A central resource for the digital dance world, designed for the unprecedented time of isolation caused by COVID-19
Dancing Alone Together (DAT) was a central resource for the rapidly growing digital dance world during the early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is no longer active — this website serves as a summary of DAT’s work.
Created on March 16, 2020, in response to the global lockdowns, DAT compiled and shared information about online dance offerings via its website and Instagram account. Almost overnight, it became a ”go-to hub” (Dance Magazine) for virtual dance classes, receiving 100K unique website users in its first week of operation and amassing 36K Instagram followers at its peak. DAT began phasing out as dance organizations found their footing in the pandemic, ceasing all activities on January 1, 2021.
DAT did not host classes or events itself, but instead collected and curated information about virtual dance opportunities in three content categories:
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"MOVE"
A calendar of 3,000+ virtual dance classes compiled from community submissions.
In the spirit of togetherness and shared experiences, the community-fed calendar featured live-streamed classes and workshops as opposed to pre-recorded videos.
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"CREATE"
A collection of choreography prompts and art-making communities.
“Create” featured virtual initiatives for movement-making, online creative communities, and choreography opportunities.
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"WATCH"
A weekly watch list of dance performances streaming worldwide.
“Watch” plugged the professional companies, presenters, and venues that were streaming dance performances and dance films for a limited time.
Dancing Alone Together was created and run by Katherine Disenhof, a professional dancer whose work was impacted by COVID closures. For more about Katherine, please refer to the press articles below or visit katherinedisenhof.com
“Having one centralized place to find these classes is absolutely amazing and you have single-handedly enabled so many artists to survive during this time” - Alysen V.
“Having one centralized place to find these classes is absolutely amazing and you have single-handedly enabled so many artists to survive during this time” - Alysen V.
“I’ve gotten back into other styles of dance AND have brought belly dance to a whole new audience. You are doing something wonderful!!!” - Sara J.
“I’ve gotten back into other styles of dance AND have brought belly dance to a whole new audience. You are doing something wonderful!!!” - Sara J.
QUESTIONS? COMMENTS? CONCERNS?
“I’ve taken ballet and Cunningham classes for the first time in almost a decade because of [DAT], and the moment is helping me stay sane!” -Alexandra H.
“I’ve taken ballet and Cunningham classes for the first time in almost a decade because of [DAT], and the moment is helping me stay sane!” -Alexandra H.
“It’s a great resource: so nicely organized, and so valuable for helping students to find classes and teachers to get some work” - Ariella M.N.
“It’s a great resource: so nicely organized, and so valuable for helping students to find classes and teachers to get some work” - Ariella M.N.
PRESS
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Dancing Alone Together
By Irene Hsiao, Chicago Reader
4.2.2020“Dances are made in time and space, a minute or an hour in a dancer’s life never to be seen again. Dances do not last—they have to be made new each time and evaporate as they are appearing. Today, small freedoms—moving, gathering, and connecting—have been restricted to limit the movement of a virus that, whether we want to admit it or not, is showing us just how connected we are.”
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How This Dancer Created the Go-To Hub for Virtual Classes in One Weekend
By Lauren Wingenroth, Dance Magazine
4.2.2020“When dancer Katherine Disenhof found out her company, NW Dance Project, would be shutting down indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic (on Friday the 13th, no less), she immediately went in search of ways to stay connected and in shape.”
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After layoff, Portland dancer turns website into popular collaboration space
By Rebecca J. Ritzel, The Oregonian/OregonLive
4.8.2020“One of the most popular pandemic websites for dancers — from appreciative amateurs to laid-off Broadway stars — isn’t an advice page from the CDC or a source for DIY mask patterns, but an online repository of classes and streaming performances created by a Portland dancer.”Description goes here
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An Ad Hoc Hub for Digital Dance
By Emmaly Wiederholt, Stance on Dance
4.20.2020“Katherine Disenhof is the one-woman show behind Dancing Alone Together, a website she launched in March that has become a hub for the increasing number of virtual classes, performances and creative prompts being offered as a lifeline to dance artists during the coronavirus pandemic. Here, she shares how the website has grown, some of the unexpected ways it’s being used, and what she foresees is the future of digital dance.”
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Meet the Dancer Behind Dancing Alone Together, Instagram's Go-To Hub for Virtual Classes
By Haley Hilton, Dance Teacher Magazine
9.2.2020“Shortly after walking away from the studio, Disenhof noticed virtual dance classes beginning to pop up on her social-media feed. “I realized this pandemic is a shared, global experience,” Disenhof says. “I saw dance as a unifying force that would keep people together.”
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Dancing Alone Together: Shared Classes, Movement
By Nancy Rosenbaum, iPondr
2.10.2021“When COVID lockdowns shuttered dance studios around the world, one dancer decided to do something about it.”
