Let's go exploring...

So, the big reveal... Inara Pey invited me to join her blog Living in a Modem World as a dance correspondent. She's a longtime friend, and I've respected her tempered enthusiasm style of journalism and promotion of the arts for years, and in spite of my (cough) wilder years of yellow journalism and muckraking, I'm honored that she's offering the reformed side of me this opportunity to showcase y'all and your creations.

I posted my first article on the site yesterday, and I hope that it serves as a good introduction to SL dance to the wider Second Life community. I know that I didn't mention everybody or post photos of everything, and I didn't cover everything, but this is the first in hopefully a long series of showcasing your creations and creativity and efforts.

This is a journey, and that post is only the first step. I'll get around to everyone who has their flue open and cookies and milk on the mantelpiece...

Oh. Wait. That's Santa.

... so sexy!

Anyway, I've been pondering what to do with this opportunity for y'all, there's a few irons in the fire and drafts in my Google Documents drive, and some ideas come to mind:

• This Week In Dance: This would be similar to Inara's regular posting of Seanchai Library's upcoming events schedule. I'm one of Seanchai's irregular storytellers, and I've worked with Caledonia on a project or three in the past, so it's cool that Inara gives the library a spotlight and opportunity to showcase what they do. I'd like to do this for y'all and your projects and events. Because I'm lazy and like to leverage existing content, I'd draw from the Dance Queens calendar. Maybe start with "This Weekend In Dance" and expand it over time. So, if you've got a dance event coming up in the next week, this would be an incentive to get that event notecard in a week early. If there's an empty seat or sofa or bench, let's get a butt in it!
• Upcoming Dance Events: This would be a profile of a major dance event, such as one of Monarchs Kingdom, GB's Circe du Nuit, Muse's Fiddler on the Roof, Oasis and Debauche opening a new theatre, Fantasy Faire lineups, or a Men In Motion Movember fundraiser. Maybe include a shot or two from rehearsals of a teaser, mentions of past productions, the process of putting one of these together, etc.
• Artist and Group Profiles: This would be an interview of a performer or performers in a group, what got them into dance, what it means to them, a few shots and videos of their performances. where they see dance going, and so on. You may think you're just a "ball warmer" being puppeted around by a choreographer, but you're so much more than that, aren't you? You're a part of this experience, too... what do you get out of it? How do you connect with the audience? This is an opportunity to get to know the artists and their motivations. I'll be using the notecards from the ongoing profile project as a lead-generator to see who is interested in being featured.
• The George Plimpton: George was a participatory journalist (no, not a pirate) who liked to immerse himself into his subjects so he could have a deep interest in what they did and how they did it. This series would be going through the process of taking a class, learning the craft, and showing people how they can get involved in performing along with y'all. Not just hit-and-run, but a serious effort of getting to know how to do this and where to find inspiration. I'm just a bit concerned that this would turn into a "me" thing and not a "dance" thing.
• What the Hell is it With Those Pianos: Of course I need to do a piece on Web. I mean, duh, right?

What ideas do y'all have with this? What things do you think the wider Second Life community might find useful and enticing about what you do that will get them interested in it? What would be useful to you? If there's things that you think folks out there need to know, big or small (for instance, the "888 means applause" thing), contact me, and we'll turn it into an article.

I think I'm going to dial back the Dance Police stuff a bit here, because I've been concerned that it is being perceived as a laugh-at-you not laugh-with-you project. My hope that it would be an inside joke, unreliable narrator view of the past week of dance, a few snarky or odd comments in the style of Greg Kinnear on the Talk Soup roundup a while back...

It's not what you think. You naughty, naughty people.

In the meantime, get those profile notecards in, because I think you'll like how the new style will blend y'all's narratives along with the resources folks can use to learn more about your projects and shows.