For dancers and other students in performing arts, live performance work is best viewed online in the form of short video clips and still photographs. Accompanying those elements should be a short narrative about each project/piece.
If you do not have a website, there are a number of template based web platforms available. Both Squarespace & Photoshelter have some great Getting Started videos. We also like Virb, Yola, aphotofolio, hasaportfolio, and a few other you can find here.
If you have video of your performances and need software suggestions to help you edit or convert work, there are a number of free options to help you. If you’re on Windows Vista, Movie Maker 6 is included & easy to use. If you’re on a Mac and looking for an alternative to iMovie, iSkySoft makes a free editor here.
PORTFOLIO EXAMPLES:
Jonathan Fredrickson, Hubbard Street Dancer
Julie Brannen, Creative Arts Therapies
If you are interested in making a smaller print book that feels like a “zine” there are companies that will print these for you. The book/zine itself would still have to be designed in Word, Powerpoint, or InDesign, and saved as a pdf before uploading.
PRINT EXAMPLES:
While this example is for more of a small company that also teaches, you can get an idea of how to organize text & photos, including links to URL’s of live performances.
http://issuu.com/vervetdance/docs/vervet_dance_press_kit_small/1?e=0
This is a press kit for another company that again shows a mix of visuals and narrative to give great insight.
http://issuu.com/torilawrenceco/docs/presskit?e=8405589/11793120
If you have larger videos that need compression, this article is very helpful.
If you prefer video tutorials: check out this video.
