Creating common ground: dialogues between performance and digital technologies

Abstract

This article addresses the challenge of collaborative research between performers and technologists, seeking a model by which a common language can be developed between the collaborators. It draws upon the authors' experiences of projects where creative laboratory situations were used to support open-ended processes of exploration. The Performance Robotics project demonstrates how a cycle of iterative knowledge exchange between performance academics and robotics designers and engineers was achieved through an embodiment exercise that developed unexpectedly. The Projecting Performance Project resulted in computer operators 'performing' via the control of animated sprites that were projected on stage alongside dancers. Playful interaction in these projects enabled artists and technologists to find common ground on which to establish a rich dialogue for further research.

Technological enhancements in the teaching and learning of reflective and creative practice in dance

“…The project researched how new technology might figure as an integral agent in the creative process rather than merely using it as an external tool for postproduction and after effects (Popat & Palmer 2005). By setting up the project with a clear focus on creative process and not on the production of a final product the students seemed to maximise their understanding of using interactive technology in the moment as a creative counterpart, rather than as a box of tricks.…”

(Re)searching through play: play as a framework and methodology for collaborative design processes

“…Keeping the design process intentionally open, fluid and organic can unsettle, disturb and pressurise. The shifts in reality and the meta-play required to get back into flow, generated when working in this way were akin to those 'uncomfortable' moments experienced during the theatrical devising process (Popat and Palmer, 2005). Reflecting on a ludic model for design methods [4] it is also important to acknowledge the potential difficulties in this approach, especially for collaborators in design teams who might be unfamiliar with techniques that introduce openness, generative emergence and notions of the accidental and the disruptive to design.…”

Embodied interfaces: dancing with digital sprites

“…This approach is familiar to performers but not necessarily to technologists (Popat & Palmer 2005). It is based on playful, intuitive responses to situations as they arise, with all members of the team contributing on an equal basis within a collaborative environment.…”