Today I am excited to be putting together a few ideas that have been swimming in my mind – around podcasts, interviews, and college dance departments. Please join me - brainstorming ideas that can be used in college dance courses.
SoundCloud is a website that is used to listen to music, share music, and also share/listen to interviews. My alma mater – the University of Utah – recently posted a 10 minute interview with Abby Fiat.
I believe there is great potential to use sites like SoundCloud to capture conversations and musings with dance artists. I myself have been listening to an interview I did as well with Abby Fiat a few months ago. (I am transcribing it for an upcoming piece on my blog Life as a Modern Dancer.) I studied with Abby 18 years ago, but listening to her voice now – recorded – quickly transports me back to studying with her and having a connection. I have been quite surprised in the power of the recorded voice.
Here is what I am proposing. As a component of a course during the final year of undergraduate studies, could each student interview a professor who has been pivotal in his/her training? What questions can we ask? How can we capture ideas and inspiration that we can listen to in years to come?
College students can easily use Voice Memo on a smart phone or tablet to record the interview. The interview can then be uploaded and “archived” on a site like SoundCloud.
One of my other areas of interest is about college departments/alumni relations. Does a college department have an obligation to its graduates, especially during those first few years leaving the nest? Could these archived interviews be a “continuation” of the program? I venture to say, since so many concepts and corrections in dance are lifelong recurring ideas, recording these interviews can support lifelong learning for a dancer.
Please become a part of this conversation and leave a comment below.
-----------------------