What's Happening in Middle America...and the Rest of the World

Even as we speak, there are dancers of all ages getting inspired by other dancers, filming themselves, uploading their videos online, and talking to each other about what they're working on. This global dance conversation is running 24/7, powered by video-sharing sites and social networking portals. It's nonstop. And it's amazing. More people than ever are discovering the joy of dancing for the first time. They're getting that first exposure, that first taste of what it's like to be free with the music. And a whole new world is opening up for them. But where is all of this heading?

Those of us who are trained in the traditional hip hop street styles may bemoan the lack of foundation among our peers who are just learning from Youtube videos. We predict the "watering-down" of our culture and fear the upcoming backlash when history repeats itself, and it's no longer cool to dance. On the flip side, newbies are frustrated that we don't share foundation and our training secrets more openly. Some of them are so hungry to learn that they will devote hours to watching online videos for any kernel of truth. It's a familiar situation of haves and have-nots.

So the newbies who throw themselves into dancing for the first time are trying out all kinds of ideas, whether they're half-baked or not. In middle America and around the world, kids are trying out moves. They're copying routines. And they're dissecting how their favorite dancer is moving in a poorly lit Youtube video. Sometimes, they have no one to turn to for advice except their online peers who share comments on their channel. It's a strange new way of learning dance - not by going to a class or a session - but by self-initiative through shared media. This is the dance revolution that's happening now on our laptops and smart phones.

The end result is that dance becomes commodified in a media conversation online in the same way that viral videos, Youtube musicians, and comedy bits are being traded, viewed, and distributed from one person to the next. Dance in the form of online videos have become part of that media fabric that invades our awareness through plugging in. It's becoming accepted as a form of online entertainment or at the very least, a visual curiosity to admire. Dance online is also becoming part of our human history. We can call it a form of cultural documentation that's sprawling worldwide through terabytes. It will be interesting to see how we look back at this period of time a hundred years from now. Will we reflect back and conclude that dance played a unique role in communication with each other online?