February 19, 2007

More Dancing Robots Along with Animated Hip-Hop Dancers

While I'm on the topic of robotic dancers (see previous post about Australian Dance Theatre's "Devolution), here are two videos of robotic dancers and one of an animated dance sequence.

I don't know what would be considered "state-of-the-art" as far as applying movement to robots and animated dancers, but I find it intriguing to watch this clips.

A traditional Japanese dance. Learn more about the robotic dancer HRP-2 from the Humanoid Robotics Project.

The same robot in action performing what appears to be similar or same Japanese dance. Plus you'll find additional video footage from the robotic lab. (Narration in Japanese).

Animated video of "Martian hip-hop." I found the description of how this dance sequence was created confusing. If you know more about how this hip-hop video was created, please let me know. The creator froggy42 has uploaded additional animated dance videos - I'll email him to find out more.

Posted by Doug Fox at 5:40 AM - Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

February 1, 2007

Stealth Ballet Company in Second Life

I came across this post yesterday, "Second Life Ballet to perform 'Olmannen,'" about an upcoming dance performance in the popular Second Life virtual world.

I'm very curious about this performance - the premiere is this Sunday. But I can't find any information about the Second Life Ballet company. I'm just going to finally have to jump into Second Life and join this virtual world. I'm also going to see if I can find software that lets me capture the performance so I can post the video to Great Dance.

While I searched in vain for this mysterious ballet company, here's some Second Life dancing I did come across:

Watch this video performance of Zero G Sky Dancers in Second Life, which is produced and directed by Dan Coyote Antonelli. In a promotion for this performance, the avatar troupe is described as "The only Hyperformalist dance company in either world!." But this video only gives you a general idea of what these 3D dance performances are like:

Here are two overviews/reviews of the above performance:

- "ZeroG SkyDancers in Second Life":

It was FANTASTIC! How to describe this experience? First, check out the video. It doesn’t do the performance justice. Imagine a stage surrounded by glowing, translucent blobs of light. Add some subtle background music and stir in the dancers (avatars). The dancers fly about, interacting with the stage, the lights, and each other, transforming the environment as the dance. My description doesn’t do it justice either. Oh well, next time there is a performance I’ll try to get the word out.

- "The Organic Beauty of Hyperformalism":

I was lucky to be one of the select few that were invited to DanCoyote Antonelli’s SkyDancer performance on Weds evening this week- seating is limited to 30 seats per show, SkyDancer shows are always sold-out, reservation-only events.

Four (sometimes five) talented avies...sky danced in a massive 400 meter cubic volume performance space...The musical score by ZeroOne Paz was a perfect accompaniment to the spectacle in that it was ethereal, minimalist yet had just enough variation and rhythm to move the performance forward. I particularly loved the harp-like sounds employed...and the long sustained string sounds and pulsing rhythm that melded perfectly with the swooping flying loops by the dancers.

Visually the event was stupendous...It was difficult to decide which way to look at times, especially as many of the ‘organisms’ actually passed through us, the audience at times and the dancers were always drawing our attention too. (Of course I was also busy taking pictures and filming!). The wonder of these pieces is the sense of awe that you get seeing the avie embodiment dwarfed by miraculous, before unseen forms and the shared experience with thirty or so friends all who understand and appreciate the emotional statement being made. It is very experiential, poignant and escapist without being ’space cadet’, meaning it never feels like gratuitous eye candy, for eye candy sake.

Dancers take a break during intermission:

While I'm at it, here are some more pictures from dancing in Second Life:

Club Dancing
Ballet Night
Dancing Insider a Watermelon

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January 25, 2007

Virtual Dance Studio

Canada's National Arts Center produces the ArtsAlive.ca performing arts-focused educational website. On this site you'll find a Virtual Dance Studio that lets users choreographer a series of dance moves for either ballet or modern.

Click for Larger Image

As you'll see as you experiment with this Flash-based application, you can drag beginning, middle and ending animated moves to a timeline at the bottom of the screen, and add a music track as well. Then you can play your choreographic creation. This application was built with DanceForms software from Credo Interactive. (To see other examples of DanceForms animations, visit the Credo Interactive gallery.)

I thought it was fun to experiment with the Virtual Dance Studio. But it does have its limits. You can't save your creations for future use or to share with friends, and I wish the individual animations were larger.

What I would like to see is a version of Virtual Dance Studio that was specifically for beginning ballet students. Movements for arms and legs could be broken down in separate animations, and basic sequences and excises that are usually done in introductory classes could be created.

But I could probably find this guidance in a good ballet DVD - if you have recommendations, please let me know.

[Via Critical Dance and Talent Speaks]

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November 14, 2006

Savion Glover Off To Penguin School

For the animated film, "Happy Feet," opening in theaters this Friday, tap dancer Savion Glover attended penguin school.

Glover, as reported in LA Times, was working on mastering the constraints of penguin locomotion so that he could perform the tap dance moves of Mumble, the penguin with no vocal range but great dance moves. The problem for Mumble is that among the Emperor penguins of the Antarctic, if you can't sing you'll have no social standing in the community.

Then, once he had the Penguin motions down, Glover's tap dance routine was captured via motion capture, "...a recording process that required him to tap dance on a small stage under 60 lights in a black bodysuit that had 40 reflective sensors near his joints. As Glover performed, the light from his reflectors was recorded by an array of 60 cameras and turned into data." The next part of process consisted of converting these captured motions in to the animated moves of Mumble. (On the LA Times article, you can watch a video clip of this motion capture process. Or, if you can't access this article, you can see same clip on Yahoo.)

More links:

- "Happy Feet" profile on Internet Movie Database.

- Article in USA Today, "Penguins on tap could ice the mice."

- MySpace Page - they even have news ticker and countdown clock that you can add to your blog/website.

I started writing this post because of Savion Glover and tap dancing. But it's also interesting to see how this movie is being promoted online. A lot of food for thought for dancers and dance companies - I'll write more about this topic.

Posted by Doug Fox at 6:10 AM - Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

June 26, 2006

Watch Avatars Dancing in SecondLife

On June 9th, I wrote a post, "Dancing in the Second Life Virtual World." In this post, I wrote about Rik Panganiban's thoughts about the limitations of avatar dancing in such virtual environments. He followed-up with a comment where he provided a link to a few video clips that show you exactly what it looks like to dance in SL - I encourage you to watch these clips.

Even though these animated dance videos are rudimentary at this point, I think that SL and other virtual worlds should be taken seriously by dancers. As Phoenix Psaltery, who also posted a comment to my post about dancing in SL, wrote:

Yes, Second Life has shortcomings when it comes to things like dance and other activities that use a lot of personal expression, but please understand that SL is really in its infancy as far as what will someday be possible. It's come a long way in just three years; imagine what it will be like in three more, or ten more.

Already SL is a real cash economy where users are buying products with the virtual world's Linden Dollars that can be exchange for real money. In addition, a post in B2Day blog links to story about how Amazon is exploring how to link the SL virtual world to its web services so that physical products can be sold from within SecondLife.

Imagine visiting a dance clothing boutique in SL, trying on shoes and clothing and then purchasing the real merchandise from within this store? Or watching a SL-based performance by a dance company and being able to purchase video clips of the "real world" performance by the same group.

There are many possibilities and as the ability to control dancing avatars continues to improve in this parallel universe, many new doors will be opened for dancers.

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June 9, 2006

Dancing in the Second Life Virtual World

I keep meaning to experiment with the Second Life virtual world.

Now with the growth in dancing in this alternative reality, I have more of an incentive to make an avatar for myself and start wondering around and going to clubs, get-togethers and, even, dance studio. This notice caught my attention:

This past Tuesday, the Takeshi's Dance Studio in Second Life held an event to teach people how to dance. Plus, they will soon be building a theater and they need dancers.

Since I haven't used Second Life, I only have a vague idea what it means to dance in SL. My guess is that users who went to Takeshi's Dance Studio learned how to write scripts so that their avatars could automatically perform a series of pre-programmed moves. I'm going to follow-up with Takeshi's Dance Studio to find out more.

In the meantime, I came across some interesting stories and pictures that offer a glimpse of the type of dancing that is now taking place in SL:

- Here are some pictures on Flickr that show examples of Second Life dancing:

- In Linden Lifestyles (Linden is the creator of Second Life), there is an article, "Concert Tips and Etiquette," that explains how to participate in SL music concerts - how, for instance, to listen to musicians and not be bothered by extraneous sounds. If you scroll down this article, you'll find a section that explains the concept of dance animators and dance balls. If an avatar couple steps on a dance ball and then activates the dance animator, their avatars will then be taken through a pre-determined series of dance steps. Here's a screen shot of a dance floor in an SL nightclub:

- Dancing doesn't just take place in virtual clubs. Events on private islands also feature music and dancing. Earlier this year, Creative Commons hosted a party. There are more pictures available with the write-up about this event:

- In "Get That Out of Your Mouth #24 - The Show Must Go Online," Chris Dahlen describes the experience of listening to music in Second Life, how indie bands take virtual tours and make money, and the limitations of gestures and dance in this virtual world:

Players also can't control their avatars with any spontaneity or nuance; if you want to dance at a show, you can trigger an animation that runs your avatar through the steps, but you can't personally step in to make the arm rest on your partner's back just so. The same problem applies for performers. If you look closely at Few as he's playing guitar, you'll see that he can't strum or move his hand on the fretboard, and his face is trapped in a stiff mask, like a dummy in a vintage Disney World ride. And while you can add more animations and poses to an avatar, if you have the time and you're handy with 3-D modeling software, you can't make the spur-of-the-moment gestures that even stiff indie rockers need to liven up their acts.

- And Rik Riel (his SL name) in his "Dancing with myself... with other people " post, says that he goes to a lot of SL events and music gigs. He describes how dancing works:

In Second Life, you are given a small set of pre-defined dance animations that you can trigger from your keyboard. It's easy to pick up other animations at parties or from friends. You can easily perform everything from a waltz to b-boying to country two-step (not to mention more, uh, provocative dancing).

But he's not really sold on this virtual dancing:

A real basic question is Why would you do this? Virtual dancing provides none of the perks of real world dancing, either the joy of movement, the physical response to music you are digging, the pleasure in touching another person, or the pride of executing a difficult move. There's no learning curve, no physical exertion, no effort to anything, except maybe the effort involved in designing your own custom animations.

I've been dancing my whole life, from all of the terrible 80's trends (smurf, running man, pac man, etc.) to popping and locking, salsa, tap, and now lindy hop. There are few other moments when I am happier than when I am dancing. There is nothing to compare to sharing great music with someone you care for swaying in your arms. I love dancing so much, I help administer the largest lindy hop community website on the net, Yehoodi.com.

Rik Riel adds this picture from Flickr to reinforce his point:

Posted by Doug Fox at 8:20 AM - Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

April 12, 2006

Drift, a Flash-Based Animated Dancer

Koert van Mensvoort, an artist and scientist from the Netherlands, created "Drift," an engaging Flash-based animation that features a dancer consisting of moving balls.

Watch Drift - "An interpassive Flash clip of a dancer without a body" - as Koert describes his creation.

Drift features the moves of dancer Nancy Mauro-Flude, which were captured via motion capture technology and converted into a Flash animation.

Koert van Mensvoort describes Drift as a form of interpassive cinema because users can experience the work as if it were either a movie or a computer game. In movie mode, a user simply sits back as a passive spectator and enjoys the animated movements and music. In game mode, the user moves the mouse and the bubbles and music react to the movements of the cursor.

You can read an interview with Koert van Mensvoort about Drift.

Technorati Tags: animation, art, dance, flash

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March 27, 2006

The Virtual Bodyjam Dance Game

Take the Virtual Bodyjam dance workout game for a spin. This Flash game, based on the Les Mills dance workout, lets you choose and cloth your dancing avatar and then you're ready to replicate your instructor's moves. The game, which you can play alone or in challenge mode, is a piece of cake, but I always enjoy seeing how dance is brought to the web.

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January 26, 2006

Types and Challenges of Motion Tracking Systems

Matt Gough in his "Splines in Space" blog has two entries about the motion tracking and capture system he uses for his dance research and composition - "Motion Capture (Dance)" and "Noodle Dance".

Matt describes the different types of motion tracking technology (Magnetic, Gyroscopic and Optical) and points out the challenges of tracking large numbers of discrete body movements. Ideally, he'd like to have a dancer outfitted with 100 plus markers and more computer power to process results in real-time.

An image that displays results of 1:41 minutes of motion tracking - "The Noodle Dance":

Using a passive optical motion tracking system with markers that are placed on the dancer's hands and body:

This area of motion tracking systems and dance movement - both for research and performance - is an area I plan to do a lot more interviews about both for my audio podcasts and upcoming publication.

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November 18, 2005

Advertisers Embrace Dancing

Here are two fun advertisements that feature dancing characters - one a dancing Doughboy and the other a dancing Citroen:

I came across the Pillsbury Dancin' Doughboy on Leigh Witchel's dance blog.

The Dancin' Doughboy is a Flash animation that allows you to create your own dance routine by selecting moves and choosing your song. As Rachel Feinerman from Downtown Dancer says in comment to Leigh's post this Flash application is similar to The Ellen Degeneres Dance Maker. But unfortuneatly, it doesn't seem like this Dance Maker game is still available. Here's the post I wrote about it in October: "Bust A Move with Ellen Degeneres".

The second dancing ad is for the Citroen C4. This is also a Flash animation that features a video of a Citroen C4 transformed into a robotic dancer. The dancer deserves credit for a solid stretching regime before initiating its dance routine. It's fun to watch. (To watch ad click link on bottom left that reads "See the TV Ad")

The following screen shot from Citroen ad is from Car Pages.

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October 6, 2005

Bust A Move with Ellen Degeneres

American Express features Ellen Degeneres in a dancing-themed TV commercial and interactive Flash animation.

The Ellen Degeneres Dance Maker let's you combine your choice of dance moves into your own choreographed dance composition - all the dance moves feature Degeneres.

(By the way, when you reach the Dance Maker page, you may have to click on an arrow that you'll see to the left of Ellen's head on the left side of the page. Then, click on the rotating crystal ball to start the Dance Maker).

To get started, you drag your choice of dance moves to the bottom row and click on the single song to slect an audio track. Then, click "Bust a Move" and you're ready to watch your personalized dance piece. If you think you've created a masterpiece, you can submit your dance combination to Ellen.

You can also watch the accompanying American Express dance commercial also featuring Ellen Degeneres. The commercial closes with Degeneres saying, "I like dancing to my own tune." I like the tie-in with the overall theme of this American Express promotion. You get to decide which dance moves to add to your final dance piece just like you get to decide how to use your AmEx card.

Posted by Doug Fox at 7:37 AM - Permalink | Comments (0)

September 29, 2005

Para Para Dance Craze Hits US

A new dance craze may be coming to US inspired by a popular Japanese arcade game, Para Para Paradise. According to article in this morning's New York Daily News, the Para Para moves, similar to dance games like Dance Dance Revolution but not very demanding, share similarities to past dance fads but offer more variety then the Macarena. The Anime Fusion Tour is now performing the Para Para dance throughout US. Read article for diagram of dance or visit Anime Fusion Tour site to download colorful PDF file of dance moves.

Posted by Doug Fox at 8:31 AM - Permalink | Comments (0)

September 20, 2005

Dancing in the Changing Room

Gap clothing has an amusing Shockwave site called "Watch Me Change". You can watch either an annimated man or woman dancing while changing clothes. It's fun and silly. I came across this Gap site in a July post on Tom Higgins' Blog.

Posted by Doug Fox at 1:28 PM - Permalink | Comments (0)

September 15, 2005

Dance with Cingular and iTunes

To promote its new cell phone that integrates Apple's iTunes software to play songs, Cingular has launched the Make Me Dance website.

They've created a fun Flash application (click "Make Me Dance" on their site) that lets you choose a dancer, drag a song to a Cingular phone, and then watch the dancer keep beat with the music.

Posted by Doug Fox at 5:55 PM - Permalink | Comments (0)