Experiences With The Usage of New Technology In Dance

Experiences with the Usage of New Technology in Dance This work is a record of experiences with the usage of digital technology in the dance performances Doors of Perception (Vrata percepcije), Moved Space (Pokrenuti prostor) and Fragments (Fragmenti). The performances were created and originally performed between 2012 and 2015 in collaboration with the dancers of the art organisation Fronesis and the engineers and students of the Faculty of Electrotechnics and Computer Science in Zagreb. In the course of the collaboration we applied various work methods – each performance used its own computer application. Later performances used digital technology in some form as well, i.e. live coding the music used and a computer application designed especially to count votes of the audience in the performance Dance Democracy (Plesna demokracija), in which the audience decides on how the performance will proceed. The students that worked on Doors of Perception were given the Rector’s Award for the applications they programmed especially for that occasion. Through their combined effort on these performances the dancers and the engineers have changed the preconceptions and prejudices between the different disciplines: The engineers had proven not be cold and dull, while the dancers were not irrational or overly emotional. Working together they enriched and developed the creative experience. The use of technology made the performances and the world of dance in general more understandable, interesting, accessible and appealing to a wider audience.