When discussing technology as it relates to line dancing I am referring to various modes of technology involving music, smartphones and videos.

 

In the past DJ’s and instructors used CD’s to play music but in present day they can use laptops and smartphones apps to play and slow music down. Smartphones offer the opportunity for a dancer to practice anytime and anywhere. Dancers can record video or audio easily, they can ask for the name of the dance and save it on their phone, they can look up the dance instantly on YouTube, they can hold their music library in the palm of their hands, they can use the slow down music player app to slow down fast songs to practice, and they can connect with dance friends, the instructor, and famous choreographers on Facebook.

 

 

Music        

 

Country music started becomeing more upbeat in the 1990’s with artists such as Garth Brooks, Bocephus, and Travis Tritt. Currently some dances are performed to pop songs. Song songs are really fast such as the song Tush Push by George Straight.  Lisa Spangler shared that she played a slower song for her students to practice so they could get used to the dance. This practice has an added benefit of allowing dancers to get used to applying a dance to more than one song and making class more interesting.  

 

YouTube offers dancers an easy avenue to search for line dances and to recognize the dance. They could search the name of the song and add “line dance”. However, there could be multiple dances to a particular song, or the choreographer may choose to be creative and not use the song title as the dance title, making it challenging  for the dancer to find the step sheet. A new dancer will not know the magical place the instructor gets the dances. Instructors may not necessarily announce the name of the dance or the choreographer in the class and even if he or she does, it may not register to the new dancer.

 

Dancers had some opportunities to practice outside of class before the advent of smartphones and YouTube. Some instructors gave out dance step sheets after class and some instructors and choreographers made and sold their own instructional DVDs. Things have changed with the internet, step sheets are now available online at websites such as Kickit and Copperknob and instructors do not have to hand them out and there are a variety of instructional videos available online.

 

 

YouTube

 

YouTube and similar video services are very popular among dancers. People post videos of the famous choreographers dancing at events, instructors all over the world post videos of their dance team learning and performing dances, and anyone known or unknown can post their own instructional videos. YouTube also allows dancers to remain current with dances being taught even if they can’t attend classes. People may have to work during class times, they may travel regularly for work so they are out of the area, or they may move away but want to keep up with dances when they visit.

 

There are many innovative things dancers can do to enhance their learning such as saving the step sheets in an app on their smartphone to easily access dances anywhere. They can view instructional videos made by choreogaphers and dance teachers, they can keep up with their favorite choreographers new dances at line dance events on YouTube even if they don’t attend. They can even choreograph their own dances, upload them to Kickit and Copperknob and anyone around the world can have access to their dances.

 

Even though line dancing is in individual activity most people will share that they appreciate the camaraderie of dancing in class or at the club and these videos cannot replace that experience.