You're obsessed with class videos. We're obsessed with class videos . The passion, energy, and talent showcased in these clips, which give us an insider-y peek at the commercial dance world's hottest classes, are totally irresistible.
But at what point does the phenomenon go from being a good thing to a bad thing for dancers and the dance world? Is the focus on filming distracting from the work dancers are supposed to be doing in class? Are overproduced videos presenting a dangerously misleading picture of the dance world? Is the pressure to be a class video star becoming too much for dancers to handle? These are some of the questions A-list dancer and choreographer Ian Eastwood—no stranger to the class video himself—has been asking on Twitter. And they've sparked a lively, important debate.
Eastwood started the discussion with a rant about highly produced class videos, whose slickness seems to imply that the purpose of class was the video:
Then he posted an example of what is, in his opinion, the class clip done right—simply, with some teaching footage included:
Eastwood started getting "Amens" left and right , with dancers chiming in that the trend made them feel uncomfortable and intimidated in the studio, which should be a safe space. He also responded to critics who wondered what was wrong with editing footage to make it more entertaining , or wished he'd sought out opposing points of view before venting publicly .
Before long, the thread had caught fire, with big names starting to weigh in:
Keone Madrid had some particularly eloquent thoughts on the subject:
Clearly, the issue is striking a chord with dancers. What do you think? Has the class video evolved into something toxic? And if it has, what can we do to fix the problem?