Dance & Web 2.0

Here at Elitedance.com we like to think of Web 2.0 as a trend with a catchy brand name which will someday die off or morph into another trend like all trends do. Then everyone will look back and say, “oh man, do you remember that?”. However, for the time being, the Web 2.0 revolution is here to stay spawning a wide variety of websites providing services complete with names you can’t pronounce and spellings not found in most dictionaries. Check out these crazy examples; Loopd, Plurk, Friendster, Kaboodle, Diigo, Bebo, Fark, Ping-o-Matic!, Tumblr, Technorati, Tip’d, Yardbarker,Tusul, Wykop, Tulinq, Squidoo, Orkut, Qik, Sphinn, koornk, GoogleFriendConnect, MySpace, Facebook, Digg, Twitter, Stumble Upon, Live, Delicious, Multiply, Faves, Shelfari, Friendfeed, Blogmarks, Plaxo, Netvouz, Twhirl, Reddit, Seesmic, Nujij, and Simpy. If we chose to review and highlight dance related links from all of these websites that would be completely nuts, very time consuming, and you would probably find the exact same digital content listed on multiple sites. Soooo, instead, we choose to review and highlight dance related links from only a few of the more popular Web 2.0 sites.  Enjoy!

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Just in case you don’t know what it is, Twitter is a Microblogging service which allows users to send and post 140 character text messages “tweets” to each other. It is primarily geared towards usage on mobile devices like cell & smart phones but can be used through a web interface and a wide variety of third party Twitter client apps. Twitter allows users to send and receive brief messages “tweets” containing relevant links to more comprehensive sources of information on the topic including a wide variety of digital media.

What did your favorite dancer tweet today?

One of the most popular ways to use Twitter centers around following daily tweets (messages) from your favorite VIP in a select industry or field.  This allows you to read real-time messages directly from the individual(s) you choose to follow. It just so happens that scores of dancers from companies all over the world are on Twitter right this second tweeting incredible amounts of information about their daily lives for you to follow along and enjoy, for free. You know you just can’t resist reading daily tweets from your favorite dancers like; “great performance  tonight” or “sitting in the unemployment office now” or “that rehearsal went well” or “eating my lunch of cottage cheese, fruit, and warm evian” and the ever popular “heading to the physical therapist now”.  Seriously though, following your own VIP list of dancer tweets is a ton of fun but be warned, it is an addictive activity. Before long you will be spending hours of your day checking and reading these never-ending insightful (matter of opinion) tweets. You might laugh, you might learn something, but eventually you may need to seek out a therapist yourself.

Twitter Directories

It is pretty simple to track down a person or a company to follow on Twitter if they have a Twitter account. All you need to do is goto Google, type in the person or organization’s name, space, and then the word Twitter, i.e. “elitedance twitter”, then hit enter. If you don’t like Google you can always use services like WeFollow which list Twitter users according to category and keyword. Unfortunately, Twitter users have to sign up with WeFollow in order to be listed in the WeFollow directory and not everyone does. Until Twitter creates its own “functioning” search engine the Google option for searching is still the most comprehensive search option with WeFollow as a close 2nd.

WeFollow <– Hands down the best Twitter search engine around, you can search by keyword, city, and name. If you are looking for something or someone specific on Twitter, WeFollow.com is a great place to start.

Twitter Lists

In October 2009, Twitter introduced a function called “Lists” which allows users to create relatively small, 500 per list, categorized lists of twitter users. Lists are a great way to see a Twitter timeline of messages from a select group of people or organizations. For instance, you can create or read a Twitter list containing messages exclusively from dance companies in Europe, or, any other subject a list is created for.

Listorious <—- So far the best Twitter List directory on the Internet. Lists are separated by category and key word(s).

Check out our very own Elitedance Twitter List which highlights 300+ of our favorite dance related tweeters. Or, here are direct links to some of our favorite Tweeters we think you should follow ; Sheri_ls, theBalletBag, TenduTV, DancePulp, TheWingerdotcom, Article19, TrishBallet22, BalletAustin, DanceAdvantage, ODCsf, RADHeadquarters, EvanMcKie, 4DanceEducation, Introdans, TudorTrust, LondonDance, LimonDance, RobertoBolle, YumikoNYC, NDTDancers, JacobsPillow, ctfdgala, BalletForMen, BalletRwanda, QNBallet, Messmerizer.

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Well, MySpace used to be the 10,000 pound gorilla in the social networking arena. Unfortunately, MySpace’s popularity seems to be waning these days with most profiles not being updated too often. Additionally, Fox Interactive Media, which owns MySpace lost close to 203 Million on MySpace last year alone (2009), (Click for New York Times Article) can you spell “chopping block”. However, MySpaceTV is still used for sharing some really great dance video.

The links listed below reference MySpaceTV listings only, no MySpace profiles.

BalletTech – Elliot Feld’s apple Pie, Houston Ballet – Jerome Robbins’ Afternoon of a Faun, Bayadere – Solar’s Variation, Ballet Sarabande

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Although popular, Facebook is not our favorite Social Media (web 2.0) site, mostly because of the serious privacy concerns surrounding the usage of the service. Click here for a great article on the subject via the Huffington Post.

Regardless of the privacy concerns surrounding Facebook’s usage, just about every dance company has a presence on Facebook. There is no denying the incredible amount of dance related content and information located on Facebook. If you are a diehard Facebook fan and have no issues with the privacy concerns surrounding the service check out our list of dance related Facebook Groups below. FYI, Elitedance does not maintain or intend to maintain a Facebook page ever!

Modern Dance, Sweetie! Take off those Gaynors, The Bellydance Dictionary, The Ballet Bag, Top 15 reasons to date a dancer, Inside Ballet Technique, Ballet Audition, Pineapple Dance Studio, Contemporary Dance, American Tap Dance Foundation, Dance Critics Association, UK Dance auditions, Ballet Dance , Internet Dance Injury DataBase, Contemporary Dance Video, Kinderdance International, PointeShoes, Dance Teacher Summit

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