Dancers Using Technology

Organizing Your Blog Reading with Bloglovin

If you really enjoy reading blogs - whether about dance, education, design, food, or parenting - the website Bloglovin can help you organize your weekly reading. It visually looks like the Twitter stream of posts, but with pictures and more text. I find it to be visually organized and easy to navigate.

A simple 5 minutes can get you started.

1. Go to the website.

2. You will have to sign up (no cost).

3. Then, search and select the blogs you want to regularly read. My list includes my own blogs, plus the following:

• Dancers Using Technology
• Life as a Modern Dancer
• Dancing Words
• ArtsJournal
• Dance Advantage
• DanceBeat
• DanceTabs
• danceviewtimes
• movement research
• Stance on Dance
• From the Green Room: Dance/USA's e-journal
• Edutopia

4. Last, I bookmarked the website for easy access. I usually try to look at it one or two times each week.

You will also receive an email in your inbox once or twice a week. Simply click on it, and it will specifically go to your stream of blog posts. I find this much easier than getting RSS feeds (and about 50 emails) in my inbox each week.

There is also an app you can add to your device if you like reading on your phone or tablet.

---------------------------

Blog Spotlight: Stance on Dance

 

I am a fan of Emmaly Wiederholt's blog, Stance on Dance. She has developed interesting features, including about dancers over 50, male dancers, and teenagers. It is an honor to be featured on it this month, as part of the "Making It" Series. To read the post, click here.

---------------

Blog Spotlight: Dance Education Laboratory (DEL)

This week my friend and colleague Ashlie Kirby is featured on the Dance Education Laboratory's Blog. I enjoyed reading her post and was also excited to find another dance blog I would like to read each month. I encourage you to check it out.

DEL is a top-notch dance education program in New York City. It provides training and inspiration for teaching artists.

Find out more here. 

---------------

Documenting Dance History on the Web

Photo: Gregory Bartning, from the Stance on Dance Blog

Dancers: Kim Epifano and Bonnie Lewkowicz

 

Tonight I would like to highlight another blog, Emmaly Wiederholt's Stance on Dance. She is starting a series, highlighting dancers over 50. Through text and photography she will be capturing some amazing stories. Gregory Bartning's photos are stunning.

Read more here. 

"Living Textbooks"

Today I would like to highlight the idea of a blog, or website, as a "living textbook" in a college course. That is the main purpose of my other blog, Life as a Modern Dancer.

We all know well that our selection of books on dance is small, and that the rate of new ones getting published is a slow one. Also, through my own experience, I see that it takes years to create a book, edit the writing, and work with a publisher.

Blogs and websites can offer valuable information and reading material for college courses and offer information that is current and up-to-date. Editing and updating is made super easy on the web. Online sources also can be free or very reasonably priced.

My Life as a Modern Dancer Blog has been in existence for one academic year so far, and several colleges around the United States are using it within a course. Each week I highlight a different artist, who answers a series of questions. The goal is to highlight dancers in their 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s and the many career paths we take within modern dance. Each week I also pose some discussion questions related to the post. To date, 43 artists have volunteered their time to write heartfelt, honest, and informative posts. 

Back to the bigger topic of "living textbooks," iTunes U is still an incredible and untapped resource for the dance community (whether you make a course public or simply use the format to run a course at your school).

We continue to see interesting intersections of higher ed and the internet. None of these ideas - blogs, websites, or iTunes U courses - are meant to replace in person college courses. The internet sources are simply meant to be an integral component for the course and as a source of reading material.

The Tech Skills of a Graduating Dance Major

What skills do I hope that an undergraduate of a college dance program will have in year 2013? Listed below is my 2 cents based on my 16 years as an artist, educator, employer, and mentor in dance.

1. Excel. Dancers need to be able to read basic spreadsheets and be able to create a simple project budget (ie income and expenses) using Excel. Even better - be able to do this on Google Drive so that you can share it with fellow employees or people involved in the same project. 

2. iMovie. Dancers have a working knowledge of iMovie and can make a 4 minute reel of his/her own choreography or performances. 

3. Garage Band. Can you edit and splice various songs to use within a dance project?

4. Facebook. Dancers should know how to make a "Facebook Page" for an event or a dance company. Can you post about an event and get rsvps via FB?

5. Virtual marketing. Speaking of Facebook, dancers should be able to identify and use at least 5 different sites, social media options, etc. on the web to promote upcoming dance performances. Are we even at a time when you don't need to print paper postcards anymore??

6. Twitter. Dancers should know how to navigate Twitter and find dancers, companies, and organizations they might like to follow. In your own dance life and teaching, how can you use Twitter to promote your work?

7. Blogging. By the end of college, I believe that dance majors should have at least one opportunity to create and use a blog. Blogs can serve many purposes for dancers, including simply as an online journal for yourself or as an easy way to document a choreographic project or teaching residency.

8. Website. Most likely, each graduating senior should have his/her own website so that future employers can easily find out about you - your resume, photos, videos, etc. You might need to pay for someone to design your site, or your could use a simple free option like Google Sites to get started.

9. 5 sites/lists to find out about jobs, auditions, etc. Each dancer should easily be able to name five websites or email lists to regularly view to find out more about upcoming auditions, internships, and paying jobs. Where to start? NDEO, Dance/USA, Dancers' Group in San Francisco, etc. Join email lists; pay the annual fee for NDEO and Dance/USA (very worth it). Put these organizations on your "bookmarks bar" on your computer.

10. Clean up of your online presence. As you head out into the working world, don't forget to take a look at your online presence via Facebook, Twitter, Google Images, etc. Many future employers "Google you" and will find those images of you drinking at a college party. It's time to get professional and remove any questionable images and postings.

11. Google Docs and Google Drive. Dancers should having a working knowledge of creating Google Docs. This skill will come in handy in future years with joint projects, as well as accessing your information from any computer. 

12. Multimedia dance project. By the end of college, I hope that each student will have the opportunity to participate in a multimedia project as well as create one herself/himself. What does each medium add to a piece? What personally excited you as a dancer and as a choreographer? 

Dancers Using Technology: Blogs

From Blog Director Jill Randall:

Whether you have a dance company, dance center, or run a program at a K-12 school, we all are considering the methods of communication these days to share information, gain an audience, document our work, and much more. We have websites, Facebook pages, Twitter accounts, newsletters, designed emails like Constant Contact, email lists, and blogs. Today let's talk specifically about blogs.

Full disclosure - I actually have four  blogs. Three are public and one is just for me to capture some thoughts for a later date. I also subscribe to about 10 blogs on various topics. I like the RSS feeds coming right into my inbox each morning. I easily browse them, and find a few each day that I will "click through" to in order to read more information. I find the design and format of blog postings more engaging than the average email. 

We are talking about information sharing, and to me a blog format works well for my reading style and aesthetic eye. 

There are several free options on the internet if you too would like to begin a blog, such as Blogger and WordPress. I decided to spend a modest $16 a month to use Typepad, and I have four separate blogs through them for a total of $16/month. I am a reader of the Soule Mama Blog, and I liked the look of her Typepad blog. Starting a blog on Typepad was quick and user friendly, and adding posts (and edits) each week remains fast and easy to do. 

I think the two keys to having a blog, versus sending emails out to your list, are:

-You can reach hundreds or thousands of people you might not know, but who are interested in your company, school, or area of speciality

-If you frequently have something to share - an announcement, article of interest, window into your creative process - blogs are a great way to share frequently and even brief, small ideas

Almost 2 years ago, I began my Dancing Words Blog, which grew out of one of my "specialities" within dance education. The blog is about children's books on dance and books that can be springboards for dance classes. These books are mainly for students in preschool-fifth grade, but I also highlight middle school options whenever I can. Blog readers include dance teaching artists, classroom teachers, librarians, and parents. I post about 4 times each month. 

In August 2012, I began the Life as a Modern Dancer Blog. Each Monday, I post an artist profile of an established artist. Each Tuesday, I pose questions related to the profile. The goal of the blog is to share the many and varied ways to have a life in modern dance, whether that is being a performer, choreographer, arts administrator, teaching artist, etc. This blog is meant to be a "living textbook" to use in college courses, and indeed several departments are using it this school year. The blog does have a wider audience, and I know that dancers of all ages find the blog to be valuable, informative, and inspiring. (Many people "click through" on links on Facebook to read these profiles.)

Last, I began this blog in January 2013 to try to create a "hub" of information about the rapidly changing intersections of dance and technology. Each month I highlight a few "tech topics" that might apply to running a dance company, teaching dance, or even dance history online. I first made a website to house this information, but that required more time to upload the information. 

----

Number one, you have to be passionate about a specific idea and focus for your blog. You have to have something useful and/or interesting to share. How are you contributing to the field? How can a blog give a window into your work? Key words for a blog include: sharing, window, process, reflection, questions, journey, dialogue, hub, information gathering, and resources. 

Another thought is to use a blog and keep it "private." It can serve as an online journal or a way to document a choreographic project from start to finish, a teaching residency, or an internship.  College professors - I encourage you to try out this format within a course. It can serve your course and also at the same time develop young dancers' writing skills and blog skills.

Last, I wanted to highlight two other blogs you might like to check out:

Ohio State University's Dance Blog

Arts Journal Online - Various Dance Blog Listings