When you watch your dance videos

[scullystwin42]

All of the above

We've also started to video more regularly and it really has helped, as painful as it is LOL!

Question! do you have another teacher or someone else video? or is there an ipad/phone set up on a tripod or something to capture it? I was just thinking that I would like to start doing this more, and have been trying to figure out the best way to do it without requiring another person to video.

 

[FancyFeet]

I do both. Sometimes we grab someone to film, sometimes we set up a small tripod and camcorder.

A large part of the reason that both methods are happening: I struggle to put out my best when people are watching - at a comp, when I'm being videoed, etc. We're working on the difference between what shows up when I don't know when I don't know that anyone is watching and what does when I am aware. Seeing the difference in what happens when I play it safe has been really helpful.

 

[Dancing Irishman]

I do both. Sometimes we grab someone to film, sometimes we set up a small tripod and camcorder.

A large part of the reason that both methods are happening: I struggle to put out my best when people are watching - at a comp, when I'm being videoed, etc. We're working on the difference between what shows up when I don't know when I don't know that anyone is watching and what does when I am aware. Seeing the difference in what happens when I play it safe has been really helpful.

This might perfectly describe me - there's a stark difference between what I bring when in a lesson with just my coach and what happens when my partner and/or an audience are there.

 

[RiseNFall]

I video for other people frequently--there are two different open students where both the teacher and the student want immediate feedback on how something looks so I do this at least once a week. It's short, and just on their phones. They also sometimes ask a teacher to do it if one is free.

Re the difference between how something looks on video, how it feels, and how the audience responds. Very good teachers/dancers have told me from the beginning that appearances can be deceptive. For example, watching a couple, they can not necessarily identify a limiting factor until they dance with the leader and/or follower: something that looked correct did not feel correct. Other issues have the opposite effect: they aren't great visually, but they don't throw the feeling off. An audience, particularly for something like a showcase, seems to respond primarily to presentation. @IndyLady, you probably maintained your composure and presentation even when it didn't feel good to you? I managed that at a comp recently and got several sincere compliments from other students, though my placements were appropriately low.

 

[Miss Silly]

Question! do you have another teacher or someone else video? or is there an ipad/phone set up on a tripod or something to capture it? I was just thinking that I would like to start doing this more, and have been trying to figure out the best way to do it without requiring another person to video.

I think we've tried every way. If we can have someone hold our iphone, then that. We've tried an ipad (that has a stand) and done it that way. Lately i've been using this old cannon camera that I have (that i don't even use for pics anymore) but takes nice vid and can stand up on it's own. This is our preference, since it's obviously easier to not have to have a third person involved LOL.

Perhaps check out on amazon or somewhere for those gumpy-bendable style tri pods that are easily portable and you can just wrap your phone into it and stand it on something. OR once I saw someone have like, a dash-cam holder suction-cupped to the studio mirror with their iphone in it LOL.

We usually delete the vids soon after, but I'm certain our progress has been more efficient because we can see a LOT of things that we didn't know we were doing (or swear we weren't LOL).

 

[SwingingAlong]

Question! do you have another teacher or someone else video?

I use two mini cameras on tripods. One looks up the long side of the room, the other across. So the red/orange area is covered by one camera, and the yellow/orange by the other one. The grey areas are not covered, and the orange obviously gets footage from 2 different directions. I do this because I only have a 2 hour lesson once a month, and found I misremembered routines. it would be great to somehow catch the vocal comments, but it mostly seems to work OK.


The other thing I tried (before I got the second camera) was using plastic cups to mark out the floor area covered by the camera, and to dance within that space. It led to heaps of hilarity, trying to fit a standard routine into a parallelogram

 

[scullystwin42]

i have a gorillapod somewhere in my house... looks like they have an adaptor for a phone, so maybe i'll bring that in. I have a cool app that allows you to freeze frame a video and draw on it too... something to experiment with...

 

[Dance Mad Helen]

Since switching to the university circuit in the uk, someone on our team videos us, puts all the clips of the same couple in a video saying what dance and round it was and posts them on the team facebook page.
I used to only use them to critique myself but now I also look at the good bits. Also I like to have a look at the rounds before we were eliminated to see why and have a look at the competition and where we are positioned.
Basically being videoed at comps has helped a tonne and given me perspective.

 

[Angel HI]

I wonder what do you notice most when you watch yourself dance on a video? What mistakes/flaws jump at you right away? I notice that I don't stretch enough, everything looks smaller than what I actually felt dancing,....

Yes! This! After 100 years of pounding the boards, the body just doesn't want to do what the mind thinks that it is still doing with as little ease as before.