IBM Systems Journal featured an article on media in performance as the future of expressive communication. I'm particularly drawn to this notion as it relates to dance performance. I'm interested in exploring the interactions between dance -- physical interpretation, intuition, and expressions -- and digital media, especially video and virtual environments. I'm also curious about the idea of translation/interpretation as far as the ways in which digital technologies can translate dance movements, and also, how dancers themselves can interpret digital environments.This article describes the relationship between performance and digital technology as "augmented performance" because this work augments the expressive range of possibilities for performers and rather than replacing the embodied performer, offers new possibilities for the traditional art. DanceSpace is a new technology that is an interactive stage that tracks dancers' motion in real time. Each separate part of the body can be mapped to different musical instruments, creating a body-driven keyboard. Thus, the dancers are empowered to compose their own accompanying music, as opposed to the traditional paradigm of choreography having to be restrained by the boundaries of a pre-composed musical score. A graphical output is also generated from the computer vision and in this way, the dancer's body becomes the paintbrush and a visual component complements the piece.
On stage, and also in the world of virtual space, dancers are autonomous agents, with mechanisms for sensing and interacting in their environment and also deciding which actions to take. They sense their surroundings through physical and virtual sensors. Interactive space creates an entirely new realm of possibilities for dance performance.
This piece, Choreographic Outcomes, from Dance-Interactive.com exemplifies well this concept of visual dance mapping. It demonstrates a "unique movement analysis and communication techniques known as HEISS pathways (Historic Equal Interval Still Sequences)... It bascially maps out a movement through the air, by tracing one body part's path through space. Every few frames the dancer's hand or foot position is recorded - these points are joined up to form an air path. This is then played along with the video to reveal something of the motif's form."
I intend to inform my final project with a dance aesthetic by attaching sensors to dancers that translate their movements into numbers and then into digital media. In this way, they will digitally chart the landscape of bodily movement in physical space. I will navigate a visual rhythm with line, shape, color, and sound. I have chosen a postmodern dance form, contact improv, as opposed to a classical form like ballet because I believe it allows for more freedom of expression, and is not confined to preconceived notions of physicality and space. With no predefined parameters, contact improv dance challenges the boundaries of dance and is not structured in a way that limits range of movement. It has been said that in contact improv, the floor is the dancer's first partner. Certainly, this opens up an entirely new dimension since classical forms like ballet do not permit dancers to roll around on the floor.
For my project, I am interested in the idea of dancers leaving visual and auditory trails through movement. If a dance were to be mapped out visually, it would produce a visual trail that reflects the range of movement within the piece, as well different qualities of movement, such as impulse, swing, velocity, and impact. Since ballet abides to specific rules regarding movement, the variety of the movement and its corresponding visual map, would not be as dynamic as those produced by contact improvisation. In the same way, it is also possible for dancers to generate auditory trails, or a musical score, that is composed with their bodies. Due to its improvisational nature, this score would necessarily explore a wide range in terms of tempo and octave in comparison to a classical ballet score.
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