Digital Futures in Dance: National Conference

Digital Futures in Dance: National Conference explores the use of digital technologies in dance performance and choreography.

The event will be held at Pavillion Dance in Bournemouth and will commence with evening performances followed by two days of installations, discussions, papers, working groups and further performances. The event will bring together artists, development organisations, promoters, producers, venues and academics to discuss the future possibilities for dance and technology. The conference will offer examples of gaming technologies, animation, immersive environments, interactive scenographies, online and screen based platforms, second life, social technologies and thought-driven reality simulation.

With an increasing fluidity between forms and spaces and a growth in interdisciplinary practice, Digital Futures in Dance investigates how new digital technologies like infrared motion capture cameras, mobile technologies, interactive gaming like Wii and Kinekt, tracking devices and advances in mixing software create new conditions for choreographing and presenting dance.

The conference is structured around three interrelated themes:

The Expanded Stage: Traditional performance spaces become interactive and immersive environments. Multi-platform distribution is increasing through the use of iPods, phones, media players as well as more traditional media. The distinctions between stage, screen and bodies are increasingly fluid and permeable. What will be the stages for dance in the future?

New Body Intelligence: Artists increasingly use data from measurements of the body as raw material for choreography. The possibility to collect data and simulate the body’s actions through sensors to track external movements as well as through live-feeds of bio-physical data like brainwaves and blood pressure, opens new possibilities to conceptualise and choreograph the dancing body. How will new intelligence of the body influence choreography in the future?

Social Interaction: Mobile and interactive technology devices contribute to the development of dispersed choreographies. Game playing and site-specific performance give new creative agency for audiences and radically change notions of authorship. How will increased interactivity influence the creation and reception of dance in the future?

Digital Futures in Dance is devised and organised by South East Dance, Dance South West – Pavilion Dance, DanceDigital and Bournemouth University – School of Media. It is funded by Arts Council England, Grants for the Arts.

Visit Digital Futures in Dance website for full programme and bookings.