When Did Filming Become More Important Than Training?

I LOVE a class video. Let’s start there before anyone thinks I’m about to tell you to put your phones away and never film yourself dancing again 😂

I do allow people to film in classes and occasionally get a videographer in. I post dance videos (that's probably how most of you even know me lol). Social media has been a huge part of my career and has created opportunities for dancers and teachers that simply didn’t exist before.

So this isn’t an anti-filming post.

But somewhere along the way, I do think the purpose of filming in dance classes has changed.

And I think we need to talk about it.

Remember when class was just… class?

When I was training, we did sometimes film at the end of class.

Except it was usually the grainiest Phone or iPod video you’ve ever seen in your life 😂 And most of the time, the reason we were filming was literally so we could remember the choreography and practise it at home.

Because that was the point.

Class was where you went to train.

You went to learn, get corrections, try things you couldn’t do yet, soak up as much information as possible and then take that information away with you.

There wasn’t this expectation that within 60 or 90 minutes you needed to learn something, perfect it, perform it, get a video of it AND have something worthy of posting online.

You were allowed to leave class still not being able to do something.

In fact… that’s kind of the whole point of training?

Some of the best corrections you receive in class aren’t things you’re going to magically fix five minutes later. You might take something a teacher tells you and work on it for the next three months.

You do not have to get it right there and then.

Take the information away. Work on it. Train it. And THEN, if you really want to?

FILM IT.

When did the class become the rehearsal for the video?

I think there’s now this weird deadline attached to taking class.

Learn it. Clean it. Perform it. Film it. Post it.

All before you leave the studio.

And I genuinely think that pressure can ruin the learning experience.

Instead of being completely present, listening to the teacher and allowing yourself to actually train, you’re already thinking about what’s coming at the end.

What group am I going in?

I keep messing that bit up.

Everyone else looks better than me.

Where am I going to stand?

What if I mess up on camera?

Am I going to get a good video?

You’ve barely finished learning the choreography and you’re already panicking about how you’re going to perform it for a camera.

And suddenly, class doesn’t feel like training anymore.

It feels like preparation for a performance.

Are we becoming scared to look bad in class?

Because training is inherently fucking ugly sometimes 😂

Class should be a space where you can make mistakes.

Fall out of a turn. Go way too full out. Try something that absolutely does NOT work. Lose your balance. Experiment with your performance. Forget the choreography.

And do all of that without finding yourself on the internet in 4K the next morning.

There is something so important about having a space where you’re allowed to look shit for a minute.

That’s how you learn, how you find new things AND that’s how you figure out what works for YOUR body.

If you’re constantly aware that there might be a camera on you, of course you’re going to become more conscious of how you look. And whether you realise it or not, you might start playing it safe.

Instead of experimenting, you do the version you know looks good.

Instead of going too full out and potentially getting it wrong, you hold back.

Instead of actually training, you start performing.

And I think we need to bring back being shit in private 😂

Bring back having a bad run that simply disappears into the universe.

Not everything needs to be documented.

Did everyone in the room consent to being your content?

This is something I’ve noticed more and more.

Phones aren’t just coming out for the final groups anymore. People are filming throughout classes.

I have literally seen a teacher livestreaming an entire class...

Not the groups at the end.

Not the filming section.

The actual class.

And that really made me think about where the line is between documenting your class and broadcasting somebody else’s training experience.

When we film groups at the end, everyone knows what’s happening.

The camera is out. You know this is the filming section. You can choose whether you want to be involved.

That is completely different from having a camera running while people are learning, asking questions, receiving corrections, experimenting and making mistakes.

Because did everyone in that room agree to that?

Students have paid to come and train. They haven’t necessarily agreed to have their entire learning process broadcast to strangers online.

And more importantly, how are we supposed to tell dancers:

Take risks. Make mistakes. Stop worrying about what you look like. Try things. Go full out.

…while simultaneously livestreaming them doing it? or expecting them to perform on camera.

At what point does documenting or promoting a class start compromising the experience of the people who actually paid to be there?

Has being filmed become the new gold star?

This is another side of filming culture that I find really interesting.

Being filmed, reposted or chosen for a teacher’s video can now feel like a form of validation.

They picked me for the video.

They reposted my story.

I got put in the front.

My video got loads of views.

And none of those things are inherently bad. It feels GOOD when a teacher recognises you. Of course it does.

But when did those things become our measurement of whether we had a successful class?

You could have learned something that completely changes the way you dance.

You could have finally understood a correction you’ve been struggling with for months.

You could have pushed yourself harder than ever before.

Or maybe you just connected with another dancer in class!

But you leave disappointed because…

you didn’t get a good video.

Or because your teacher didn’t repost you.

Or because someone else’s video got more attention online.

We’re looking for quick gratification and validation from people on the internet who, realistically, we probably don’t even know.

And meanwhile, the actual progress we made in the room gets forgotten.

So maybe after class, instead of asking yourself “Did I get a good video?”

Ask:

What did I learn today that I didn’t know before?

And teachers… we’re not exempt either

Because this isn’t just about students.

Social media is part of our job now.

We need content to promote our classes. Videos help people discover us. They help fill rooms. They allow dancers from all over the world to see our work.

There are SO many positives to filming dance.

But as teachers, I think we also have to ask ourselves a slightly uncomfortable question:

If you couldn’t post anything from your class, would you still teach it the same way?

Would you choose the same choreography?

Would you spend the same amount of time on technique?

Would you structure the class the same way?

Would you give the same corrections?

Would you still think it was a successful class if you walked away with absolutely no content from it?

Because ultimately, the students standing in front of us have paid for our teaching.

Not to create our next Instagram reel.

The content should be a product of a great class.

The class should never become a product of needing great content. Organise a filming session if that's what you want!

So… should we stop filming classes?

No, I don't think we necessarily should. We live in a digital world now and filming does have its benefits!

Film yourself. Post it. Celebrate when you absolutely EAT a combo. Keep videos so you can look back at your progress. Get excited when your teacher reposts you.

There is space for all of that.

I just don’t want us to forget why we walked into the studio in the first place.

Class is one of the few spaces where you should be able to be unfinished.

To not know, get it wrong, look ridiculous trying something new, receive information that you might not fully understand until weeks later, train without needing immediate proof that you’re good at it.

So maybe the problem isn’t that we film dance too much.

Maybe somewhere along the way, we started dancing for the footage instead of filming the dancing.

And I’ll leave you with this:

If there were no cameras at the end of class, would you still want to take that class?

And teachers…

If you couldn’t post anything from your class, would you still teach it the same way?