While newspapers and record companies  - the media industries of the last century - crumble at the feet of Google and social networks, dance is experiencing a renaissance on screen. Who can ignore the popularity of competition shows like "So You Think You Can Dance?" And Judson Laippley's "Evolution of Dance" is the longest-running and most-watched online video ever. While YouTube still doesn't have a category for dance videos, dance is becoming more and more ubiquitous on our screens and is massively popular.

 

What does this trend mean to the serious dance aficionado? The answer is far from clear, partly because there are few web sites or hosting platforms that aggregate and catalog online dance for the camera. It is even more rare to find intelligent reviews or critical writing about artists working in this medium.

 

Hoping to reveal how artists are using these new online and mobile media, UMove put out a call for submissions to media makers of all kinds. We received submissions from both experienced film-makers and complete novices, animators working in Second Life, and video artists working with webcams.

 

As a result, we feel that our first festival, while small in size, reflects a broader range of work than is normally seen in the off-line dance film festival circuit. For our touring screening program we selected twelve videos that are shining examples of what we consider to be the unique qualities of online and mobile videos. They're short, cheap, shareable, high in concept & low in production value.

 

As audiences shift to online and mobile devices, artists will need to reach them there. As we study and understand what works artistically in these realms, we can better appreciate what's unique to them. With our first annual UMove Festival, we are eager to expose the current trends in online videodance: works that are unique, creative, and completely at home in the 21st century.

 

-UMove Co-creators

 

Anna Brady Nuse

 

Marta Renzi

 

Kriota Willberg