Research Catalog

Title

Virtual incarnations [videorecording] : new bodies, new realities; live chat room / [presented by] Dance Umbrella; moderated by Ghislaine Boddington.

Publication

2000.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Cunningham, Merce
• Schiphorst, Thecla.
• Kaiser, Paul, 1956-
• Eshkar, Shelley.
• McGregor, Wayne.
• Boddington, Ghislaine.
• Dance Umbrella (Concert series : London, England)
• Institute of Contemporary Arts (London, England)

Found In

Merce Cunningham archive.

Description

5 videodiscs (PAL) (233 min.) : sd., col.; 4 3/4 in.

Summary

• Disc 1. This panel discussion exploring the intersection of dance and virtual technologies was also presented as a live webcast. Moderator Ghislaine Boddington introduces the program and the issues surrounding the relationship between dancers' physical bodies and virtual bodies created through computer technologies. Merce Cunningham speaks about how he began using Life Forms software for three-dimensional human animation as a choreographic tool, and Thecla Schiphorst describes how she developed the software. Wayne McGregor speaks about his use of Life Forms, and Schiphorst discusses the continuing evolution of the software. Paul Kaiser speaks about his artistic background, his theory of drawing as performance, and how he began working with Cunningham. Shelley Eshkar discusses his own background in arts and computer science, and Kaiser and Eshkar discuss their collaboration with Cunningham on Biped, for which they used motion capture technology to create projections of virtual dancers. McGregor discusses his own use of motion capture technology to analyze dance movements.
• Disc 2. Wayne McGregor speaks about his collaborations with animator Timo Arnall using motion capture technology. The panelists share their responses to Merce Cunningham's Biped, and discuss how virtual projections "materialize" or "dematerialize" space. McGregor, Kaiser and Eshkar discuss abstraction and realism in digital imagery. Merce Cunningham discusses his early experiments with separating dance from music, choreographic for different parts of the body separately, and using chance operations. Thecla Schiphorst discusses her installation Body maps, and attitudes towards the body in the computer science community. Cunningham speaks about the need to keep trying new methods in choreography and avoid adopting familiar patterns of behavior.
• Disc 3. In this section of the program, each of the panelists gives a presentation articulating their vision for the future of dance and technology. Merce Cunningham does not participate in this or the remainder of the program. Wayne McGregor reads a poem by the Indian poet Rumi and discusses how people are connected through virtual technology. Thecla Schiphorst gives a discussion and illustration of her theory of the "fluid" body and its ability to shift between perceptual systems. Paul Kaiser and Shelley Eshkar jointly present a work in progress called Pedestrian, an outdoor installation/projection using motion capture technology to explore everyday movements of crowds. The panelists discuss the concept of interactivity in computer systems and installations. This conversation is continued on disc 4, however the recording on disc 4 has no sound.
• Disc 5. The panelists respond to questions from the audience, discussing the importance of human presence in dance, the links between rational and emotional systems in the brain, the effect of virtual formats on the perception of time, and how issues of dance and technology are related to the exploration of neurological systems.

Series Statement

Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation Collection

Genre/Form

• Video.
• Panel discussions.

Note

• Due to a defect in the original recording, there is no sound on disc 4.

Event (note)

• Videotaped at the ICA (Institute of Contemporary Arts) Theatre, London, England, on Oct. 15, 2000.

Linking Entry (note)

• Forms part of the Merce Cunningham archive.

Contents

Disc 1 (56 min.) -- Disc 2 (45 min.) -- Disc 3 (56 min.) -- Disc 4 [no sound] (56 min.) -- Disc 5 (20 min.)

Call Number

*MGZIDVD 5-1380

OCLC

NYPG06-F609

Title

Virtual incarnations [videorecording] : new bodies, new realities; live chat room / [presented by] Dance Umbrella; moderated by Ghislaine Boddington.

Imprint

2000.

Country of Producing Entity

U.K.

Series

Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation Collection

Performer

Panelists include Thecla Schiphorst, Merce Cunningham, Paul Kaiser, Shelley Eshkar, Wayne McGregor.

Event

Videotaped at the ICA (Institute of Contemporary Arts) Theatre, London, England, on Oct. 15, 2000.

Linking Entry

Forms part of the Merce Cunningham archive.

Local Subject

Life Forms (Computer program)

Computers -- Dance applications.

Motion -- Computer simulation.

Digital dancing.

Added Author

Cunningham, Merce, speaker.

Schiphorst, Thecla. Speaker

Kaiser, Paul, 1956- Speaker

Eshkar, Shelley. Speaker

McGregor, Wayne. Speaker

Boddington, Ghislaine. Speaker

Dance Umbrella (Concert series : London, England)

Institute of Contemporary Arts (London, England)

Found In:

Merce Cunningham archive.

Research Call Number

*MGZIDVD 5-1380