On(line) Dance Representation

Since the 1990s, the internet has changed, if not revolutionized the way humans communicate with one another. As a result, people are constantly navigating though this form of communication; expanding it, criticizing it, and improving it.

As members of the world, we like to have a voice; one that expresses issues of existence that we feel moved by. Voicing our opinions is a way to communicate satisfaction as well as resistance to the ideological pathways of social life. As we speak to one another, we often experience a direction that flows from the impetus to communicate. When direction results in change, we learn to embrace the movements of our social surroundings whether we like them or not. Regardless, the desire to see movement as a result of communication never ceases to excite us.

Since the 1990s, the internet has changed, if not revolutionized the way humans communicate with one another. As a result, people are constantly navigating through this form of communication; expanding it, criticizing it, and improving it.

This moment is not unlike the persistency of dance as a way for communicating. As dancers and performers (choreographers, movers, thinkers, humans etc.) we like to have a voice that identifies our presence within society. Hierarchies of identities are often created based on whose voice is the loudest. This point is widely observed in American culture, however, the dance world is particular in that its voice is often quiet or inaudible to the public’s ear. Those of us who consider ourselves a part of the dance community have the capacity to feel the presence of others, and the sensation is beyond audibility.

What I’m curios to hear are opinions about dance representation online. A recent blog post at GreatDance.com raises opposition to a critique of video quality for anyone who chooses to show dance or choreography on the internet. While many artists have found comfortable habitats online, others are resistant to communicate through virtual representation because it can never truly resemble the value of encounters or feelings dance engages us with.

I would like to invite you to communicate with us by giving your opinion as to the direction of online representations of dance, be it websites, video, scholarly journals, blogs or what have you. In terms of circulating information, the internet is a valuable resource, but what are its limitations? Do those issues hinder the experience of seeing dance in a community that is almost exclusively interested in live performance and practice? How might online identities and ritual encounters with online representations of dance influence or change our relationship to an ephemeral form? Do online representations succeed in performing an amorphous identity?