MJ - What dance HUD do you primarily use? Why?

Dance huds are a touchy subject with many dancers. People get used to a certain hud and want to scratch your eyes out if you disagree with them. I started out with the huddle, it was tough getting my head around it, but in time I caught on. It was not what I expected a dance hud to be, I thought they did much more. After mastering that baby and putting together some dances I was a happy camper. That happiness did not last long, the Barre was released and I gave that a go, it was love at first dance and was much easier to learn as well as use. When I had issues and wrote the maker she was always quick to respond. I was in hud heaven for a long time.


Enter stage right, the Artiste....this is the hud I'm currently using. I heard rumours about it for ages but that was about it, I met a person that said they had one once and it sounded like a very nice hud but was told it was not for sale yet, so I did not pursue it any further. About six months later I was given one by the maker to use and report any issues or things I felt it lacked, so I guess that made me a sort of beta tester. I must admit I liked that I was involved in a small way. The only other time I was a beta tester was for a collar. I made some suggestions and was amazed they were added. The reason I was so excited about this hud was that I have a screen full of huds when I do an act, this would free me from that. It has the flexibility I have always wanted in a dance hud, I'll rephrase that, the Artiste is not a dance hud, its a performance hud. If a dancer wants a hud to just do transitions there are many out there to choose from. This hud is thinking outside the box, I had to completely rethink what I knew from previous huds.


One thing that I really like is that I can make things as automated or as interactive as I want. I'm very much a hands on girl, but I don't see doing repetitious things as a great skill set. We are using computers, they are meant to free us from doing the same tasks over and over. Behind the scenes I wear many hats, mc, performer and I also run the stream. So a hud that was designed with performers in mind was a dream come true for me. I still get carried away when I talk about it, my friend Nancy is ready to drive a stake through my heart. The feature list goes on and on, I've not even scratched the surface of what it does. The reason being we are all different and something that one dancer does all the time I may never use. I'll climb down from my soapbox now. "Runs as she sees Nancy dashing at her with a pointy stick"