DANCE AND DIGITAL MEDIA

Shifting, Creating, Activating, and Inhabiting Online Spaces

DATE | Wednesday, August 19, 2020

TIME | 6:30-8:00PM EST

PLATFORM | ZOOM

—

FORUM FRAMING

Have you been starring more at screens lately? …Yeah...us too. Technology grows rapidly, exponentially, all the time it seems and the way we communicate, consume entertainment, shop, learn, teach, create, and work has been influenced by these new technologies and constantly ask us to adapt to “the next thing.” And now, a new set of adaptations: work from home, stay inside, socially distance, wear a mask in public. Are we relying on technology now more than ever? How many adaptations have you made in the past 6 months to use technology in a new way?

…..OH and if you’re reading this you probably identify as a dance artist or performer...and you probably have a lot of questions about how we (being the embodied physical creatures that we are) adapt to this new online landscape. How does and how doesn’t dance adapt to the online digital space? Have you been taking/teaching online dance classes? Perhaps thinking about online performance? Are you making work online? How is social media a part of your dance practice? Or are you taking a big break from dance right now? 

This forum will largely be an open conversation regarding dance and digital media. We are wondering about past strategies for working in the digital realm, current approaches and strategies you are using now, and how we might together cultivate strategies and meaning for the future.

Here are some of the questions that have been sitting in our minds (CSD’s admin team) for the past few months. Of course, anything is on the table related to broadly “Dance & Digital Media” but we wanted to let you see some examples to get you started and the direction we’ve (loosely) planned for the conversation. (If you are in more of a listening mood rather than a speaking mood, that’s okay too! Please participate in this conversation however it feels best to you.) 

Discussion Outline

• Welcome 

• Group Check-In

• Open discussion, loosely facilitated by CSD

  • Past: what were we using before, what was already working in the digital space?

    • Examples: social media, learning choreography, online classes...how did we think about dance online vs. physical dance space?

  • Present: how are we utilizing online spaces now because of COVID?

    • Examples: teaching/taking onlines classes, connections to digital vs. physical space...what are the challenges/successes of these spaces? How have any priorities shifted?

  • Future: What do we see continuing, what do we see continuing to adapt?

    • Examples: What can we shift and improve? Is the way we teach changing? What could performance look like? Auditions?

• Group Check-Out

—

DONATIONS WELCOME FOR THIS PROGRAM

Thank you so much for your interest and attendance in this event. Please note that we do not require donation to ensure participation.

If you wish to support this Dance Forum program and many others by CSD, please consider donating through Cashapp ($collectivesweat) or Venmo (@collectivesweatdetroit).

We are still raising matching funds for our Knight Arts Challenge grant and you can read more about it and make a direct donation here. // https://www.collectivesweatdetroit.org/support

Thank you for your continued community support.