A LITTLE GUIDANCE. A LITTLE PRACTICE. YOUR OWN PACE.
dancedvdTHE LEARNING COMPANIONFind your starting point
DANCEDVD / THE LEARNING COMPANION

The guide library

All the notes, in one place.

Browse the complete DanceDVD guide library and site information.

01

Choose a page

Start with an introductory guide, explore a dance style or visit the playback desk. Use search if you already have a phrase in mind. The historical instruction address is part of the current library.

About DanceDVD

A little clarity before you press play.

DanceDVD is an independent reading companion for people exploring dance instruction on video.

Explore a style

Start with one dance, not every dance.

A useful checklist for comparing ballroom instruction videos without treating every syllabus as the same.

Getting started

Your first lesson, one chapter at a time.

How to recognise a beginner-friendly dance video and make the first viewing useful.

Explore a style

Choose a lesson that names its approach.

Read the instructor’s context, level and teaching format before selecting a belly-dance video.

The playback desk

Give a secondhand disc a closer look.

Check the edition, contents and playback description before buying an older dance DVD.

Getting started

Find someone you can ask.

Use a teacher’s stated experience, class description and answers to your questions to choose a starting point.

About DanceDVD

Keep the useful details coming.

Report a broken link, a playback-reference error or a sentence that needs a clearer explanation.

Practice notes

Listen for the cue.

Use the counts and musical examples supplied in a lesson to make your viewing notes clearer.

Getting started

Read the details before you book.

A simple checklist for comparing a dance workshop, class series or social event.

Getting started

A good lesson starts before you press play.

Choose a dance instruction DVD with a clear level, a visible teacher and a lesson you can actually follow.

Practice notes

Watch the performance as a performance.

A dance film can reward close attention without being an instruction course.

Practice notes

Give a routine a readable shape.

A note-taking approach to sections, transitions and the places a sequence repeats.

Practice notes

Make the steps easier to follow.

Read the viewpoint, the counts and the chapter structure before trying to memorise a sequence.

Getting started

Know whether you want a lesson or a follow-along.

Distinguish dance instruction from exercise-led videos before choosing what to watch.

The playback desk

Check the region before the disc arrives.

Match the DVD’s region marking to your player, then check the rest of the playback requirements.

The guide library

Find your next starting point.

A small library of useful notes for choosing dance videos, following a lesson and keeping track of what you learn.

Explore a style

Look for the style behind the label.

Choose a hip-hop dance video by its teacher, context and explanation, rather than the cover alone.

Practice notes

A different way to read a dance.

Explore historical dance manuals with the Library of Congress as your starting point.

Site history

A small footnote from the early web.

What surviving archive records tell us about this domain’s dance-video connections.

Explore a style

Look for the lesson beneath the performance.

Compare jazz-dance videos by their stated level, explanations and course structure.

Your practice notebook

One lesson. One useful note.

Make a small plan for your next viewing, then download it to keep with your lesson.

Site information

Your reading, your notes.

A plain-language explanation of how this site and its browser-based notebook work.

Explore a style

Choose a salsa lesson with context.

Questions about style, role and lesson structure to ask before choosing a salsa DVD.

Explore a style

Find the swing lesson you meant to find.

Make the dance name, partner format and intended level part of your video search.

Site information

A guide to using the guides.

The scope of DanceDVD’s articles, links and notebook tool.