Contemporary Dance and New Technologies

2004 - 2005

This project was developed in 2004-2005 with the Montreal-based dance company Corps Indice. At the artistic level, the dancers developed a new gestural language that mixes traditional street dances with contemporary dance. These influences from regional Capoeira, dances from Bali and African folkloric dances challenged the frontality (inherited from Italian staging) that defines occidental shows by putting forward a three-dimensional language projected in an arena-like set up. At the aesthetic level, the choregraphy is a postural study inspired by cubist masters (e.g.,Picasso) who exploded the human body offering multiple simultaneous views. This project was interested in exploring new technologies so as to allow the "real body", the "light body" and the "sound body" to interact. In order to reify that idea, I conceived a new type of contact sensors (see the hardware and software systems section above). This new captation device consists of a 6 meter wide circular carpet, an aquisition circuit (realized with Steeve Lebrasseur) and some data treatment software. Using that system, dancers can interact with sound and lights in an organic way without being physically distracted by the device (e.g., no flexsensors). This project has been developped incrementaly within artistic residencies at the Modern Dance School of Montreal (Fall 2004), at La cite des Arts at LANTISS and UQAM (Summer 2005). It has been presented at UQAM and at the International Danse and New Technologies Symposium at the Centre des arts in Enghiens les bains (Paris, Fall 2005).