With the recent quarantine, we all experienced big changes in so many areas of our daily lives. Dance was one of those areas for me, and for many other dancers all over the world. We suddenly went from being in the studio every day, to taking dance classes online over the internet. This got me thinking… how will this affect the future of dance? And what other changes might we see in the near future?
The most obvious changes are centered around technology. Although new technology related to dance has slowly been emerging over the last few years, the recent world events really put it at the forefront. Many dancers had never taken a dance class over the internet before, then suddenly it became the new normal.
This unexpected shift has resulted in a rush to come up with new and better technology to support the dance community. Developers are working on new apps to make the online class experience better, and choreographers are thinking of new ways to share and even sell their choreography online. For us, all of this means more accessibility and availability of dance. Yay!
So more and more, each dancer will have the potential to start moving away from the limited experience of just dancing at their local studio, toward adding to their dance education with more content and exposure to different kinds of dance styles and teachings.
This, along with other evolving technologies in dance like digital choreography, motion capture, and virtual reality make me so excited to see what the future holds for all dancers!