How Influencers & Social Media Changed the Dance Industry

 

Just wanted to share this video that I came across on YouTube by the LA Times. It's so nice to hear four different cases of breaking the dancer stereotype; Amanda LaCount, BFunk, Syncopated Ladies and Chelsie Hill. They've all used social networking platforms to become celebrities in their own right. Amanda LaCount and Chelsie Hill's stories really opened my eyes and made me realise the great extent that the internet can be used for self promotion.

Amanda LaCount first talks about her experience of not having the stereotypical dancers body and her experience at a studio where she was told to her face that they had a problem with what she looked like and her body type didn't fit in his vision. She always assumed it was going to be hard for her to make it in this industry because she didn't fit the look with what everyone assumed a dancer should be. Until she uploaded a video of her dancing on the street and it was quickly shared around the web and she gained numerous amounts of followers. "Stereotypes are made to be broken and the more you work for something, the more rewarding it is."

Chelsie Hill shares how she had such a passion for dancing until she was in a car accident which paralysed her. She then discovered a wheelchair dancer online and was so inspired by it and wanted to push herself but dealt with a lot of rejections "I started to turn that hurt that I felt, where I wasnt respected like every other dancer, into passion and fuel." She then built a community on social media for women in wheelchairs that just wanted to dance.

These ladies are so inspiring to people who don't fit in with the usual stereotype of a dancer and a how social media can be used in a positive way to build up communities and inspire others.

The Ability to Adapt

After having a zoom call with Sam this morning, I feel so much better about where I am at and feeling so much more secure. This has really made me realise the importance of communication relating to my personal way of learning. We focused a lot on adaptation and the communication involved in our practices, including the non verbal communication which is often involved in live performance. I believe thats what makes live performances so special is that anything could go wrong at any time but often the audience don't suspect a thing with professional performers. 

Many times I have been involved in shows and somebody has injured themselves during a number and can't continue the show and we have had to re-block on the spot. It actually amazes me sometimes how the cast can all pull together and just make it work with no time to plan or prepare. Defying the muscle memory that we have accumulated from performing the show the same way over and over. I'm not sure about the other performers but I get such a thrill from these scenarios, whether its the anticipation of it or the resistance against the muscle memory, I don't know. Twyla Tharp explains muscle memory so clearly in her book "The Creative Habit." 

"Muscle memory is one of the more valuable forms of memory, especially to a performer. It's the notion that after diligent practice and repetition of certain physical movements, your body will remember those moves years, even decades, after you cease doing them."

I can relate to this so vividly, I often find myself, walking around Asda and suddenly busting out choreography from years ago when a certain song comes on. (Embarrassing!) It's actually really strange how your body just remembers something that your brain couldn't possibly.  Whilst in rehearsals for different contracts, I will finish the day in the studio and then go home, have a shower, have some dinner and then not think of any choreography for a while. Then, just before I go to sleep I will stand up and do the choreography a couple of times so that it will digest during the night. I have found this really helps me to retain it all for the next day. 

A time that muscle memory has hindered me is when I was on a ship and our dance captain was disembarking and I got promoted to take over the role at short notice. I had very little time to prepare to teach the new cast embarking. I thought that it would be fine because I knew all of the choreography indisputably after performing it for 6 months already. But, as I began to teach, it was like I had no idea, because it was retained in my body and not my brain.  It's a little scary how I would go on stage every evening and perform the shows 2 or 3 times but when I needed to teach somebody it was as if I had never done it before in my life. I quickly realised that I had to adapt to the new role and I needed to go back and teach myself again in order to be able to teach the new dancers. 

As a dancer, we have to be easily adaptable in many different ways. 

- Moving away from home to an unfamiliar place

-Working with different people from different backgrounds 

-Being versatile to perform whatever style the choreographer sets 

-Adapting to the lack of work (eg, during the pandemic)

Bibliography

TWYLA THARP 2003 The Creative Habit 

Are we human, or are we dancer?

 

After our module one zoom call last Monday evening, one huge thing that stuck with me was Helen saying that our professions ARE normal- it is the "normal" for us. Reflecting on this has put so much into perspective for me. When I first heard the song by The Killers "Are we human, or are we dancer?" I remember feeling a little confused by this; why aren't dancers recognised as human beings? Is this based on the tacit knowledge involved in the discipline? A lot of the industry is very hard to express in words to somebody on the outside, it has been sourced through repetition, muscle memory and personal experience. 

I am finding it very interesting that this course is heavily based around knowledge and reflections on how we have gained the knowledge. "Learning something new has to start with the confusion of realising that you don't know something." (Page 44, module one handbook) 

I'm not going to hide it, this course is extremely out of my comfort zone and I've had many moments of panic, wondering if I am on the right track. I said to my family the other day "I am so out of practice at being academic," (I now know what my practice isn't- thats a start!) However, no matter how difficult something seems at first,  my practice has taught me not to give up. 

I began reading "The Creative Habit," by Twyla Tharp, one of America's greatest choreographers and within the first chapter she talks about how important routine is for creativity. Which made me think, for the past 2 years I have been working on a holiday park 250 miles from my home, living in a wooden chalet. Where I was performing the same shows day in, day out. This meant I was relying solely on muscle memory (until we occasionally had to do reblocks!) So, with the current circumstances and nobody performing due to the pandemic. I have just got my own home with my partner and 2 dogs alongside starting my studies on BaPP.  There is no surprise that I am finding it hard, my whole routine has changed. With this in mind I have decided to be kinder to myself and not put so much pressure on myself and worrying getting everything right first time. This is a marathon not a sprint. 

Bibliography 

FACULTY ARTS AND CREATIVE INDUSTRIES 2020-21 Module One Handbook

TWYLA THARP 2003 The Creative Habit 

THE KILLERS 2008 Human