Workshops
Somatic Partnering Workshop
In this workshop, we will examine specific characteristics of dependence, attunement, and non-verbal communication through the practice of Somatic Partnering. We will consider how important ethical concepts, such as trust, care, and manipulation, can be explored through physical interaction. Participants will be led through a series of thoughtfully facilitated, interactive movement exercises. These will allow us to consider the ethical significance of touch, proximity, and gaze in social interaction. We will also discuss how changing forms of physical interaction and dance have historically shaped societies and can alter our collective future. All bodies and physical abilities are very welcome.
AI-Enabled Artmaking
An art practice is a conversation -- with yourself, your peers, your environment, your cultural sphere, etc. Popular AI tools for generative art-making, however, can appear to reduce the practice of art-making to a dismally one-dimensional process: write prompt, press button, get result. In this workshop, I'll share the creative framework I've developed for incorporating AI-generated choreography into my own performance practice. Participants will experiment in real-time with AI models trained on my own movements, exploring their capacities, how to shape their outputs and, crucially, how to engage with them in multifaceted ways. We'll discuss how these practices extend beyond the specifics of my models and can be applied generically: how can we use AI to deepen our creativity, not stifle or replace it?
Digital Improvisations
This workshop will explore a few methods, scores and ideas about how to work with technology in an improvisational setting. How do we use improvisation as a resource to gather materials for performance? How might our technologies be responsive to an improvisational moment? Is it possible to do this without everything becoming horribly complicated? Participants will be introduced to the Halprin RSVP cycle as a framework for valuing and gathering materials for performance.
dancing with robots
Choreographers and roboticists both organize moving bodies in space, yet the platforms and practices they employ are seemingly dissimilar. This talk describes the emerging field of choreorobotics, from dancing robots to novel programming interfaces, and why the intersection of these artistic and engineering fields is rapidly expanding.
Introduction to Isadora
As part of DanceHack 2023 this 1.5 hour Introduction to Isadora focuses on the hands-on use of Isadora (created by troika ranch founder Mark Coniglio) in installation and live performance (music, theater, dance). It is taught from a perspective of using Isadora both as a stand-alone software tool, and as a tool for integrating / controlling live and recorded video and sound playback, mapping, and interaction design for projection, installation and performance.
For DanceHack we will also cover an introduction to how to integrate control by simple IOT devices and data sources such as the Domestic Light project's streaming light data and a focus on how to use Isadora to help produce work during dance hack. No prior experience required or equipment beyond a personal laptop - preferably with a camera. We will have a range of projectors and other video devices for participants to play with if you do not have one to bring.
Lighting Design
In this workshop we will be exploring how colored light can impact how we perceive the world around us. Then we'll talk about what we've learned along with some other best practices for integrating lighting into performance with projection.