Dancing in suits: a performer's perspective on the collaborative exchange between self, body, motion capture, animation and audience

The motion capture process places unique demands on performers. The impact of this process on the simultaneously artistic/somatic nature of dance practice is profound. This paper explores, from a performer’s perspective, how the process of performing in an optical motion capture system can impact and limit, but also expand and reconfigure a dancer’s somatic practice. This paper argues that working within motion capture processes affects not only the immediate contexts of capture and interactive performance, but also sets up a dialogue between dance practices within and beyond the motion capture studio.

Development and assessment of an incremental fatigue protocol for contemporary dance

Nine trained contemporary dancers performed a modality-specific, heart-rate-monitored, choreographed fatiguing dance protocol with an assumption of fatigue at volitional exhaustion (RPE 16). Postural stability was assessed as the variability of ground reaction forces and the centre of pressure during the performance of a flat-foot arabesque. Psychological response was assessed using self-reported fatigue, psychological distress (PD), and psychological well-being (PWB) (Subjective Exercise Experience Scale). After reaching RPE 16 in 15.7 ± 2.6 mins, heart rate decreased to the post-warm-up level within 64 ± 9 sec. Variability of ground reaction forces or the centre of pressure was not changed. There were no significant changes in fatigue, psychological distress, or psychological well-being. Within fatigue, there was a significant increase in the item tired (p = 0.04). As supported by the heart rate data and RPE, the protocol achieved an appropriate level of physical demand. No changes in the stability indices were observed, possibly attributed to the rapid recovery in heart rate. The expression of only tiredness suggests the use of a disassociative attentional style by the dancers. The project represents pilot work toward the validation of a monitoring process that supports dancer health and awareness training.

The French consul's wife : memoirs of Céleste de Chabrillan in gold-rush Australia

A former Parisian courtesan, bare-back-rider, and polka dancer, Céleste de Chabrillan scandalized Melbourne when she arrived in 1854. Her vivid account of years spent in diplomatic circles and on the goldfields reveals her great energy and will.

Managing instability

The chapter discusses the work of choreographer Russell Dumas from the point of view of a dancer in his work.

Embodying provenance

An interview with choreographer Russell Dumas discussing his dance practice and his work with dancers in the context of the European-Australian dance politics and culture.

What is a transmitter?

This article discusses the approach that Yvonne Rainer has taken to conserving her Trio A, a work made originally in 1966 and which has been performed many times since, including now by custodians or ‘transmitters’ of the dance. The discussion is contextualized within the broader frame of the question of whether and how the legacy of modern and postmodern dance might be maintained for the benefit of future dancers and their capacity to develop contemporary dance art – particularly at a time when a generation of seminal artists who also voice their desire regarding these matters is passing away. I use the question ‘What is a transmitter?’ and an alternative notion of ‘translator’, drawing on philosopher Paul Ricoeur, to highlight the complex role of dancer-performers, not only in the creation and performance of work(s) but also in maintaining a repertoire.

Responding to human full-body gestures embedded in motion data streams.

 This research created a neural-network enabled artificially intelligent performing agent that was able to learn to dance and recognise movement through a rehearsal and performance process with a human dancer. The agent exhibited emergent dance behaviour and successfully engaged in a live, semi-improvised dance performance with the human dancer.

Teaching a digital performing agent: artificial neural network and hidden Markov Model for recognising and performing dance movement

For a Digital Performing Agent to be able to perform live with a human dancer, it would be useful for the agent to be able to contextualize the movement the dancer is performing and to have a suitable movement vocabulary with which to contribute to the performance. In this paper we will discuss our research into the use of Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) as a means of allowing a software agent to learn a shared vocabulary of movement from a dancer. The agent is able to use the learnt movements to form an internal representation of what the dancer is performing, allowing it to follow the dancer, generate movement sequences based on the dancer's current movement and dance independently of the dancer using a shared movement vocabulary. By combining the ANN with a Hidden Markov Model (HMM) the agent is able to recognize short full body movement phrases and respond when the dancer performs these phrases. We consider the relationship between the dancer and agent as a means of supporting the agent's learning and performance, rather than developing the agent's capability in a self-contained fashion.

Uses of the sampur in the halus (Refined) style of Yogyakarta court dance

In this essay I discuss how a familiar costume element in Javanese court dance, a long piece of patterned cloth known as the sampur, functions poetically through the ways it is used by the dancer. I elaborate on eight categories of use of the sampur, primarily from the point of view of a Western dancer first encountering the techniques of working with the scarf. I draw on scholars and other commentators to discuss the many dimensions of meaning embodied by these uses. The sampur emerges as a dance element rich in virtuosic potential and nuance, and resonant with numerous dimensions of cultural values.

Recognition: combining human interaction and a digital performing agent

Virtual and augmented environments are often dependent on human intervention for change to occur. However there are times when it would be advantageous for appropriate human-like activity to still occur when there are no humans present. In this paper, we describe the installation art piece Recognition, which uses the movement of human participants to effect change, and the movement of a performing agent when there are no humans present. The agent's Artificial Neural Network has learnt appropriate movements from a dancer and is able to generate suitable movement for the main avatar in the absence of human participants.

Touching space: Using motion capture and stereo projection to create a "virtual haptics" of dance

This paper describes the work of a group of artists in Australia who used real-time motion capture and 3D stereo projection to create a large-scale performance environment in which dancers seemed to "touch" the volume. This project re-versions Suzanne Langer's 1950s philosophy of dance as "virtual force" to realize the idea of a "virtual haptics" of dance that extends the dancer's physical agency literally across and through the surrounding spatial volume. The project presents a vision of interactive dance performance that "touches" space by visualizing kinematics as intentionality and agency. In doing so, we suggest the possibility of new kinds of human-computer interfaces that emphasize touch as embodied, nuanced agency that is mediated by the subtle qualities of whole-body movement, in addition to more goal-oriented, task-based gestures such as pointing or clicking. © 2010.

Technology as collaborator in somatic photographic practice

This article will address several areas of research. Firstly it will propose that a dance experience can translate into another discipline such as visual art. In my visual art practice I combine both photography, which is traditionally seen as a still medium, and performance in order to create a new form of embodiment. By acknowledging the inter-relationship between the body and the camera my project seeks to challenge a perceived separation between the disciplines. Fly Rhythm, an exhibition of 13 photographs and one video projection was conceived through a performative somatic process. I have developed the term ‘somatic photography’ to articulate subjective experiences in the context of my process of imaging movement in stillness. My thinking has been informed by visual art practice exploring movement and meaning using video and an older history of performance as a dancer and choreographer. I am primarily interested in movement initiated by a bodily response to light through still rather than moving imagery although artists such as Maya Deren whose films explore themes of time and space have influenced me. In my practice the term ‘somatic photography’ helps articulate the act of taking photographs, which is how meaning is being created rather than purely in the finished art works. The term somatic photography puts emphasis on the action of taking the image. Through using a custom made camera I was able to negotiate time and space as a dancer and create a visual drawing that talked to both choreography and fine art practice. This article engages with the following ideas: somatic photography, photography as choreography, body memory, ageing body, technology as collaborator, gallery interface, screen interface and movement.

Dança: forma, técnica e poesia do movimento : na perspectiva de construção de sentidos coreográficos

A presente dissertação se construiu sobre o pressuposto de que forma, técnica e poesia são premissas que embasam uma determinada visão de dança enquanto manifestação artística do corpo humano em movimento. Norteia também este estudo a perspectiva de que as relações que se estabelecem no momento de execução de uma dança instauram processos de significação. Desse modo, este trabalho teve como principais objetivos: - entender a dança enquanto uma atividade artística que se constrói no(s) corpo(s) em movimento; - refletir sobre a elaboração de possíveis significados quando da criação e execução de uma dança; - descrever a dança como uma ação criadora que se faz no corpo humano em movimento. Para atingir os objetivos propostos utilizou-se a fenomenologia como método de investigação, optando-se, assim, por realizar uma descrição da dança que já é, ao mesmo tempo, uma maneira de compreendê-la. Como conseqüência deste procedimento buscou-se demontrar que: - a dança dever ser entendida enquanto arte porque ela resulta de um processo de transformação de uma matéria-prima - o movimento humano - através do uso de procedimentos técnicos e formativos, que resultam em obras coreográficas que se dão a reconhecer através de seu intrínseco caráter de forma; - o movimento é o que toma visível os possíveis sentidos/significados de uma dança: a realização de sentidos coreográficos se dá no contexto de uma coreografia e só se efetua plenamente quando os sentidos são retomados e revividos pelos espectadores; - os processos de criação coreográfica baseados em ações formativas proporcionam o desenvolvimento de uma disponibilidade corporal para a dança. Tal disponibilidade corporal está alicerçada, principalmente, numa inteligência e numa memória corporais, que dispõem o dançarino a exercer suas potencialidades criadoras através da dança. A concepção da dança como forma, técnica e poesia do movimento aponta para uma possibilidade de recuperação, através da dança, de saberes relativos ao corpo, ao movimento e à sensibilidade.

Mover/se(r) a gênese do corpo entre/corpos e seus trajetos no processo coreográfico

This paper proposes a reflection on the body between/bodies, especially in contemporary dance, in their path that starts from the choreographic construction, permeating the body of the choreographer, the dancer s body and when fulfills themselves as artistic expression, the body of the spectator. Initially discusses the body in dance as a body/space for convergence, connectedness and continuity, from the thought of the Greek philosopher Epicurus of Samos, in dialogue with the thought of Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Gilles Deleuze and José Gil. Reflect about the creation of this body/space in the relationship choreographer/dancer using as connecting thread the experiences of the author in his artistic path. Finally describes the process of creating the scenic experiment (h)áporos, which constitutes the practice scene of this dissertation, having as main objective the creation of spaces of convergence and interaction between a proponent and an affluent body that, in this move, transforms itself and the space that now cohabits / is

Break: o grito corporal da periferia

In order to question a sociology as it considers appropriate the body dimensions, which contributes in a mean singular in relation to body, not only as a matter, but mainly as a producer of knowledge, our research shows a reflection on corporality as the production of knowledge and to understand different perspectives and social logic here in contemporaneity, whose rationality seems to be placed in question through a performance expressed, a lot of 'breaks', including the space, which the dancer break appropriates of a reversed form and not more than linear. Our problem is the possibility of a greater understanding of this young body with dance the break, is not only 'breaking' his body, but fluent in their own body fragments, producing probably a break in relation to a dominant power established, by creating a kind of 'social resistance' to provide another sense for his life, out of the senses by the dominant of a social field. This is the area of production of knowledge, of the 'body' that cries keep our eyes, the challenge of dive in the depth of gestures, beyond the physical structure, restoring in a strong political constitution and cultural in so far as this body faces. The body as spectacular becomes 'cause and effect' of communication, this body is not only individual, it is not expression only for itself; when the young dance outside their walls individuals, makes it relational, turning to relate with the other, with the space, time and the world. The methodological point of view, to study this corporality in element break, the body as language of senses, we considered withdrawals in the field, observations of movements of the universe of break creative dance, performance and analysis of "attitudes" (expression peculiar world hip hop ), as well as my experience with dancing in the street interventions through 'urban' and our own attitudes to the object of research which challenges us academically and, it all, existentially