional Videos
There are thousands of tango videos that are either intended for instructional purposes or can be used to learn tango. One of my favorites is the instructional video podcast series on iTunes, Dario's Tango Guide, from Dario Da Silva. Here's a screen shot from his guide on how to do the Grapevine (Giro):
And here's the YouTube video channel for Homer Ladas. He has uploaded more than 40 tango videos to supplement his classes. He calls his series "Didactic Tango Class Demos." Here's a video dedicated to leg wraps, which he opens with an introduction to what he and his partner are about to demonstrate:
By the way, the YouTube video controls are terrible for starting and stopping video clips, which I need to do to figure out how to replicate the moves demonstrated in the video. So I use a YouTube ripper to download Flash videos. Once the video is on my hard drive, I've been using a flash video converter I already have, Flash Video MX, to watch, tag and playback YouTube videos. This software program lets me progress one frame at a time, which is something you can't do while watching video on YouTube. If you know of a better solution, please let me know. With iTunes, the video controls have everything I need to watch Dario's videos.
A Growing Group of Very Helpful Tango Bloggers
Since I've started taking tango classes, I've been reading many of the tango blogs and posting comments to them. (See my post about Tango bloggers and visit the right-hand column of Great Dance for a listing of Tango blogs).
Since yesterday, two tango bloggers were kind enough to follow-up on a question of mine about musicality and musical expression: Johanna in Tangri-la and Alex in Alex.Tango.Fuego. I very much appreciate the in-depth responses.
Tango Music Compilations
As I study Tango, I'm beginning to learn more about the music played at Milongas. So far I've found two good starting points: Guides to Tango Music for Social Dancing, which is a very extensive resource for anything and everything you want to know about tango music--this is an excellent place to begin. And the Tango Djuke Box includes a listing of neo-tango tracks (the links are to UK iTunes and not all songs are available for the US iTunes, but most are). If you know of other music resources, please let me know.
Tango Discussion List
The Tango-L Archive is a very active message board with intelligent, helpful discussions covering a variety of issues related to Tango. I started with searches for "beginner," "YouTube" and "Musicality" and the insights are simply invaluable.
Getting Back to My Opening Question
From my brief exploration of Tango over the past six weeks, I know that the Internet has been invaluable to me - both the Tangueros/Tangueras who have been kind enough to help and give me direction, and the instant access to instructional, musical and other resources. As a result, I think that I will learn more quickly about the culture, history and practices of Argentine Tango and will find the dancing itself more fulfilling. I also imagine, at some point, I'll meet and dance with the tango dancers I meet online.
When I was taking concert dance classes, it was always a struggle for me to use the Internet in a way that would help me develop as a dancer. The types of resources and direction that I was hoping to find just didn't materialize in a way that made sense for me. I really don't want this comment to be viewed as a criticism of the modern and other dance communities. I'm just trying to understand what the difference is between concert dance and social dancing as they relate to the online world. Maybe I'm more of a dancer at heart than a watcher of dance so there are certain types of interactions and content I'm looking for online. In addition, modern dance classes are very much dependent on the instructor to teach his or her method/approach and there's much less of a shared tradition or practice as there are with social dance forms.
From a broader perspective, I'm interested in trying to answer my opening question about which dance community has been transformed the most by the Internet? To answer this question, one would have to understand how the online interactions, collaborations, sharing and content distribution contribute to transforming the types of community and dancing that emerge and take place at, say, Milongas. Like other media, has the Internet brought the global tango community closer together? Are there more people going to Milongas as a result of the Internet? Are more people knowledgeable about the culture, traditions and music as a result of the web?
Then, the same and similar questions would have to be asked about other social dance as well as concert dance forms to reach an answer.
My initial answer is that overall social dance forms have probably been transformed to a greater extent than concert dance forms. I'd like to know what others think.
Posted by Doug Fox on February 12, 2008 10:10 AM
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Yes, I think you're probably right about social dancing and the internet. It makes sense that in the age of social networking and social media, that social dancing would do well with the new opportunities this technology brings. Concert dance is more like an old fashioned webpage: come see what cool stuff we've made! It isn't so much about interactivity. Still, I think that of the concert dance forms, ballet may be doing more with web 2.0 than modern. The Winger and Anaheim ballet are good examples of effective ways of harnessing social networking to leverage audiences and fundraising. Also, these two examples are helping to raise awareness for the entire ballet community not just their own interests.
PS: Thanks for the link to the YouTube ripper software! This will really come in handy for me!
i think that the community of dance consumers has been transformed by the internet the most.
they have so much more 'free' access to dance, in terms of teaching performance, writing etc. and, for the most part they are still passive consumers.
it is easier for social dance to leverage the web due to it's context and content. concert dance shifts much more widely. and is about watching rather than doing.
i'm not sure concert dance will ever effective engage with the public. it will get better at marketing (or die) but the interactions will remain fragmented and internal.
Hey Doug,
I think that newer, lesser know social dance formats gain the most from on-line dance communities. Styles such as ballroom in general, salsa, and swing, have been a part of the social fabric for a long time. Argentine Tango is a relatively recent and very exotic "newcomer" (only now achieving "critical mass"), and I think the curiosity about it (as well as its rather "indecent" roots) make it very appealing to learn about. I am certain that other, lesser known dance styles also benefit enormously from on-line discussions in terms of developing a following.
My hip-hop peeps use the net 24/7... from posting their last class combo for feedback to performance vids - they're all over it. There's a huge east-coast vs. west-coast war out there, too. Lots of accusations about people stealing steps off the net and such. It's a debate. :)
learning to dance argentine tango in a small community, the value of the internet can't be overestimated. in particular- not only do we have access to a range & depth of experience beyond what's available to us here -but we can hear & participate in conversations about qualities of the dance that can't be seen... (i wonder if this is esp valuable in a.t. bc of its nature?)
don't miss
www.tangoandchaos.org
and
www.milonga.co.uk
Since 2005, Doug Fox's blog has covered the intersection of dance and the Internet. A primary focus is to help dancers and dance companies use the Internet and their dance videos for marketing, educational, creative and revenue-generation purposes.
Email Doug Fox with inquiries, questions and feedback about Great Dance.
Hi Doug,
Yes, I think you're probably right about social dancing and the internet. It makes sense that in the age of social networking and social media, that social dancing would do well with the new opportunities this technology brings. Concert dance is more like an old fashioned webpage: come see what cool stuff we've made! It isn't so much about interactivity. Still, I think that of the concert dance forms, ballet may be doing more with web 2.0 than modern. The Winger and Anaheim ballet are good examples of effective ways of harnessing social networking to leverage audiences and fundraising. Also, these two examples are helping to raise awareness for the entire ballet community not just their own interests.
PS: Thanks for the link to the YouTube ripper software! This will really come in handy for me!