| Dance and Technology is an elusive field incorporating choreography, technical innovation, and theoretical contemplation. This dissertation explores historical and contextual precedents with a particular focus on interactive works. With this basis, a body of research was undertaken incorporating technical innovation and practice-based inquiry.;MELT, the performative product of the research, entailed the design and creation of hardware and software solutions for real-time utilization of media elements in performance. Technologies developed included high bandwidth body-mounted wireless micro video cameras, an animated font, movable projection, interactive ice-based instrumentation, interactive sound and video elements, and real-time animation. These technologies were integrated into an evening length multimedia dance work that explored the collision of traditional Tibetan Buddhist iconography with cutting edge technology, placing a dynamic idiosyncratic movement vocabulary in an interactive installation of sound, image, and ice.;Drawing from a wealth of experiences in butoh, release techniques, contemporary Indonesian ritual performance, and the Tibetan Buddhist gestural practice of mudra, MELT blends diverse realms of physicality. This melange of movement yielded a uniquely expressive vocabulary to explore the iconography of White Tara as represented by the body-mounted cameras, and video of the cycle of water shot on-site in Alaska. Terma, the hidden teachings of Vajrayana Buddhism, is the central idea explored in the second act. In MELT, the idea of discovering hidden writing manifests in the revelation of animated fonts projected throughout the space using a custom-built moving projection system. These 'hidden' texts can then be 'discovered' with the dancer's video 'eyes'. The final section of MELT used the provocation of the Dakini, or feminine principle, (literally translated as "Sky Dancer") a sometimes-wrathful emanation of our primordially pure and naturally sane mind that manifests in visions, dreams, and meditation experiences. Dakinis are depicted in a dancing posture that reflects their fundamental dynamism and energy. This sense of dynamic energy served as counterpoint to the watery ubiquity of White Tara. Using camera tracking, the "Dakinis" were able write glyphs of fire with their movement. This document explores the context, creative process, and technical development of MELT. |
