This blog was set up as part of my study at De Montfort University to investigate the effectivity of dance blogging as a means of supporting e-commerce. My time posting for the blog is coming to an end as of Thursday 17, and for my last post I am keen to share my thoughts with you as fellow members of the international dance community.

What was important about the blog?

At the project’s inception, the blog acted as a tool to promote the Black Women In Dance: Stepping Out of the Barriers conferece and encourage ticket sales. Across the weeks, however, it evolved to became a vehicle that discussed topical issues regarding avenues of racial discourse in our international dance industry.

The blog now at its conclusion is – and will continue to be – a tool for visibility that values cultural importance anywhere in the world.

Why was this is a landmark?

In my book, the importance of maintaining interconnected global communities is the impetus to keep the blog moving forward. There is not enough being said about our connected communities in the dance industry and the blog offers a place for discussion where Facebook and Twitter just don’t make the cut.

Where might this take us?

The blog has seen me connect with numerous industry professionals who have responded fantastically to this new online presence for Serendipity. It has been recognised that we are truly striving to bring awareness to concerns within the dance industry, and the blog will continue to make these important connections and collide with other international organisations.

What do I feel I could have done differently?

I found that video blogging was the most powerful means of communication as so many of you tuned in and found the visual content more engaging. Whilst I felt the writing created a certain intellect for the blog, I cannot ignore that more personable methods of blogging are most effective for our dance audiences and I will strive to continue this method in my future approaches to dance blogging.

De Montfort University dance student Louisa Robey noted that ‘the variety of content is what I perceive to be the most engaging factor of the Serendipity Blog’. Even though my sole aim was to sell tickets for the conference, the wide range of content offered more for audiences to engage with and I will ensure to maintain this blogging approach in the future.

Dance academic Funmi Adewole mentioned that she ‘wanted more of a sense of who it was targeting. Maybe a slogan or tag line’. I was trying to reach international dance audiences of a wide demographic, and a slogan could have made the blog and Serendipity’s services more memorable and give readers more of a desire to return to the site.

I also understand that as I have been promoting the Black Women In Dance: Stepping Out of the Barriers conference I was highly promoting Urban Bush Women in order to generate interest. This made the blog feel rather American-focussed when ideally I wanted to be discussing Black women in dance on an international basis. Had I done this again, I would create more posts about the status and circumstances for female Black dance artists in countries outside of Britain an the US to have a wider more global scope and increase international conversations in the same way that Serendipity is already working.

What have I felt that I have achieved both personally and professionally?

As well as developing my abilities in dance writing, I have gained networking skills as well as becoming more knowledgeable in the technical languages involved with blogging. I have newly learned skills in web design and will apply this to my own personal online presences.

Do you have any further comments about the blog? I would love to hear from you! Please feel free to drop me a message at jessica@serendipity-uk.com