DanceMaps is Loading . . .

Amazon Store

I've set up an Amazon Store with a whole load of dance related books, dvds and music cds for you to choose from. My aim is to make things easy for you to find, so here are direct links to each of the sections.

• Featured
• Books
• Ballet
• Ballroom
• Butoh
• Choreographers and Dancers
• Choreography
• Classical
• Folk
• Jazz
• Modern
• Notation
• Popular
• Reference
• Tango
• Tap
• DVDs
• Music

I want to improve the organisation of the store to make it easier for you to find things. You can help by participating in this poll, or more generally by using the feedback page.

Feedback

There are three ways you can give me feedback about DanceMaps.

1. Using the Chat Application

   At the bottom right hand corner of the site is a chat application. This is the most immediate way you can a message to me. If I'm on-line we'll be able to chat about any technical problems you're having with the site, what you like and what you dislike.

2. Participating in the DanceMaps Google Group

   For more enduring discussions I've set up a Google Group about DanceMaps. You can access this by email, or by visiting the groups website.

   Subscribe to DanceMaps

   Email:

   Visit this group

   
   
   

3. By Completing Polls

   I've set up some poll that you can use to vote on different issues. These are spread through the site, appearing on the most relevant pages.

   Here are two general ones.

About DanceMaps

I built DanceMaps as place where audiences, dancers and choreographers can meet and exchange information.

The Present

At the moment you can use DanceMaps to search for dance events listed in Google Base that are happening in the near future in locations throughout North America.  Later I'll be extending the search to other regions and other sources of information.

Also on the site you'll find a small collection of my favourite YouTube dance videos.  I'll be adding to this, making it easier for you to find good quality videos from around the web.

The chat application lets you meet other people who are using this site and discuss upcoming events, performances you seen, classes you've taken, books you've read etc.  You can use it to share media by pasting in URLs of images or videos.

I've also linked to an Amazon store where you'll find a selection of books and DVDs. 

The Future

The above describes where DanceMaps is now.  To tell you about where's it's heading I need to give you some technical background.

DanceMaps is a mashup.  That means that it holds no data of its own, but draws relevant information from all over the Internet to present to you. 

• The events information is taken from Google Base, which in turn gets its information from companies like TicketMaster or Meetup, clubs, societies, dance companies or individual users.  It's processed using Yahoo Pipes which lets me filter, sort and manipulate it before I show it to you.
• The videos are taken from a YouTube playlist.
• The chat applications are hosted and managed by Meebo.
• The polls are served and managed by Polldaddy.
• The interface is generated and served by Google Mashups, which weaves all these threads together.
  

The DanceMaps site only holds a few decorative images and some scripts.  Everything else is brought in using RSS and Atom feeds;  just like subscribing to a blog.

Sites like this can be far more organic and responsive than has been possible in the past. The searches and filters can be tweaked to improve their quality. New applications and data sources can be dropped in at a moment's notice, and discarded just as easily. This site can grow and shape itself to fit the community that evolves.

This is where you can help.

• Let me know what you're looking for and I'll try to help you find it.
• If you have relevant information you want to share let me know where its stored and I'll do my best to filter it in.
• Tag things on the sites you use and applications like this will find and share them.

Everything here is open.

Everything here is connected.

Welcome to DanceMaps.

Enjoy.

- Phil Rees (Developer)