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Step, lines, and videotape: using DVDs and videos to learn repertoire.

Article Excerpt
In this technological age, computers, cell phones, and recording devices make our lives run faster and more efficiently--even though we sometimes feel trapped by them. And so it is in the dance studio. Videotapes have been used for more than three decades to record choreography and to help restage pieces. Since their introduction 10 years ago, DVDs have also come into play as handy tools for preserving or setting ballets. But every system of recording and documenting choreography--from Labanotation to the most current DVD system--has a built-in set of strengths and weaknesses. The trick is to know when, where, and how to use them.

In a school setting, videos and DVDs are generally used judiciously as a teaching aid. At the School of American Ballet, longtime faculty member Suki Schorer reviews ballet videos at home, and then almost always teaches the students without showing the tape in...

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