Social media has become an important part of modern lives. Whether you like it or not, use it every day or not. Social media is important to keep in touch with friends. Social media has evolved as the main source of information and entertainment. For dancers, Social media has become much more than just a platform for sharing everyday work.
Connect with students and audience all over the world
Facebook was the first online platform to connect with other dancers. Slowly, dance students and people interested in dance also started connecting online. The ease of communication and conveying information brought people together with similar interests. Creative people involved in different arts made groups collaborate. It all started gradually and now artists feel like part of one big community inspiring each other every day.
Connecting with different dance teachers’ work helps awareness of international dance and art. With the popularity of YouTube videos, the audience could explore different countries engages in dance. Nowadays, with apps flooding the online market, people love making dance videos and entertaining everyone.
Share upcoming dance performances
Gone are the days when the public got to know about the upcoming performances and events only through a billboard or newspaper. Social media announcements have become creative and trendy in different ways. The reach to the audience has widened with Insta reels, live updates, apps providing templates for different types of posters. From black and white posters to digital art, a 3D painting to a collage of dance videos, we have come a long way to advertise our work. Event invites are sent through email through weekly and monthly newsletters promotions. The calendar notification reminds the audience of the day and time to watch the performance of their favorite artist.
Behind-the-scene process of choreography
It’s so great to see the trailer of a dance performance. And even better and interesting are the videos showing a glimpse of a work-in-progress. The popularity of behind-the-scene reels has soared. It provides the artist to showcase the hard work in creating a dance video or a choreography. The audience feels like they are watching an exclusive rehearsal of the show. It is also an opportunity for the audience to connect with the artist and his art in a more real way.
The best example is the series of short posts created by the singer Charlie Puth for his latest album Light Switch. From the day he started creating new music, he shared the process of how he got inspired by everyday rhythm. He added and mixed the sounds on his music system. As the release date neared, the listeners became excited to hear the complete song. And today the song Light Switch is topping the music charts.
Introducing artists and collaboration
Social media is a great way to introduce new artists. Dancers can share their amazing dance photos with so many filters available. Then share videos of a famous dance step, and soon dancers are posting their original choreography on a popular song. All this seems like a lot of fun, but it is actually a great learning process for dancers. Observation is a key inspiring element for every artist. Watching other artists on social media motivates dancers to follow and then create their dance style.
Different dance challenges gives opportunity to collaborate online. It is so much fun to watch but also to understand each other’s style. People from different parts of the world come together to create unique choreographies.
Appreciating work of other dancers across border
The only way an artist or a dancer grows is through appreciation. Showing appreciation of another dancer of the same dance style is a great way to encourage each other. Dancers also love exploring other dance styles. A street dancer appreciating a ballet dancer or a folk dancer loves a contemporary work. Liking a video is not just about the stats or numbers but a way to applause the hard work.
One good example is the group called Masaka Kids Afrikana that rose to fame after the Merry Christmas dance video. They are a group of African kids whose age may be below 12 years old. They dance so well together, and their videos are entertaining because of their unique dance style. The video has 82k likes on YouTube and subscribers from every country.
Bringing on-stage work to online audience
Dance is an entertainment industry, and without an audience, every work feels incomplete. Many people love to watch live dance performances but because of covid restrictions could not do so. Dance studios and auditoriums closed, and dancers were forced to search for an audience online. There were financial difficulties of ticketing but also the challenge to produce high-quality videos. Dancers did not want to compromise on the experience of the audience to convey the true expressive quality of the work.
Social media emerged as the only medium to continue work even during a difficult time. People were suffering from physical and mental ailments. For some, the only attempt to normalize the panic situation was to find some respite in music and dance. A need to find something for entertainment at home even in the midst of chaos.
Everyone was stressed out and worked hard to save their job. Artists felt isolated from other artists and their audience. But giving up was not an option. Many dance companies started presenting their performance online through special links to their website.
Everyday choreography and online dance classes
As the world and people’s lifestyles changed drastically, it was time for dancers to find a way to connect with their students online. Many freelance dance teachers started their online dance classes. There were many hurdles like weak internet connection and poor videography. Providing classes from mobile was not possible because of the small screen of videos. Another challenge was helping beginner students understand their right and left sides while dancing. Many things were unclear but a solution was ultimately figured out with some practice.
Slowly, the bigger dance companies and solo artists also started giving dance tutorials. It was a delight for some students and a hesitation for others. Watching oneself dance online in front of people seemed intimidating. But dance teachers carried the work encouraging students every step of the way.
Conclusion
Spending time on social media is thought to be unhealthy by many professionals. However, for dancers and other artists, social media is an important medium to connect with the audience. Just like when the television was an alien concept once. Likewise, social media is the new medium to reach and entertain the audience. The pandemic may or may not be there but social media as a major promotional tool has just started to evolve. Dancers can find their stage anywhere, sometimes even online. And wherever there’s a platform, there will be an audience to entertain.
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