Digital Improvisation

Motione performance melds art, technology

Technology’s influence on everyday life is profound. Now dance is heading into a digital revolution, as ASU’s motione project recently made its first public performance.

The show marked the first time motion analysis has been used in choreography. By melding dance with imagery and sound and then tying the three together through real-time electronics feedback, motione took dance to a new level, where the dancer influences the visuals and sound produced, and the sound and visuals affect the performance of the dancer.

Using an elaborate system of sensors, cameras and computers, the show captured and analyzed dance choreography in real time. Visual artists and musicians manipulated the resulting information to form unique visuals and sound that immediately responded to the choreography.

Internationally acclaimed dance choreographers Trisha Brown and Bill T. Jones collaborated with Paul Kaiser, Shelley Eshkar, MIT Media Lab's Mark Downie, and composers Curtis Bahn and Roger Reynolds to create two pieces that bridge the gap between technological experimentation and reality, using computer motion analysis and interactive systems.

"Each audience will be able to see something different, no two performances will ever be the same," Jones said of the show. "It is like hearing jazz improvisation. You don't know what to expect next; you are witness to something occurring only in that exact moment in time."

The first performance for motione was April 9, at Galvin Playhouse on the Tempe campus. From there, the show traveled to the Lincoln Center in New York to be part of Trisha Brown's 35th anniversary tributes on April 14 and 16.

Motione is a project of the Arts, Media and Engineering program in the Herberger College of Fine Arts and the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering.

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Dancers meld dance with imagery and sound via real-time electronics feedback in Motione.

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