What does it mean to “meet” online? I don’t mean the dating sites, although I have increasing respect for the role they play as I observe friends of all ages seek going from solo to duets. However, what I do want to reflect on is the virtual world as a place of discovery, learning and sharing. It seems paradoxical to me and since I love paradox, certainly worth investigating.
Here is my dilemma. Whether I am rehearsing or teaching, making a dance or being part of some kind of active learning environment, I find my own engagement often comes from my discernment of what is directly in front of me. I am using some ancient form of reading body language: a kind of intuitive scanning that makes me decide to change the direction of our learning, or go deeper into what is at hand. It is based on being in the same space, live and together. I like these moments and for the now at least, feel that this experience is not possible in an on line setting.
But what is possible is also intriguing. Chats that emerge from shared documents, emails conversations that fill my mail box after people have seen something posted, and responding to questions that arrive on Facebook just from shared practice… these are all evolutionary engagements that bring me pleasure and challenges.
My hope is that D|LAB will make these events more direct and possible. I know that this is the studio of the future. For many of you it is the studio of now. I look forward to see how the technology of interaction grows so that I can be my full self-online just as you can. And I promise that I too will change and develop new processes as I travel more in this universe.
Sharing with my colleagues at the Dance Exchange, I welcome you to D|LAB and a world of explorers.
-- Liz Lerman
