Dancers Using Technology

Dance Discourse Project #4: Media, Technology, and Performance

The Dance Discourse Project is an exciting Bay Area project that brings together Dancers' Group, Counterpulse, artist/facilitator Mary Armentrout, and the community. Each time a new one is announced, I get excited about the topics and panelists. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to attend due to scheduling conflicts. 

Thank goodness for technology, and the ability to engage in the Dance Discourse Project via podcasts or videos of the discussions. 

Photo from Dancers' Group website, www.dancersgroup.org

Today I was watching/listening to the September 2008 discussion on "Media, Technology, and Performance." I highly encourage you to check out this video, and also to share it within a college course. Have paper and pen on hand to catch some key phrases and food for thought on this topic.  (The video appears at first to be only 9:50 in length, but then one video links right into the next, as the discussion continues....) Even if you simply watch the first 10 minute video, there are a lot of thought-provoking ideas around the subject within the introduction for the event.

Dance Discourse Project #4

More Information on the Dance Discourse Project

Spotlight on Web Design: Joe Goode Performance Group

I am always on the lookout for examples of clear, easy-to-navigate (but also vibrant and inspiring) dance websites. Can you find the information you want quickly? Is the website up-to-date? Does the website convey the feeling, aesthetic, or mission of a dancer, company, or arts organization? 

This weekend I was on the Joe Goode Performance Group website and got really excited about their newer web design. It is mainly white with red accents and rotating images. Absolutely clear, easy to read, and exciting to look at. Check it out if you are seeking some ideas for your own website.

Joe Goode Performance Group

BayAreaSpaces.org

The wonderful folks at Dancers' Group and Theatre Bay Area have created a database for artists in the San Francisco Bay Area. If you are looking for space for a class, audition, photoshoot, or performance, spend some time on this site!

This website is a gift for artists! I hope that more and more areas around the US are developing sites like this one.

BayAreaSpaces.org

Jacob's Pillow Dance Interactive

For dancers as well as educators, you will love the interactive site that Jacob's Pillow recently launched. Jacob's Pillow is the longest running international dance festival in the United States, and they have hundreds of videos from their archives now online. What a gift.

Yesterday I watched a Ted Shawn video from the 1930s. The videos date back from the 30s and run the whole way through to the present. You can search the site by artist names, genre, or era.

This will become a great and valuable resource to use within college courses.

Click here to explore.

More Streaming on Netflix: Never Stand Still

My friend Tanya mentioned today that the 2011 dance film that takes place at Jacob's Pillow, Never Stand Still, can be streamed through Netflix. Yay - another recent dance film alongside Pina that can easily be accessed on the web. I am personally excited to check it out!

Read more about the film here.

 

More about iPads

I was thinking this weekend about the use of my iPad within my teaching work. (I teach dance full-time at a middle school in San Francisco.)

It was quite useful this past school year to videotape phrases and dances during classes, and that the students could easily access and view these videos at a later time. With the iPad, and the nice, "large screen," a small group of students can sit and watch a rehearsal video as they are remembering something from the other week. With my tech savvy students, they can easily just get on the iPad and find the video to work with, while I am busy moving around the room working with other small groups and their choreographic projects. 

The only issue with videotaping on the iPad is if you also regularly play your music via the iPad. Think ahead, and maybe have your music on another device (laptop, iPhone, etc) so that you can unplug the iPad and videotape away from your sound system.

 

Weekly Reading

I am always curious which websites, email lists, newsletters, blogs, etc. dancers read on a regular basis. Today I want to share what I look at each week. 

ArtsJournal

I have the ArtsJournal website on my bookmarks bar. I love checking out the website once or twice a week. This website is a great gathering place of articles about professional dance from around the globe. Articles come from The Guardian, New York Times, regional newspapers, and online sources.

Email Lists: Dancers' Group, Dance/USA, and the California Arts Council

I have paid for a membership to Dancers' Group and Dance/USA and receive their wonderful, comprehensive emails each week. Dancers' Group is the San Francisco Bay Area's service organization. Their weekly email includes information about jobs, auditions, performances, workshops, and relevant articles. Likewise, for the national scene, Dance/USA creates weekly emails with job postings, grant information, and thought provoking articles.

Each Friday I also take a quick read of the California Arts Council's artbeat e-newsletter for a pulse on the arts scene in the state.

As a Dance Teaching Artist.....

To support my work as a dance teaching artist, I am a member of the National Dance Education Organization (NDEO). Its email list announces jobs but also is a venue to pose a question and receive responses from fellow educators around the country.

I also have the Edutopia website bookmarked on my computer. This site is geared towards K-12 educators, but much of the content applies to our teaching work. Edutopia also has a fair amount of articles on arts in education as well.

As a busy artist and educator, these websites and email lists are gifts of information. It is, now, more a matter taking the time to read on a regular basis about the field. 

Which websites, email lists, blogs, etc. are on your weekly reading list? Write in at randalldanceprojects@gmail.com.

 

Web Spotlight: Boardsource

Do you work for an arts organization or run your own nonprofit or company? Today I would like to highlight one of the many free resources available to you online, Boardsource.

Boardsource is a nonprofit dedicated to supporting the nont-for-profit sector and running organizations effectively. They generously offer many articles online for free about topics such as:

• Board responsibilities and structures
• Board dynamics and processes
• Boards and personal contributions

I have defintely referenced this website in the past when seeking clarifying details about the roles and responsibilities of board members for dance organizations. I hope that you will find this informaion useful and valuable as well.

Boardsource - Free Community Resources

Article of Note: Dance and Digital Projection

If you haven't already read this recent article in The Guardian by Judith Mackrell, I encourage you to follow this link. 

The article shares the details about a recent French production. Mackrell highlights some good questions and considerations for the role of technology within our choreography. Does technology enhance the work or become the main attraction?

• Is it "the 'magic box' for choreography to inhabit?"
• Does technology now create "the most portable scenery?"
• Are we keeping the main thing the main thing (ie dance)?

Dance and digital projection: bring on the virtual rhinos