I enjoyed looking into new innovations in contemporary dance with the videos I reviewed and papers I read this week. As dance and dancers look at ways to integrate technologies into the body of the performance, the result has been a variety of works expressing how dance has evolved into media where technology, space, time, and movement come together. In all the videos I reviewed, the the interactions between movements of the dancers and technology were an intrinsic part of the explorations of the dancers and these interactions determined the subject of the performance.
In the paper, Digital Dance, Gunduz discusses how the dancers use computer devices which incorporate the movements of entire body into the dynamics of choreography. Dancers wear motion sensing detectors which interact with the laser grid, changing and responding to the movements of the dancers. (Gunduz, 2012) "this physical interaction establishes a dialogic exchange between the performer and the artwork: as the physical responses of the performer triggers responses from the interactive system, the technological responses trigger cognitive responses from the performer, which activates new physical responses and so forth..."(Gunduz, 2012) In many of the performances, I was reminded of Einstein's concept of the universe as the entire space is incorporated into the dance.
In the performance videos I viewed, the interaction of media with the dancers varied and gave one the impression that there was a point of view expressed about the integration of technology and dance.
In "Apparition" one views a "collaboration between the ‘live’ input of the dancers and the ‘live’ responses of the technological system."(Gunduz, 2012) At the beginning of the performance, the figures move in the darkness next to a gyrating computer generated graphic. As the performance progresses, the figures are juxtaposed with the abstract geometric technological graphics, the figures fluctuate from abstract computer billboards to realistic figures in contrast to the techno-machine. Towards the end the figure is dwarfed by the fury of the light of the techno-machine.
Obermaier, K. & Ars Electronica Futurelab, 2004 "Apparition":
At the beginning of the dance, the dancer is sleeping on the stage. As the dancer moves, his movements shape the organic amoeba like spotlight he is surrounded by.
In the second part, the dancer awakens and as he dances before a pyramid temple, computer generated graphics illuminate his movements like electrical Tesla waves while white light waves undulate in the background like stars. There is a sense of mysticism.
In the third part, the architectural pyramid is brought to life by a computer generated light show. The dancer is not present.
In the fourth part the background is a geometric grid and as the dancer moves, his movements create jarring geometric movements in the background grid as well as geometric shadows on stage.
In the fifth dance movement, the background grid has
disappeared and the stage has become covered with
points of light that move like water. The architectural
pyramid is a show of lights that revolve like atoms.
As the dance ends, the dancer lies on stage arms
outstretched like the Vitruvian Man by Leonardo da Vinci.
In the video, "Pixel Dance Show" by Magic Innovations
the dancer determines the light shapes and dances with
their shadow.
In the performance, "Compagnie Kafig-PIXEL" (2014),
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_Hu57QTqqE, the movements of the dancers determine the computer generated organic graphics which shape the terrain they dance in. Sometimes the graphics are complex organic nets, sometimes the graphics are drops of rain filling the atmosphere and dancers hold umbrellas to keep pixels from raining on them or cracks in the ground they are dancing on. The graphics are an integral part of the environment which is shaped by the movements of the dancers.
In Seventh Sense Anarchy Dance Theater, the dance is almost a reply to the concepts in The MIDAS Project.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQlDEPLHPyQ
Rather than one dancer, there are several and many of their movements are determined by the dynamics of the interactions between the dancers as well as technology. The choreography uses similar imagery such as the dancers surrounded by a spotlight at the beginning of the dance as in The MIDAS project. However there are 2 dancers on stage who interact. As the dance progresses, the interactions of the dancers as well as technology shapes the environment that the dancers inhabit. As the terrain of the stage shifts with the movement of the dancers and the technology, the interactions between the dancers shape the way technology creates the environment. The performance ends with all dancers joining together in positive unity, conveying the idea that humans need to shape technology by joining together, rather than be controlled by it.
The interplay between technology, dance, choreography has opened up performance to innovative inquiries where dancers question the concepts of environment and time and space. How people will use technology are questions that are creatively addressed in these profound performances.
References
Compagnie Kafig-PIXEL(2014) retrieved from:
Gündüz Z. Digital Dance: Encounters between Media Technologies and the Dancing Body. At The Interface / Probing The Boundaries [serial online]. November 2012;85:309-333. Available from: Communication & Mass Media Complete, Ipswich, MA. Accessed February 16, 2015.
Obermaier, K. & Ars Electronica Futurelab, 2004 "Apparition" retrieved from:
Pixel Dance Show by Magic Innovations retrieved from:
Seventh Sense Anarchy Dance Theater retrieved from:
