Purdue News
Purdue News
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April 22, 2004 Technology creates new beat for dancer to move to in spring showWEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – A partnership between art and technology at Purdue University will allow a dancer in the Spring Works 2004 concert to pop virtual bubbles and rustle virtual dry leaves with no props on stage.
The Purdue Repertory Dance Company will present 10 new dance works, including "A Turn of Season," on April 30 and May 1. The dance company, which is housed in the Patti and Rusty Rueff Department of Visual and Performing Arts, will perform at 8 p.m. in the Loeb Playhouse in Stewart Center. Faculty and students from the theater sound program, dance, and computer graphics technology are using motion-capture technology to enhance the dance performance with imagery and sound. Computer hardware and technological expertise is provided by the university's new Envision Center for Data Perceptualization. "As technology, especially that used for video games, continues to evolve, the dancer gains more freedom on stage," says Carol Cunningham, professor and chair of the dance division and co-director of the company. "The dancer not only has more flexibility to move in our new motion-capture suit, but she also will be able to control sound and imagery in real time with her movements." The dancer, wearing a body suit with 25 reflective markers, performs within a space outlined by six infra-red cameras, says W. Scott Meador an assistant professor in computer graphics technology and application engineer for the Envision Center. The cameras connect the dots to track the dancer's movement as she moves through the four seasons. With the new motion-capture system and sound collaboration, the dancer is able to trigger dozens of sounds during the performance, says Richard Thomas, sound design professor. "We want the technology to serve aesthetic needs and improve artistic expression rather than make technology into art," he says. "So, for example, a specific jump by the dancer is programmed to trigger a harp. When her foot drags at a certain angle across the stage, it sounds like leaves are rustling. Thanks to the motion-capture technology, the dancer can add new elements to the artistic performance." The same sequencing used for sound will create virtual images. For example, when the dancer puts her hands together, the image of a bubble will appear. The virtual bubble will spread as she pulls her hands apart, and when her hands are a certain distance apart, the bubble will float away. In this piece, the dancer relies on students from computer graphics technology and theater sound students to synchronize other sounds and images to the performance. The computer graphics, theater and engineering students are from the theater class "Composing Interactive Music Scores." The other dance works for the 2004 performance are: • "Stript," choreographed by Sally Wallace, associate professor and co-director of the dance company. • "In/Sight: Heart Over Head," is a collaboration among dance faculty member Holly Jaycox; dancer Edward Martin III, a graduate student from Chesterton, Ind.; Kathy Henke Evans, slide librarian; Charles A. Gick, associate professor of visual and performing arts; and sound artist Matthew Janszen, a junior studying acoustical engineering from Cincinnati. • "To … Too … Two," is a work choreographed by Martin. • "Frame," choreographed by dance faculty member Mary Beth Van Dyke. • "The Ball Game," choreographed by Marisol Ortiz-Amézquita, a dance faculty member. • "Hymn," choreographed by Jayma Lallathin, a junior in the School of Liberal Arts from Anderson, Ind. • "Evolving Ambition," choreographed by Rebecca Dostatni, a senior studying biology, from Whiting, Ind. • "Echo an echo," choreographed by Kristin Pavelka, a Purdue graduate, from LaGrange Park, Ill. • "Transient Intersections," a modern dance work choreographed by Kathleen Hickey, a junior political science major from Steger, Ill. Tickets are $12 for adults, $10 for students and $6 for children ages 12 and under. To order tickets, call the box office at (765) 494-3933 or (800) 914-SHOW. Writer: Amy Patterson-Neubert, (765) 494-9723, apatterson@purdue.edu Sources: Carol Cunningham, (765) 496-3644, carolec@purdue.edu Richard Thomas, (765) 494-8150, zounds@purdue.edu Scott Meador, (765) 496-6034, wsmeador@tech.purdue.edu Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu Related Web site: PHOTO CAPTION: A publication-quality photograph of the motion-capture dancer is available at https://www.purdue.edu/uns/images/+2004/cunningham-dance.jpg
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