Kara Leigh Cannella, a senior dance major at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, was scrolling through TikTok one day this fall, when she came across a sound that caught her attention. It was a 15-second clip called “HOOPLA,” by the user known as @kyleyoumadethat, and it instantly made her want to dance. She […]

Shortly after starting Jacob Jonas The Company in 2014, Jacob Jonas, then 21, realized there was a major hole in the dance industry. “Not many companies were taking advantage of digital marketing,” he says. He knew how much social media could get people to engage with art. So he created his own online empire called #CamerasandDancers, […]

I don’t know if these days will ever quite feel “normal.” Even if we do get a little more used to them with every passing week stuck inside, the stillness still seems wrong. For the Dance Magazine editors, instead of our usual schedules of performances, meetings and photo shoots, we’re each at home working extra […]

In 2018 I wrote an article about how Instagram was changing the value system of the dance world. It took to task the hyper-sexualization of the body’s facility, the fetishism of dance tricks. The article sparked an international dialogue and people weighed in, shared and reposted so much that it was the second most popular […]

Few people GET Instagram as well as Houston Ballet soloist Harper Watters—the only ballet dancer nominated in the Shorty Awards’ dance category this year. The social media maestro has built a large and dedicated following with a mix of gorgeous ballet clips, striking editorial photos, funny glimpses of his behind-the-scenes life, and (of course) his […]

Now that videos are uploadable everywhere from Facebook to LinkedIn, you can keep your dancing front and center on just about any social network. “YouTube is great when I’m auditioning or sending out my reel,” says Brandon Coleman, who performs with Keigwin + Company and Sleep No More. “Vimeo is good if I’m sharing something […]

If keeping track of what you can and can’t post on social media feels harder than it used to, that’s because it is. In their attempts to address disinformation, harassment and offensive material, platforms have implemented new rules enforced in part by software instead of human moderators. These restrictions can catch artists off guard, and […]

It’s a cycle familiar to many: First, a striking image of a lithe, impossibly fit dancer executing a gravity-defying développé catches your eye on Instagram. You pause your scrolling to marvel, over and over again, at her textbook physique. Inevitably, you take a moment to consider your own body, in comparison. Doubt and negative self-talk […]