One of the crucial questions for dance and the performing arts community is how to reach out to new audiences. Or, as the title of an article in yesterday's Denver Post puts it, "How can arts thrive in increasingly digital world?"
The Kinetic Interface blog's answer to this question is to grab the attention of new audiences by relating dance to their knowledge, experience and passions. In my second post "Commissioning Dancers Through 'Movement Score' Initiative," I describe my idea of creating topic-specific dance movement scores as a way to bridge the divide between dance artists and people in many fields including science, technology, architecture, design, medicine, wellbeing, gaming and other disciplines.
As an illustration, I'm saying that a person in the robotics field might create a video featuring robotic ambulatory questions. And this video then serves as a movement score for a choreographer who makes a dance video in response to this robotics clip. The movement score video might look something like this:
Then, dancers might be asked to explore specific topics when creating their video in response to the latest robotic advances highlighted in the above video.
The advantage, I believe, with my approach to building new dance audience is that I'm connecting dance directly to the work of roboticists, in this instance. And it makes the inevitable jump that these technologists will have to make into the realm of performance art smaller than it often is.
Reaching New Audiences Through Video
My idea of topic-specific dance movement scores is just one approach to engaging new audiences about dance. There are many other approaches that can be explored.
For starters, I'm convinced that Internet video ought to be at the heart of these explorations. Dance, to offer a traditional definition, is movement through space and time. And the optimal way to convey this artform is clearly through video.
So, I believe that it is invaluable for everybody involved in marketing dance and creating sustainable business models for dance artists to consider the following questions:
How dance videos are currently being used and can be used?
What makes them viral and shared with others?
What makes them participatory - leads others to create video responses?, and
What makes videos successful - leads to achieving a concrete measurable goals such as selling tickets or increasing sponsorship support?
To begin the process of answering these questions, I'm including a number of dance videos below that have been successful on YouTube in terms of their viewership numbers. These numbers have their limits: they simply offer a relative measurement of success. And we don't have demographic data about who is actually viewing these videos. But even with these limits in mind, I think these videos shed light on what captures the attention of viewers.
These are my questions as I watched these videos:
Does success always mean lighthearted, a fast tempo and very accessible?
Which of the below videos would you say are the most original and unexpected?
Are videos of stage performances always going to attract smaller audiences?
Does a video budget have any relationship whatsoever to the success of a video?
What do you think is the typical audience for each of the following videos?
If you used variations of any of the following videos, do you think that they would help you build an audience?
How would you create an innovative dance video that captured a large audience of viewers and, hopefully, of ticket buyers and supporters?
Videos for Exploration
This Chemical Party video was uploaded last week. I start-off with it because it falls in-line with my idea of bridging dance with different disciplines:
This video, one month old, of guys backflipping into jeans has been a sensation:
The Daft Bodies video has been a sensation as well and has spawned 40 video responses and 13,000+ comments:
Dancing construction equipment has had a decent level of success - also see this Renault commercial:
This "Tecktonik" dance video has chalked-up nine million views:
And Feist' "1 2 3 4" music video has nine million views as well:
And I leave with the work of Ohad Naharin and Batsheva Dance Company. Why does this video only have 7,000 views? What could make the videos of Betsheva a YouTube sensation? -- I think it's doable:
I don't think that there are easy answers to my above questions. But I do think that we would all benefit by collectively exploring these and other videos and trying to figure out what works, what doesn't work and what approaches dance artists might want to take in terms of their online dance videos.
Posted by
Doug Fox on June 9, 2008 8:10 AM
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Part of the attraction of some of the videos you included is that they seem to feature "real people" in innovative ways. People connect with videos/images/performances in which they see themselves reflected. We like to see ordinary people doing extraordinary or clever things. It is hard for trained dancers and choreographers to capture this sometimes. Occasionally videos from the opposite end of the spectrum enjoy success. For instance, this variation of Swan Lake. The "wow - how do they do that?" factor has helped this performance video make the rounds. This performance displays performers with tremendous skill and training and yet is accessible to a general audience in a way that many dance performances by companies are not.
Many performance video examples on youtube fall flat in a way that live performance does not. I feel that companies might benefit from creating short videos specifically designed for the internet medium. Using high-impact and clever choreography in 3 minutes or less is the equivalent of a sound-byte - useful for grabbing an audience and then reeling them in. Perhaps companies could expand on something that is already a sensation. Take this video for example - Where the Hell is Matt. Perhaps a continuous and interesting dance motif in several locations instead of just a little shuffling. Dance companies on tour could easily make their own version of this video.
Just some of my thoughts, anyway. Thanks for the thought-provoking post!
I just bombarded you with pings from my blog, Move the Frame, that deal with many of the questions you raise here. In essence you summarized the core questions of my blog! Obviously I could go on forever about them. But I think that videodance has great potential in all the areas you talk about, and movement is happening in these directions. It won't happen overnight, but many people are grasping on to these ideas and starting to take action.
One thing to remember is that online video is still a new media format, and conventions and standards have not been solidified yet. What is a viral video now may seem very passe and unsophisticated in several years (or even several months!). So I think that answers to your questions about "Does budget matter?" and " Do all videos have to be light-hearted and fun?" would be only applicable in today's context. I think that as online video becomes more mainstream and taken more seriously by the media industry, it will evolve and have more nuance. Look at early cinema for example. Edison's first films were of vaudeville acts and contortionists. That is a far cry from "Gone With the Wind" and "Apocalypse Now". These things evolve, and I have no doubt that this time, dance will continue to have a presence in the emerging media of the future.
You make excellent points about why people connect to dance videos:
I like the acrobatic Swan Lake video you highlight that showcases tremendous skill but in accessible format.
I'm glad you brought-up the Where the hell is Matt video. This video hurts me. There are so many ways to build on this idea in a fun, compelling way that will attract a large audience.
Thanks for comment and trackbacks. You have some great ideas and recommendations in your posts. I think your first one in particular, "Strategies and Tips for Making Dance Web Videos" with your 6 suggestions is especially helpful.
We definitely are in the early stage of using dance videos on the Internet. Less then 2 years ago, very few dance companies thought about posting their videos to YouTube and other video sites. Now dance companies are trying to figure out what they should post--not whether they should do it or not.
Hi Doug,
Kudos first off for this post! I think that, regardless of what changes and improvments people may end up making to their videodances, asking questions such as yours is a BIG first step. A first step such as this (which more and more choreogrpahers are starting to make) sparks the evolution that turns (as Anna points out) expirement into art form.
I wonder, however, if there's something to be gained from analyzing these videos in seperate catagories - it seems that the qualifications for what makes a dancevid "sucessful" or "viral" or "enjoyable" differs greatly depending on what the intended purpose of the video is.
In my mind, there seem to be at least five categories that "dance" youtube videos appear in:
1. Viral Videos (meant to be entertaining, wierd, and funny. Usually short, many different levels of sophistication)
2. Music Videos (mainstream, high level of sophistication/production values, made for MTV or like network then uploaded to YouTube - as opposed to being made specifically for, containing different amounts of dance)
3. Home-made music videos (people dancing to songs that already exist, can be highly choreographed or "just for fun", differing levels of sophisitication)
4. Dance Performances (stationary tripod or camera following action, what's being shown is intended to be shown live)
5. Dancefilms/Dancevideos (choreographed specifically for the screen, usually higher production values, dance-based)
I think it's important while asking the questions that you mentioned to note that there will be different anwsers for each category of vids. While snappy editing and humor might make for a great viral video, we'd be limiting the art of dancefilm to assume that it would be likewise true for all forms. Additionally, some of these videos are more concerned with "dance" artistically than others. While the Feist music video is clearly a choreographed set of movements, the Chemical Party vid didn't really use choreogrpahy per se, but the idea of "a dnace party" to illustrate a set of ideas. In the same way, the last video you posted isn't operating by YouTube rules or guidlines, becuase it's "goal" in terms of its artistic purpouse relates instead to live performance. These differences make the videos no less artistic, no less value, just different.
This is not to say that we shouldn't be offering up our ideas and thinking about WHY we like what we like, but i think the more specific we can be (ex: "when shooting dance performances, I find it much more enjoyable to see closer shots that follow the dancers rather than a stationary tripod")the more helpful it will be to the respective categories.
The Kinetic Interface blog on Great Dance starts with the premise that by focusing on the body and movement we can better understand, engage with, and contribute to many of the technological and scientific changes that are reshaping our daily lives.
To share stories and ideas, offer feedback, and ask questions, please email Doug Fox.
8 Comments
Part of the attraction of some of the videos you included is that they seem to feature "real people" in innovative ways. People connect with videos/images/performances in which they see themselves reflected. We like to see ordinary people doing extraordinary or clever things. It is hard for trained dancers and choreographers to capture this sometimes. Occasionally videos from the opposite end of the spectrum enjoy success. For instance, this variation of Swan Lake. The "wow - how do they do that?" factor has helped this performance video make the rounds. This performance displays performers with tremendous skill and training and yet is accessible to a general audience in a way that many dance performances by companies are not.
Many performance video examples on youtube fall flat in a way that live performance does not. I feel that companies might benefit from creating short videos specifically designed for the internet medium. Using high-impact and clever choreography in 3 minutes or less is the equivalent of a sound-byte - useful for grabbing an audience and then reeling them in. Perhaps companies could expand on something that is already a sensation. Take this video for example - Where the Hell is Matt. Perhaps a continuous and interesting dance motif in several locations instead of just a little shuffling. Dance companies on tour could easily make their own version of this video.
Just some of my thoughts, anyway. Thanks for the thought-provoking post!
Hi Doug,
I just bombarded you with pings from my blog, Move the Frame, that deal with many of the questions you raise here. In essence you summarized the core questions of my blog! Obviously I could go on forever about them. But I think that videodance has great potential in all the areas you talk about, and movement is happening in these directions. It won't happen overnight, but many people are grasping on to these ideas and starting to take action.
One thing to remember is that online video is still a new media format, and conventions and standards have not been solidified yet. What is a viral video now may seem very passe and unsophisticated in several years (or even several months!). So I think that answers to your questions about "Does budget matter?" and " Do all videos have to be light-hearted and fun?" would be only applicable in today's context. I think that as online video becomes more mainstream and taken more seriously by the media industry, it will evolve and have more nuance. Look at early cinema for example. Edison's first films were of vaudeville acts and contortionists. That is a far cry from "Gone With the Wind" and "Apocalypse Now". These things evolve, and I have no doubt that this time, dance will continue to have a presence in the emerging media of the future.
Hi Nichelle,
You make excellent points about why people connect to dance videos:
I like the acrobatic Swan Lake video you highlight that showcases tremendous skill but in accessible format.
I'm glad you brought-up the Where the hell is Matt video. This video hurts me. There are so many ways to build on this idea in a fun, compelling way that will attract a large audience.
Hi Anna,
Thanks for comment and trackbacks. You have some great ideas and recommendations in your posts. I think your first one in particular, "Strategies and Tips for Making Dance Web Videos" with your 6 suggestions is especially helpful.
We definitely are in the early stage of using dance videos on the Internet. Less then 2 years ago, very few dance companies thought about posting their videos to YouTube and other video sites. Now dance companies are trying to figure out what they should post--not whether they should do it or not.
Hi Doug,
Kudos first off for this post! I think that, regardless of what changes and improvments people may end up making to their videodances, asking questions such as yours is a BIG first step. A first step such as this (which more and more choreogrpahers are starting to make) sparks the evolution that turns (as Anna points out) expirement into art form.
I wonder, however, if there's something to be gained from analyzing these videos in seperate catagories - it seems that the qualifications for what makes a dancevid "sucessful" or "viral" or "enjoyable" differs greatly depending on what the intended purpose of the video is.
In my mind, there seem to be at least five categories that "dance" youtube videos appear in:
1. Viral Videos (meant to be entertaining, wierd, and funny. Usually short, many different levels of sophistication)
2. Music Videos (mainstream, high level of sophistication/production values, made for MTV or like network then uploaded to YouTube - as opposed to being made specifically for, containing different amounts of dance)
3. Home-made music videos (people dancing to songs that already exist, can be highly choreographed or "just for fun", differing levels of sophisitication)
4. Dance Performances (stationary tripod or camera following action, what's being shown is intended to be shown live)
5. Dancefilms/Dancevideos (choreographed specifically for the screen, usually higher production values, dance-based)
I think it's important while asking the questions that you mentioned to note that there will be different anwsers for each category of vids. While snappy editing and humor might make for a great viral video, we'd be limiting the art of dancefilm to assume that it would be likewise true for all forms. Additionally, some of these videos are more concerned with "dance" artistically than others. While the Feist music video is clearly a choreographed set of movements, the Chemical Party vid didn't really use choreogrpahy per se, but the idea of "a dnace party" to illustrate a set of ideas. In the same way, the last video you posted isn't operating by YouTube rules or guidlines, becuase it's "goal" in terms of its artistic purpouse relates instead to live performance. These differences make the videos no less artistic, no less value, just different.
This is not to say that we shouldn't be offering up our ideas and thinking about WHY we like what we like, but i think the more specific we can be (ex: "when shooting dance performances, I find it much more enjoyable to see closer shots that follow the dancers rather than a stationary tripod")the more helpful it will be to the respective categories.
Doug - Out of curiousity, are you attending NPAC?
Here are a few links to peruse:
http://www.performingartsconvention.org/
and
http://www.npnweb.org/site/npac2008/
Hi Sarah,
Great break-down of different types of dance videos.
It would be nice if we could figure way to increase viewership for your 4th category dance performance videos - the numbers are too low :(
Jaki, I'll be in DC for the Dance Critics Association Conference, where I'm speaking on Sunday. It would have been fun to go to Denver conference.
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