The dance industry tends to follow the trends of our larger society, but often implementing them a few months or years after they appear. Art itself is a reflection of the current political and social climate so you can expect the work produced by companies and independent artists to align with current trends.
Starting around 2015, young professionals began using Instagram as a personal branding tool rather than just posting content to share with their friends. This trend has evolved to the point where dancers are being scouted and sometimes even hired through the platform. This trend started with dancers creating public Instagram accounts dedicated to sharing improvisational clips, classwork, pieces they have performed in, choreography and everything in between. When I entered college in 2019 I was encouraged to create a separate, but public account to start sharing my work with the world. Since then the trend has shifted to having one public account that you post a combination of personal and dance content on. The majority of professional dancers are extremely active on Instagram. Companies will tag their dancers in promotional content, and even put their account handles in the playbill of performances. All this to say it has become increasingly important to effectively market yourself in the industry and the primary platform for that is Instagram.
Another recent trend in the industry is using terms like female identifying, male identifying, non-binary and trans to indicate the individuals casting directors are looking for. Previous to this change, casting announcements only indicated if the role was for a man or a woman, and anyone outside of that binary was forced to forgo the audition or fall into one side or the other. By adjusting the language, dancers are able to determine whether their identity will be respected in the space and if they have a legitimate chance at securing the role. In the same vein it has become standard to ask for dancer’s pronouns during networking events, application paperwork, and every class introduction. The industry and society as a whole still has a long way to go in the realm of diversity, and inclusion of queer identites but these small changes have vastly improved the experience of trans and non-binary folks in dance spaces.
There is always something new happening in the dance world but these are two trends I have seen develop into industry standards over the past few years. Hope you enjoyed reading.
Till next time!
-Kennedy
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