Digital Theatre - an experimentarium

Part I: White on White is an experimental performance work-in-progress directed by Susan Rethorst and produced by Scott DeLahunta.

Drawing on motion capture, animation, and projection technologies, the challenge of creating this work has involved breaking new ground in the area of collaboration and production utilizing both new and old forms of performance media.

The starting point for the piece was 15 minutes of movement material choreographed by Susan during the first laboratory of the experimentarium with two dancers based in Copenhagen, Kamma Siegumfeldt and Cecilie Sommer. With the support of MAYA animator Thomas Albech, this movement material was motion captured in April using a wireless magnetic system.

The projection space has been designed by Luca Ruzza from Italy allowing Jodi Melnick from New York to interact with four screens of animated motion capture material constructed by a team of animators from Denmark, Thomas Albech, Carsten Lind (Caligraphics/ Crystal Graphics) and Soren Birk Jacobsen (administrator of the Danish Alias Wavefront user website).

The working process for this work is documented here -- a couple of samples from these pages are below.

This is an early rough sketch of a form for the animation and a sample color palette chosen from Johannes Itten's book "The Art of Color".

Part II: Man Power directed by Torunn Kjølner will be investigating the possibilities of interaction between the live performers and the 3D animations which have been created during the first laboratory.

For this purpose we found that we had to use different techniques of theatremaking in order to create interesting links. Thus, the work demonstration has become a piece of devised theatre inviting the audience into a room dominated by 10 large screens and three live performers.

Thematically the piece explores potential differences in the male and the female gaze, gendered spaces and the story of a man searching for new identities. The collaboration between director Torunn Kjølner and set-designer Lucca Ruzza has been a fruitful event in the spirit of the experimentarium: what happens if ...?

The demonstration has taken as one point of depature the structure of the Shakespearean sonnet. The poem-like qualities we would like to capture concerns a hypertextual dramaturgy offering many narrative layers and links to the spectator.

We will be working with projections of animated 3D worlds and objects (based on motion capture data animated by a group of students from the Multimedia Education at the University of Aarhus), with video prerecorded and live and with slides and shadows.

BODYBUILDING: Public Presentations

Where and When

The works-in-progress showings of the two works (White on White and Man Power) will take place at Kaserne Scenen, Department of Dramaturgy, Langelandsgade 139, 8000 Aarhus C, on the 4th., 5th., and 6th. of June.

• Part 1: White on White will play in Lille sal
• Part 2: Man Power will play in Store sal.

Tickets can be reserved by calling +45 8921 5119
between the hours of 10.00 and 12.00 weekdays
or by leaving a message on the answering machine (reservations are recommended).

Tickets cost 40 kr.

• Bodybuilding -- a 3-D poem in two parts
  
• MediaSpace [look in on a rehearsal]
• Analytical Seminar