Traditional methods of learning (performance focused) and online learning- Vanessa Lisina

By my own personal use of online video sharing websites such as Vimeo, I have found that the one thing performers who participate in this craze of online video sharing are robbed of in the long run is originality. It’s in the name; ‘video sharing’. By putting your videos online, you are giving the okay for people to ‘share’ or steal your ideas. Although it can be looked at as an advantage for entertainers of all kinds, as this means there is plenty of opportunity to learn from other performers and be inspired by their work, it is my biggest fear as performer myself that performers of the world will grow to be artistically lazy and become content with imitating others. This is for any performance artist equivalent to the end of the world arriving. Once upon a time where some performance artists’ work was only able to be exclusively seen through live shows for a fixed price, they can now be accessed on the internet free of charge. Surely there is not only originality but also money to be lost here. When regarding videos posted that are tutorials or education focused, there are negative and positives to be considered. There are many performance teachers that I’ve spoken to in the past that are against online dance and vocal education for a few reasons. One being that the student cannot get the same one on one instruction and correction if they are doing something wrong and  some believe the education itself should be catered to that student or group specifically and they consider it impossible for this to be done through an online learning class. Another reason which only one had the courage to mention was the money factor. Although there are several websites that offer online dance and singing education at a fixed cost, most people in our struggling financial day and age would much rather prefer the same delivery of information on a free accessible online video sharing website such as Vimeo. So, this means basically many performance teachers will loose money as perhaps in the future people would much rather receive their education online free of charge opposed to having to inconveniently make time to physically go to a class and pay a fee. However on the flipside, online dance teachers such as Christy of Dancelessonsonline.com, and Tyler of Singingcenter.com are both huge supporters of online learning. Both point out that learning online enables students to learn at their own pace, at their own convenience, in the comfort of their own homes and will ultimately save themselves time and money.  Additionally, if one is for example a slower learner or simply decide they want to take the class again, it is possible to fast forward, rewind and start from the very beginning all by clicking your mouse, getting your results within seconds, free of charge. The benefits are what encourage people to make use of these websites and switch to the ever-growing free of charge option at video sharing websites such as Vimeo. The benefits of using Vimeo include having the ability to switch from one dance/singing teacher to another within seconds if you don’t like the method of one’s teaching or simply want additional training. In a traditional teaching situation, one would have to wait until the class has finished or walk out either way wasting their money and time.  Vimeo is easy to use, can be accessed 24 hours a day 7 days a week and as mentioned earlier there are endless videos to choose from so variety is certainly not an issue. The biggest bonus of this craze is that it is free to use Vimeo as many times as you like.  Video sharing websites such as Vimeo’s participation in the performance world does come with positive and negative price tags.  Doug Fox, blogger of greatdance.com, wrote an interesting article about the New York City Ballet creating a YouTube account opposed to an account on a site with better quality such as Vimeo. Although the criticism in the article itself was interesting, my initial attraction to the article was the fact that a company as big and exclusive as the New York Ballet Company was choosing the online video sharing option to share their works. In addition to this, blogger Doug Fox wasn’t outraged by this, he instead was criticizing the technicalities of the delivery standards. This is clear proof that online video sharing has become a norm not only amongst the general public but also among performers and now performance companies. It will only be a matter of time in my opinion that online video sharing will be the norm amongst educators and their students.  

By Vanessa Lisina