Dancio

Dancio is an on-demand dance class platform for dancers who want to train with teachers from major companies, from beginners to working professionals, and for educators who teach dance history and technique. The homepage leads with "150+ ON-DEMAND DANCE AND MOVEMENT CLASSES" and quotes POINTE Magazine calling it "A whole new level of access to celebrated teachers." Alongside the class library sits DANCIO EDU, which the site describes as "An in-depth collection of History, Legacy Techniques, and Academic Perspectives in Dance."

What a dancer gets

The class library covers ballet, modern and contemporary, and the homepage says "there's no end to finding the class that's right for you." Classes can be browsed by genre or by level, and each is labeled from beginner through intermediate and advanced-intermediate to advanced, plus open-level classes.

The modern classes are named by technique. There are Graham classes with Blakeley White-McGuire, Natasha Diamond-Walker, Peiju Chien-Pott and Lloyd Knight; Horton with Khalia Campbell and Jolea Maffei; Taylor with Laura Halzack, Rachel Berman, Christina Lynch Markham and Madelyn Ho; Limón with Bradley Beakes and Daniel Fetecua; Cunningham with Cori Kresge; and Duncan with Courtney and Adrienne Ramm. Contemporary classes run from beginner level with Leal Zielińska to advanced classes with teachers such as Stephanie Liapis, Vinson Fraley and Tamisha Guy. The catalog also reaches West African contemporary with Lacina Coulibaly, Acogny contemporary with Mekbul Tahir, an introduction to West African dance with Maguette Camara, Afro'Dance with Angel Kaba, hip hop with Matt Lopez and jazz with Julie Petry and Josh Bergasse.

Ballet is the largest group. Advanced and advanced-intermediate classes come from teachers including Ashley Bouder, Wendy Whelan, Julie Kent, Craig Hall, Irina Dvorovenko, Maxim Beloserkovsky, Frances Chung and Georgina Pazcoguin, with intermediate classes from Daniel Ulbricht and Robert La Fosse and open classes with Madame Olga. Beginners have a four-part Beginner Ballet Bundle with Mary Carpenter, starting from Intro to Ballet, and a Beginner Ballet class with Kathryn Sullivan. Younger students have Youth Ballet with Damien Johnson and Youth Cecchetti with Diana Byer, who also teaches Beginner Cecchetti and a Cecchetti walkthrough.

Some classes support the body rather than a style: a warmup, Full Body Conditioning and Strength and Sculpt with Katie Boren, and Barre a Terre with Anabella Lenzu. DancioAudio adds audio-only classes, including Audio Ballet with Mary Carpenter, Ashlee Knapp Stewart and Kathryn Sullivan, Audio Bartenieff with Alexandra Beller, Audio Somatics with Ellie Kusner and Audio Yoga with Aditi Dhruv. FastClasses are a separate format reserved for the Unlimited plan.

For newcomers, an Intro Series offers "a smaller selection of our best classes," and a quiz suggests a class: "Choose the genre of dance you're looking for and try your perfect class. Take the quiz as many times as you like." The site says "All our classes are taught by expert artists," and the Teachers page describes "a diverse group of world class stars" and "elite-level dancers" drawn from top dance companies around the world.

DANCIO EDU courses

DANCIO EDU turns the platform toward dance scholarship. Courses are organized in modules with tracked progress, and a learner can retake a course from the beginning, which resets that progress.

Dance Discovery runs 16 lessons, starting with Why Dance? and Considering Dance, then moving through ritual and folk dance, national identity and dances of celebration, dancing in the political sphere, dance and civil rights, an overview of ballet, the formation of American modern dance, postmodern and contemporary concert dance, dance in the public sphere, dancing protest, consumption and commodification, and dance and technology. It ends with an independent study and a reflection.

Africanism in Modern and Postmodern Dance also runs 16 lessons. Its modules define the Africanist, examine cultural borrowing and the primitive trope, and trace Africanist subtexts in modern and postmodern dance. Several modules feature DeFrantz on defining Black dance, on Pearl Primus, on Dunham and on the Black male dancing body. Others cover 1930s metaphorical minstrelsy, the Federal Theatre Project, the Cold War and the legacy of Alvin Ailey, Black postmodern and contemporary dance pioneers, and two closing modules on culturally relevant pedagogy.

The Diana Byer Legacy Project has 2 lessons, The Cecchetti Tradition and Diana Byer Legacy Classes. A single-lesson course on Laban/Bartenieff is taught by Alexandra Beller.

Plans

The subscribe page sets out 3 plans.

Dancio Unlimited, "For all Dancers and Movers," includes "All Dancio classes with Exclusive access to FASTCLASSES, New Releases, and Rare Interviews." It is offered with yearly or monthly access, covers all genres and levels, and is marked "No Commitment."

Dancio PRO, "For the working professional dancer," gives "Access to advanced and pro level Dancio classes only," and is "Built for professional dancers, accessible to students looking for a challenge." It is listed as 3 Month Access for professional and pre-professional dancers. The page adds that "DancioPRO offers free access to working professional dancers with proof of employment," with a link to apply.

Dancio EDU, "for Educators and Institutions," is "A collection of Dance History Courses, Dancio Legacy Projects, and an expansive library of dance classes by world-renowned dance teachers." Access runs through EZProxy or Dancio's own online platform, with on-demand classes and videos covering historical and emerging dance techniques. Sales and inquiries go to Caitlin Trainor by email.

The subscribe page shows no prices for any of the 3 plans. A newsletter sends updates "on our latest classes, series, and discounts."

Who it suits

Dancio suits dancers who want class with named teachers from major companies at home and on their own schedule. A ballet student can work through advanced-intermediate classes with teachers such as Wendy Whelan and Julie Kent, while a modern dancer can study one technique, such as Graham, Horton, Taylor, Limón or Cunningham, across several teachers and levels. The beginner bundle and beginner classes give adult starters a structured entry point, and the youth classes extend it to younger students.

Working professionals are the target of Dancio PRO, which keeps to advanced and pro-level classes and is free for those with proof of employment. Educators and institutions are served by Dancio EDU, which pairs the history courses and legacy projects with the class library and EZProxy access, and whose Africanism course closes with modules on culturally relevant pedagogy.

The library is on-demand video and audio, so it fits self-directed practice at any hour. Dancers who also want the history behind what they practice, from the formation of American modern dance to the Cecchetti tradition, have the EDU courses on the same site.