Round Dance Video Web Sites

Within the last five or so years, there has arisen a tremendous resource for round dancers and teachers – round dance video web sites. Learning round dances in the past required face to face instruction from a good round dance teacher (either at clubs or traveling regularly to dance weekends/events). If you were already somewhat familiar with the figures, you could attempt to learn a dance remotely by studying the cue sheet. Even if you were able to get face-to-face instruction – the memory of a teach fades and inevitably there are questions later – and cue sheets are notorious for only describing footwork and not much else. Many years ago, some dancers began videotaping their instructors demonstrating the dances they taught. Later it became possible to do so using digital formats that could be posted to the Internet and shared with others. This has been such a blessing that it has quickly risen to become one of the most preferred ways to study dances (after face-to-face) – especially the phase 5-6 “advanced” dances that are difficult to do and remember. Most of the round dance video web sites require you to contact the owner/webmaster of the site and get a user-ID and password to access it. But almost all of these sites are provided free of charge by wonderful people who wish to share their love of round dancing with others and who know that sharing these videos will help more to be able to join them dancing. Here are some of the web sites that I know about:

Gene & Jean Severance have a site with over 2000 videos on Photobucket. Email Gene at danceinfo@cox.net to get the password to enter the site. The Severances also report many events from Mesa, AZ, and so this site will usually feature the newest dances that have been taught there.

Glen & Helen Arceneaux also have a site with a large number of videos. They primarily show dances that they have videoed at events they’ve attended in recent years, and they have attended many – Colossal, Round-A-Rama, ICBDA, and more. Email them at glenandhelen.com to get a userID and password to their site.

Art & Jacquie Hayes, like the Arceneauxs, are sharing the videos from events they have attended and others they have been able to collect. They attend many of the same events but others as well. One feature of this site is that you can right click on their videos and download the video onto your computer for later viewing when not connected to the Internet – this is very handy if you know you are going someplace where there is limited Internet – such as a cabin at Fontana (remote North Carolina mountain resort). Email them at artandjacquie@we-dance.info to get a userID and password to enter their site.

Carlos & Nancy Esqueda have a web site that specializes in videos from famous round dance teachers of the past, such as Jim & Bobbie Childers, Bob & MaryAnn Rother, Irv & Betty Easterday, Eddie & Audrey Palmquist, and of course themselves. Moreover, you can access their web site freely without needing a password.

Annette Woodruff has a wonderful site which is known even more for her "NARDEM" music service. She has collected many videos and this link gives a listing of what videos her site contains.Annette doesn’t run a “web site” but rather an “FTP site” from which you can upload/download files. Contact Annette at anfrank@skynet.be to request an account (userID & password) to access her FTP site. You will also need to get and learn how to use an “FTP client” installed onto your computer. I like using “FileZilla” or “Core FTP LE”.

These Tips come from Tim's regular email newsletter for his Rocket Rounds round dance club, Huntsville, Alabama; reprinted in the Dixie Round Dance Council (DRDC) Newsletter, July/August 2013.

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