November 16, 2006

Exploring the Future of Dance

I think the dance community would derive many benefits by hosting a live or on-line gathering to address how to embrace the Internet for marketing, education, creative, community building, audience development, revenue generation and related purposes.

As of today, there has not been any systematic exploration of how key trends and developments that are taking place in the online world can be harnessed by all participants in the dance world.

Such a gathering would represent a wide-cross section of the dance community:

- Dancers, choreographers and dance companies
- Educators and teachers
- Dance photographers and videographers
- Dance on camera directors/creators
- Dance writers and critics
- Dance presenters
- Musicians
- Dance service organizations
- Set designers
- Costume designers
- Public relations companies
- Marketing/audience development experts
- Grantmakers and funding organizations
- Technology and Internet consultants
- Dance bloggers
- Those who have created online participatory art programs

Only by bringing such a diverse group of people together is it possible to explore how important developments such as the increasing participatory nature of the Internet can be embraced in productive and profitable ways by the dance community at-large.

Here are some possible topics that this group could address:

1) How can the Internet be used to attract larger audiences for dance performances?

2) How can dancers and dance companies generate revenue from online sources?

3) How can you launch successful online fundraising campaigns?

4) What new approaches can be taken for public relations campaigns to get more exposure for upcoming performances?

5) What is the future of dance writing and criticism? Will a new type of dance journalism emerge as a result of wide-spread use of online video?

6) How can audiences be educated about dance in new ways by using the latest video, picture and audio-editing tools?

7) How do you develop hybrid performances that integrate live performances and the online world?

8) What new types of participatory community programs can be created by harnessing the Internet?

9) What new sponsorship and product-placement models can be created as a result of new tools and technologies?

10) What can the dance community learn by the successful digital music revolution that has taken place over the past few years? Why is dance video not created, distributed and sold like music is?

11) In what new ways can dance audiences be involved with the creation of dance as a result of video sharing and mashup tools?

12) There are always stories about the economic hardships faced by dance companies. Can the Internet transform the economics of dance companies in a positive and profitable manner?

13) If we evaluated and tested the top 20 or so popular online multimedia and collaborative applications, what recommendations would we have for how these tools could be used by the dance community?

14) How should dancers use MySpace, YouTube and other Web 2.0 applications?

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