Hands-On Dance Project: Creative Dance Collaborations Online

Published in CADE 2001 conference proceedings, Glasgow, Scotland, 9-12 April 2001

Abstract

1. Introduction

The advent of computer technology in the arts transports interactive art-making to realms that it has never before been able to achieve. Interactive art-making exposes the creative process to the audience asking them to become active participants. The Internet provides a platform that enables interaction on a different scale from previous approaches in this genre. This paper examines the pioneering model of Popatís dance composition research project, the Hands-On Dance Project.  The Project brings an outward focus to creativity via the Internet, facilitating an interactive choreographic process for participants all over the world. Popat, trained as a choreographer rather than a technologist, approaches the use of Internet technology from a dance-based perspective, using basic software and equipment to implement a complex interactive creative process. Although the Project is experimental, it has been shown to work for some participants as a successful collaborative venture, leading them to a better understanding of the choreographic process and of dance itself.
 

2. Interactive Theatre and Computer Technology

In the past decade, computer technology has propelled the term ëinteractiveí into the public consciousness. Interactive computer art permits the viewer to interact individually with the artwork on his or her personal screen, seeing the effect of his or her interactions within it. But computers are pre-programmed, with limited abilities to sense the subtler elements of human communication.  Their ability to adapt to suit the interactive art situation is restricted, even with the current developments in artificial intelligence.  Smith writes of his CD-ROM for creating dance interactively, Natural Trips (and some not quite so), that he enabled more than twenty-five million unique combinations from which the user could choose to construct the dance, and then offered another range of options which multiplied this by over a million [1]. Thus the user has a remarkably rich number of choices within the variables, but he or she cannot create anything outside these specific boundaries. In spite of so many possible experiences, all are predetermined.

This does not seem to be truly ëinter-activeí, as inter-action implies that the communication is two-way, with the parties concerned having a mutual affect upon each other [2]. Perhaps it is necessary to return to the theatre setting. Interactivity in art, and particularly performance, is not so innovative as it might seem.  As early as the Dionysian theatre of the Greeks, theatre performers and audiences engaged in interaction, bridging the gap between observed and observer. This approach has continued to emerge, to a greater or lesser extent, throughout the development of theatre, enjoying a particularly strong revival in the twentieth century [3]. Such performances are ëinter-activeí in the sense that they are concerned with the communication between the audience and the artist affecting the outcome of the performance. In a truly interactive work nobody, not even the designer or the performer, can predict the outcome that is the product of this communication [4].

So how can computer technology contribute to the interactive performance arts, when we are already so beautifully adapted to interact as humans? The answer lies in the fact that the theatre situation also has its faults. The nature of working within the theatre, where the audience sits in a defined area separated from the performers, is that it is difficult for the individual to make a perceptible difference to the performance, even when invited to do so. Should the individual input be isolated, only the bravest are prepared to make such input in front of the rest of the audience. Also, because the performance must take place over a limited period of time, audience membersí responses tend to be ëreactiveí, born of a reaction to the moment, rather than ëreflectiveí, stemming from a considered evaluation of the situation. But communication via new technologies allows the inter-actors to send and receive words, images, sounds and movies at the touch of a button. It enables us to speak to and see one or more people anywhere in the world in real-time. It allows participants to view repeatedly and consider the movement material and ideas presented on the Web site. In short, it permits both reactive and reflective interaction, where the humans involved in the art-making process can communicate in multimedia on an individual basis and see the results of that communication in the developing artwork.
 

3. The Hands-On Dance Project

The Hands-On Dance Project combines the individuality of interaction via the computer, with the flexible inter-action of human-to-human communication. It uses the unique communications facilities available on the Internet to enable project director, dancers and participants to view, discuss and make decisions on the movement material as it develops. Ideas, suggestions, questions and feedback can be exchanged on an personal level, so that all participants can be equally involved, and the process is flexible enough to take account of all input. The combination of both synchronous and asynchronous communications encourages the blend of ëreactiveí and ëreflectiveí responses that support the creative process. The aim is not to design a guided ëcreativeí experience, where the choreographer leads the participant by the hand through a predefined maze of possibilities, as in Smithís CD-ROM. Instead the creative process becomes a collaborative venture with the participant, dancers and project director working together towards a creative outcome.

Popat has directed three Hands-On Dance Projects since 1999, working with undergraduate dance students at Bretton Hall College, and thirty-six participants on the Internet. Each Project takes place over a period of several weeks, and is open to participants from anywhere in the world. No previous dance experience is necessary for participation. The Project aims to create an environment in which participants with little previous dance experience can take part and feel involved in the creative dance-making activity alongside those with higher levels of dance experience. Through email discussion, Internet videoconference rehearsals and interactive Web-based tasks, participants may choose the level of involvement that they have in the Project.

Each project begins with a group discussion via email or the Web site, to determine the theme for the dance. Participants are requested to submit images, text (poems, stories, instructions, etc), movies or sound files as inspiration for the dancers. All input is displayed on the Web site. The dancers then create short phrases of movement inspired by the submissions, and these are made into movies for the Web site. Participants are notified that the phrase has been made, and feedback is requested. As more phrases are created, participants are asked to consider and make suggestions concerning the forming of the material into the dance, either via their own instructions and ideas in emails, or via tasks on the Web site.  Participants are also invited to join the dancers in videoconference rehearsals in order to be able to supply synchronous input that is supportive of the ëplayí approach, where ideas can be tested and evaluated quickly and easily. The feedback ëloopí of discussion and presentation of results on the Web site progresses to the formation of the dance product, and culminates in a performance via videoconferencing, Web site and free CD-ROMs of the performance sent to participants.

The Project requires a high level of commitment from both project team and participants. All emails submitted to the director during the projects received replies as quickly as possible to maintain a sense of involvement, and the attempt was made to respond to all suggestions and ideas. For a positive experience, it was necessary for participants to return that commitment. Interaction is a two-way process, and unless both sides are equally involved, the interaction breaks down. However, where the interaction was successful, some of the participants became closely involved in the choreographic process and stated that they felt a strong connection with the final dance product.
 

4. Technical Aspects

Prior to the Hands-On Dance Project, Popat knew very little about computer technology. Her previous background had been in dance as a theatre art, but she was attracted by the idea of Internet-based choreographic projects with the potential to involve participants in interaction on a one-to-one basis. The Project was designed and implemented using off-the-shelf software , a G3 Apple Macintosh laptop computer, a small, analogue video-camera and an ISDN connection. Popatís intention was to create a framework that could be replicated by other choreographers or within other art forms, without requiring large amounts of technical knowledge or financial investment.

The Web site was designed to include many images of the dancers in rehearsal, with a page containing images and text about each dancer as an introduction.  In the second and third projects, participants also had a page on which they could place an image and text to introduce themselves. The site was updated daily, with input from participants and the latest movies and images from rehearsals with the dancers.

One of the main difficulties encountered was the low Internet connection speeds available to most participants. The majority of participants were using 56k modems, thus limiting the amount of data that could be sent within a reasonable download time. Using QuickTime 4 with Sorenson compression, movies of around 40 seconds in length, at 15 frames per second (fps), movie window size 240x180 pixels, were between 1 and 2 megabytes in size, taking 10 minutes or more to download. A decision was made to limit all movies to less than 2 megabytes.  At 15 fps, the dance was still relatively good quality, with movement and dynamic clearly defined. But although 40 seconds was long enough for the individual dance phrases inspired by the participantsí submissions, once it was necessary to show longer sections, during the forming of the dance, the quality of the movies had to be reduced. For sections of around 2 minutes in length, frame rate was reduced to as little as 4 or 5 fps, leaving much to be desired in the quality of the movement depicted. The small size of the movie window was also problematic as it was difficult to see more than one dancer clearly in a window of 240x180 pixels. However, at the end of the project participants were sent the final dance movie on CD-ROM, at 15 fps with a movie window sized 320x240 pixels, which could also be enlarged in QuickTime Player. Although the presentation of movement in movies under these conditions was not ideal, one experienced dancer/choreographer taking part in the project commented on the good quality of the movies, stating that they were considerably clearer than much of the dance provided on the Internet.

iVisit Internet videoconferencing software was used for videoconference rehearsals, as it is free to download and use. The frame rate and picture quality tends to be poor, but the lack of cost and ease of access to the software were essential to the Project. Participants found that coupled with the movies on the Web site, they were able to appreciate the chance to view the movement carefully on the Web and then play with ideas in the real-time rehearsal. The synchronous communication, allowing informal chat, also seemed to be intrinsic to the rehearsal experience for participants.
 

5. Applying Dance Knowledge

The choreographic process that is reproduced in the Hands-On Dance Project is the devising method, in which the choreographer gives the dancers stimuli to inspire movement material, and then selects, shapes and forms that material into the dance. This process does not require the choreographer to be able to dance, as the initial movement is created by the dancers. Instead, it requires the visual and imaginative ability to arrange that movement. While with most choreographers these abilities will come from experience and factual knowledge of dance, it is equally possible for skills associated with the visual arts or other sources to be applied to the dance context.

Participant A was the only participant to take part in all three projects. She stated that she had experience of visual arts and drama but very little knowledge of dance prior to her association with the Project. In Project 1, she selected her inspiration with care to communicate a particular ëfeelingí, and she stated that she ëknewí how the movement should look. Her intuitive knowledge, together with encouragement from the Project Director, led her to give precise instructions to the dancers via videoconferencing, to mould the phrase as she ëfeltí it should be. In doing so, she used a variety of dance-based skills, yet when asked to comment on other dance phrases, she stated that she did not have enough dance knowledge to do so. With regard to ëherí phrase, her desire to communicate through the Project dancers enabled her to overcome her own lack of ëfactualí dance knowledge, and to apply intuitive knowledge based on experiences gathered from other sources.

Participant A continued to take part throughout Projects 2 and 3. In Project 2, only invited participants could take part, and more emphasis was placed on group discussion. Participant A did not seem comfortable in this situation and chose to participate very little. In Project 3, where she could communicate on a one-to-one basis with the Project Director again, she seemed willing to renew her commitment. Table 1 shows the different types of dance-based skills that she applied. By the third project, she was still unwilling to comment on movement phrases inspired by other peopleís submissions.  However, within the context of the phrases inspired by her own submissions, she seemed able to select movement and suggest developments more easily that she had previously done. She was also able to supply suggestions on the forming of the final dance performance, which none of the other participants with little previous dance experience did in any of the projects. She had apparently acquired some new understandings of the choreographic process during her participation in the three projects.
 

Table 1: Dance-based skills shown by Participant A

An asterisk indicates that this type of knowledge or skill was evident in the participantís responses.
 

6. Conclusions

The potential, illustrated by Participant Aís experience, for knowledge from a variety of sources to be applied in an arts context with support from practising artists, indicates that the Hands-On Dance Project could have ramifications for other art forms. Internet technology supplies a platform where artists, project director and participant can meet and create art together. It facilitates the interaction on an individual basis, both synchronously and asynchronously to allow for reactive play and reflective consideration. The technology to implement the project does not have to be complex for a highly interactive situation to be facilitated, if the project team and participants are prepared to make a commitment to communicate. This leads to the ideal human-to-human form of interaction, where the project can be flexible enough to accommodate all ideas and suggestions. The medium for the Project is the Internet, but the focus of the project is the human-human interaction and the dance.
 

References

[1] A. William Smith, Interactive Multimedia-Dance: Individual Freedom to Control Oneís Own Aesthetic Experience, in the papers from Dance On í97 Conference (Hong Kong, 1977) pp.198-213
[2] Beryl Graham, A Study of Audience Relationships with Interactive Computer-Based Visual Artworks in Gallery Settings, through Observation, Art Practice , and Curation, 1997, PhD thesis, available in PDF format at http://www.sunderland.ac.uk/~as0bgr/thesisintro.html
J. Fiske, Introduction to Communication Studies, 2nd Edition, (UK: Routledge, 1990)
Gary Izzo, The Art of Play: The new genre of interactive theatre (Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 1997)
[3] S. Bennett, Theatre Audiences: A Theory of Production and Reception. (London: Routledge, 1990) p.3
[4] Daniel Nagrin speaking at the Dance for the Camera Symposium, February 2000, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA