In 1983, The Buggles declared, by way of an infectious tune (that Nicki Minaj later sampled) that “video killed the radio star.”
Today, in 2025, is video killing the dance class experience?
This topic is not a new one for me to explore in my writing. A few years ago I wrote a post for my blog, asking the same question. That post was pre-pandemic, pre-virtual dance classes and pre-acceleration of my professional career, and pre-me not being able to regularly take class like I was before 2020.
I never published that original blog, but in re-reading it, I found that many of my opinions about videoing then, remain the same now (with some minor evolutions) — particularly the main thesis of the article, which is that dancers and teachers alike need to make better filming choices during classes. Students are still people who deserve consideration, teachers. And your classmates, dancers, aren’t your personal camera crew.
In service of the public good, here are some more of my (updated) thoughts on filming in class.
Read the room
When I wrote my original article, I’d just finished taking a class Labor Day weekend 2019, where I was fighting with an unruly headscarf as a cameraman filmed us from warmup to final bow. I felt vulnerable and exposed as not being my best self and I realized implied consent wasn’t enough. Students who are having a rough day need to have more of a say in whether their struggles are documented on film.
In more recent years it’s been encouraging to take class and see more teachers reserving a section of the room for students who don’t want to be filmed. This temperature checking should also extend to dancers taking class. I get it, you’ve wanted to learn this teacher’s combo for weeks and were looking forward to getting footage of yourself dancing in the studio in a video you hope will go viral, but if no one else’s phone is out, yours shouldn’t be either.
Be your own cameraman
This is actually an adjustment from my previous thoughts. Back in 2019, I conceded in my unpublished blog that I was just as guilty of asking dancers to film me in class as I was of rolling my eyes when other dancers asked me to film them at the end of class. These days, I no longer ask dancers to film me — due in no small part to receiving one too many messed up videos that weren’t postable after class. But I also broke this habit because I realized every time I asked another dancer to focus on filming me, I disrupted their learning process. Doing a combo in groups is for watching other dancers to give yourself notes, seeing what you like and want to emulate or what you want to fix in your own execution. It’s a little hard to do that when you’re following another person to keep them in frame so they’re instagrammable. These days, if I can’t film myself, I just go without a video because …
It’s not the end of the world if you don’t have a video of every class.
Truly, you’ll survive without a post of a one minute combo that gets 17, 50, 100 or even 1000 likes. I’m blessed to be booked and busy these days, and I’m landing both dance and choreography jobs without a super active (working on it) social media presence that would make Millennium Dance Complex jealous. When I take class and leave with a postable video I’m excited, but when I take class and arrive home with an ever-dwindling memory of the combo, along with some takeaways of things I did well and things I need to improve, I’m also glad. Likes, comments and fire emojis can provide dancers with a reminder that they’re doing well, which is great and at times needed. Ultimately, though, we have to affirm ourselves (or, as my mom often says, to give ourselves props). This is what keeps us in touch with our why when the life of a professional dancer, inevitably, gets tough.
Learn to let class be for you
There was a time when dancers went to class simply to train, to get some unpleasant emotions out, or maybe even to connect with a teacher or some new dancers. While we haven’t completely lost those goals, I think wanting a video has become a quick (and too easy) way to show that:
We care about our training
We love what we do and show up consistently
We’re good
But here’s the thing, regular attendance in class accomplishes the same thing. There’s a reason so many dancers’ careers began with them getting plucked out of a dance class they were just taking for fun. Showing up works. And even if it doesn’t book your next job, keeping the promise to yourself that you will take class, that you will apply corrections, and that you will keep a promise to yourself to lock-in and learn, is one of the greatest confidence boosters ever. Videos, while a helpful tool for self-marketing and tracking progress, should always, at their core, be documentation of what is intrinsic to us as dancers: a love and respect for our art and an unwavering drive to study and improve in our craft.
So what’s my final verdict? Is video killing the dance class experience?
Back in 2019, I focused more on giving recommendations than answering the question. Today, I can confidently say, video isn’t killing the dancer in class. In many ways, it is making us better, we can see our flaws for ourselves without a teacher needing to tell us, we have the power to craft our own digital footprint and we don’t have to wait on other people to give us footage of ourselves. As teachers, we can now show what we impart on our dancers and capture choreography ideas as we have them. But, in the immortal words of Peter Parker’s Uncle Ben, “with great power comes great responsibility.” We’re responsible for checking ourselves, for making sure we don’t encroach upon others’ learning as we learn, for remembering the agency and consent of everyone in the room with us. Most importantly, we’re responsible for staying focused on our why and ensuring that what’s on camera doesn’t steal the spotlight from what’s in our hearts.
Written By:
JORIE J. GOINS
COMMUNICATIONS LEADER | WRITER | DANCER | CHOREOGRAPHER | TEACHER
