Best Dance Websites

Lizzie Miller | May 01, 2009 | 0

Its been awhile since my blog on the best Dance Logos, which if you missed, can be viewed here, but I've spent some time searching and compiling and at last here is my long awaited (I hope!) blog on the best dance related websites, by category. See who made the cut after the jump!

1) Best Dance Company Site- Its a tie! There are 3 sites I really like, and for different reasons, so I'm including them all. Firstly River North Chicago mostly because I love the beautiful colors and photography. This shows how good branding can carry your site in a very simple but engaging way.

Next, Merce Cunningham, because I think the architecture here is really good. What I mean by this is that the navigation at the top, along with the structure of the homepage, makes the information breakdown very clear. This is so easy to implement on your own website, especially if you have a Mac with iWeb. Creating a singular and engaging image at the top, especially if its dynamic, with buckets at the bottom of the homepage draw viewers to secondary points of interest on the site. Don't believe me? Well why don't you check out the DU homepage?

Also notable, the Chase Brock Experience which is a bit more fun and gimmicky, but easy to navigate and fairly fast for a flash site (my biggest pet peeve is super-slow flash sites that have too much crap to get to the information. Unless your site has a video game, don't do it).

2) Best Dance Competition Site - Cathy Roe's Ultimate Dance, which may be a bit of an upset win, but who ever made this site did a couple things very right. Firstly, while there is a flash intro, the rest of the site is HTML which means its easy to bookmark pages and send to friends. The control shape for pics allows for different images on every site, important for engaging viewers with content. Lastly, its cute and pink, there is consistent branding with fonts and it appeals to its demographic.

3) Best Broadway Site - Hairspray. I've seen many sites use rooms in a house or buildings on a street to define its navigation, but this one is fast enough for flash, cutely animated, and easily navigated. It also handles its playful type in an easily readable but not overly tacky way. Take note, Grease.

4) Best Dance Supply Site - Danskin. Let me be clear, there are many other dance supply stores that have a much prettier look to them, namely Sansha and Merde Girl, however, what I really like about Danskin is its shop-ability. Namely, the roll over zoom in of products gives a good idea of the texture and cut of products. Gap does this really effectively. I also really like the integrated product reviews from users along with the clickable colors that shows the products in other hues. I feel this is really important for considered purchases like dance shoes + leotards. The one thing that bugs me is that there is like 3 sale sections, I'm still not clear on the difference between 'The Attic Clearance' and the 'Closeout' areas, but still, Danskin squeaks out a win with its user friendly product detail.

Are you updating your site? Please consider the following: 1) Ease of use and navigation 2) Consistent look and feel 3) Speed of load time. These 3 points along with a knowledgeable developer can help create your winning site. Don't have a developer? I can recommend one...

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Enthusiast, Retailer, Studio, Competitions & Conventions, Design (all tags)