March 24, 2008

Kinetic Sculpture Vs. Robotics -- What's the Difference?

In Thoughts on Curating - How to Bring About a Shift in Perception, Anna Brady Nuse writes about the benefits of attending curated dance film festivals:

Creating special programs of films that are organized around a specific idea helps to provide a lens for viewing work in a different way. By grouping films under a new name, you can imbue them with meanings they didn't necessarily have before.

Kinetic Sculpture Vs. Robotics

The following YouTube video "Boston Dynamics Big Dog" will soon be watched more than three million times. Big Dog, a large robot propelled by its four legs, crosses snow, ice, hills and other terrain and manages to continue even after slipping. It's disturbing to watch the 36 second mark when Big Dog is kicked and almost falls over. Overall, the generated sounds, unaesthetic housing for the robot, and outdoor and indoor test environments don't make for much of an artistic experience. It feels more like we're in a research lab with innovative scientists that want to push the frontiers of computerized mobility.

Theo Jansen is a kinetic sculpture. Here are two wonderful videos that show his wind-powered intricate sculptures made of plastic tubing. I'd like to see higher-quality videos of his work to have a better understanding of how the many parts interact as his kinetic sculpture is propelled across the landscape. I find his work fascinating and visually intriguing. But I wouldn't be distributed if somebody kicked Jansen's sculpture -- at least not in the same way as I was with Big Dog. [via Fresh Creations]

And here's a BMW ad featuring Theo Jansen [via Fresh Creations]

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March 18, 2008

The Exhilaration of Nailing the Rhythms of Dance Music

I continue to work with Don Baarns of The Unlikely Salsero to learn how to hear the rhythms in different types of dance music. (Don, by the way, just posted his 100th article!)

Don is a wizard. Don has been teaching me since about the beginning of January and we've been communicating through weekly phone calls and emails. In just over two months, my ability to hear the rhythm and understand the structure of dance music has improved significantly. Don said that when we started I had about an average ability to hear the beat in dance music.

Yesterday was one of those aha moments for me. I was listening to some Salsa songs I bought on iTunes a few months ago. When I first listened to them, I couldn't hear the "1" count (the first beat of a measure) for my life. But when I tried yesterday, I was able to find the "1" in many cases without too much work. On top of that, I was able to count through the "breaks" (more or less pauses) in the songs and know exactly when the musicians would come back in full force. There's nothing like the feeling of being in perfect time with the music -- especially when you're on the dance floor.

As Don writes in his Saturday post about the process we're following, we haven't even delved into the specifics of Salsa or Argentine Tango music. Since the beginning of January, I've been tango dancing (classes and practices) pretty much non-stop. And my ability to hear the beat while dancing has improved dramatically. There are three types of dances (and music) in Argentine Tango (Tango, Milonga and Vals). The only one that's giving me real trouble is the Milonga rhythm -- I still haven't figured out how to dance to it.

The reason why listening to Salsa and Tango music is becoming easier for me is because Don is providing me with the basic tools to develop a solid understanding of the structure and characteristics of dance music. I'm learning how to:

- Count the beats in each measure and throughout an entire song.
- Pick-up the rhythmic patterns in the middle of a song
- Analyze the structure of a song (e.g., 8-bar intro...)
- Identify specific instruments and voices
- Document the lyrics, and
- Identify changes in tempo

This process does require a lot of work on my part. I've listened to some songs we've worked with many, many times in order to understand how the tune works.

Don is excellent at helping me develop my listening skills in an incremental manner. We start with basic songs where the rhythm and other characteristics are easy to identify and then work with more complicated tunes once I have a good foundation.

Some Salsa music students start by learning the patterns of specific instruments such as the clave. Maybe this approach works for some. But it definitely doesn't work for me. Just being able to hear the most common sounds and patterns of instruments used in Salsa music is only one piece of a much larger puzzle. The main objective, I think, is to develop general music listening skills in a structured manner along the lines of what I described above. Then, once this structure is in place, it makes sense to study the specifics of each genre of dance music.

So I'm delighted. One of the reasons why I didn't pursue Salsa dancing a few years back was because I was very frustrated that I couldn't hear the rhythm. I asked dance teachers and others to help, but none of the guidance I was given made any sense to me.

Now I'm certain that by working with Don for a few more months, I'll have no trouble hearing the rhythm in Tango, Salsa or any other dance music.

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March 14, 2008

"Movement Scores" from Non-Dancers: Integrating Dance into Contemporary Discourse

There are many approaches that the contemporary dance community can take to integrating dance into our daily discourse. In other words, dance and movement can be both a practical tool and a creative approach through which people with varied interests, hobbies and expertise can see, experience and better understand the world in which they live.

Below I offer a specific example of what I mean. But first, two candid quotes from dance bloggers that I think illustrate the disconnect between the contemporary dance community and non-dance communities.

Washington, DC-based dancer Amanda Abrams writes the following after reflecting on negative audience reviews for a recent dance performance:

It depresses me most because I don't like to feel so disconnected from the "real" world. I can't convince myself that living in a bubble of art and listening only to what my contemporaries think is going to keep my dancing honest and relevant. It's very strange how we got so disconnected from the rest of the world...

Megan Sprenger, director of marketing for New York City-based Dance Theater Workshop, shares the challenges of building audiences for contemporary and experimental dance in "TV Dance Mania":

With the launch of yet another dance reality television show - Step It Up & Dance on Bravo - my heart drops as I know that dances success on television will not effect contemporary dance as I know and love it. The marketing department at Dance Theater Workshop is constantly brainstorming ways to reach new audiences - YouTube, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, distribution, public performances, previews, reviews - you name it, and yet our performance sales remain relatively the same.

Maybe, to generalize, the modern/contemporary dance community has isolated itself too much from mainstream interests and pursuits? Maybe there is a need for the dance community to engage with non-dancers in new ways in order to create new types of interactions and dialogues? And maybe these new types of conversations can be pursued in ways that expand possibilities for dance artists while not constraining or compromising their approach to art-making?

A New Interface for Connecting with Non-Dancers

I think a good starting point for considering alternative types of engagement with non-dancers is through the "interface." Everyday, we access, manage and edit digital data through a range of human-computer interfaces (HCI). We use keyboards, computer mice, remote controls and other devices to control the environment in which we live.

Experimental interfaces are being introduced on a regular basis. ReadWriteWeb has a post from Wednesday, "User Interfaces Rapidly Adjusting to Information Overload," that includes video demonstrations of different types of interfaces.

The video "ShadowReaching: New Perspective on Wall Display Interaction" is especially relevant to this discussion about creating new types of conversations with non-dancers. Researchers at the University of British Columbia (Garth Shoemaker, Anthony Tang and Kellogg S. Both) are experimenting with various approaches to user manipulation of data on large visual panels. Their methodology is called "Shadow Reaching," which you can see demonstrated in their video:

I think the section of the above video that starts at the 1:30 minute mark is especially intriguing. You'll first see a user manipulate local and distant objects. The next illustration then includes a demonstration of bi-manual input.

As I watch this video of "Shadow Reaching," there's no doubt in my mind that I'm watching a dance performance. Although I doubt that the computer interface researchers have dance on their minds.

How could the dance community engage these researchers in a conversation about dance?

I have many thoughts, but I'll offer one possibility for now. I'd ask these interaction designers to create a "movement score" for dancers. For an example of an improvisational dance created in response to a movement score, see Matt Gough's post, "Ecdysis."

So I could see sitting down with these researchers to better understand the focus of their explorations. I'd be especially interested in the challenges that they faced in terms of how different parts of the body must move in order to manipulate digital objects in the desired way. Then, I'd work with these interaction designers to create a movement score -- maybe we would shoot a video and post it to YouTube. On this video, the researchers would invite dancers to create a dance piece that explored specific elements of their research. Dancers would then create their video responses, which might end-up being very abstract or more gestural in nature - there are many possibilities.

I think that there are some intriguing questions and possibilities that would spring from this non-dancer/dancer fusion approach to art-making:

- What can dance artists bring to experiments with new types of interfaces? Are we talking primarily practical ramifications or does art help interaction designers see and experience their work in fundamentally new ways?

- Getting back to Amanda's feeling of a disconnect between dancers and non-dancers. How would this type of collaboration help bridge the gap? Would both dancers and non-dancers now have a better way and better "interface" for understanding and appreciating each other's work?

- And to answer Megan's challenge: The road to success in building new dance audiences is to connect with non-dancers on their own turf. In the case of human-computer interface designers, the goal is to figure out how to fuse art-making with practical explorations in the lab. And once this connection is made, then the possibilities for audience building grow significantly.

I've always been intrigued by how the modern/contemporary dance community can connect in new creative and practical ways with non-dancers. Next week, in conjunction with a New York City choreographer, we'll be launching a new project aimed at pursuing these objectives.

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March 11, 2008

Makeda Thomas Needs Your Support to Create Dance for Augusto Cuvilas

Choreographer and dancer Makeda Thomas, who just completed a short-term blog on Great Dance, Choreographer's Carnival, is seeking financial support so she can travel to Mozambique to participate in the creation of a dance-work to honor Augusto Cuvilas.

Here's a description of this project from her fundraising page:

My name is Makeda Thomas and I am New York/Trinidad based choreographer and dancer who also makes dances for the National Company of Mozambique. This past December, Augusto Cuvilas, one of Mozambique's most highly regarded choreographers was shot in his home by Maputo police. They were responding to a robbery (he called them) and instead - they killed him. This happened in front of his pregnant wife (another dance artist).

I received a call last month from his wife, Chimene Costa. She is, in the midst of doing press conferences and filing reports, working to keep Augusto's work alive. She has invited me and South African choreographer Boyzie Cekwana to develop the project they were working on during his untimely death. This project is titled "Fin" (The End).......

I want to respond to this call for artists. I have never received a more profound call to make my art. And it is my prayer that you can help me get to Mozambique.

Continue reading...

Makeda is looking to raise US $1,700 to cover her travel expenses. As I write this post, she has $260 in pledges.

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March 10, 2008

What Do We Ask of Viewers of Our Online Dance Videos?

In his Magnesium video blog on Great Dance, Matt Gough has a post "Ecdysis" that explores a movement score created by Nancy Garcia.

Here's Matt's video that he shot with the built-in camera on his Mac. The soundtrack is "First Brain" by Kaki King (iTunes link):

I didn't really follow Matt's advice and watch his video before understanding the context of his creative approach. I first listened to Nancy's movement score so I could learn about the source of Matt's improvisation.

In the creative/improvisational dance world, we don't really see much of this type of online collaboration taking place. I can't think of another example where a dancer posted an idea, in this case a movement score, and another dancer created a dance video based on the idea. Why does this not happen more?

For me the experience of watching Matt dance in response to the "feel the top of your head opening" score was a richer, more meaningful experience than watching him dance without knowing what the experiment was based upon. The viewer experience for me was also less passive than online video watching usually is. Essentially, almost all dance videos are posted without any guidance or suggestions for how one might experience the digital dance performance.

Matt's video leads me to two questions:

1) What do you want from viewers who watch your dance videos? And,

2) What background and context can you provide viewers so that they can experience your dance videos in a manner that you believe to be optimal?

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