This is where we met… and where all the magic started
Dancer: Livia Massarelli - Dansathon 2021 - Credits: Dominique Houcmant
“...we were all craving human connections, still in the midst of the pandemic. [...] what we really wanted to create was an experience where people could meet, at a deeper level. Human to human.”
Dansathon 2021, the genesis of Where We Meet
In November 2021, serendipity brought this fabulous team together at the Dansathon 2021 in Liege. The Dansathon is the European dance hackathon funded by Fondation BNP Paribas and organised in collaboration with Sadler’s Wells in London, Maison de la Danse in Lyon and Theatre de Liege. Three dance houses coming together to support innovation in the field of dance by bringing together dance artists, creative technologists, designers, producers, etc, from all around Europe and the rest of the world.
The teaming up process was very organic, and by pure luck - or strike of genius - we ended up in the same team, with similar goals and interests. Livia Massarelli (Dance), Clemence Debaig (Tech+Dance), Steph Clarke (Production), Noelle Lahaye (Dance), Samuel Lepoil (Design) and Julie Rollin-Mousteou (Project management).
What came out of our first discussions was that we were all craving human connections, still in the midst of the pandemic. And as much as we were interested in sexy innovative technologies such as mocap, VR, telematics and hybrid performances - what we really wanted to create was an experience where people could meet, at a deeper level. Human to human.
From this starting point, we began exploring ideas to use technology as an enabler for empathetic connections, as a way to understand what is going on in someone’s mind and allow us to develop intimacy.
2.5 days later, we had a rough prototype with half of the tech in place… and the other half faked… We had recorded inner monologues with our phones. And we had built an interactive system for one dancer with MaxMSP and TouchOSC. We couldn't get access to any tracking devices onsite, so we ended up faking it by having a slider and a human behind the computer moving it according to how close the audience was. When they were approaching the dancer, they could get the feeling of entering someone’s head and slowly hearing the dancer’s thoughts through Bluetooth headphones. All of this was hooked up to a DMX light that was changing its radius and colour based on how close the audience was.
Video documentation of our demo of Where We Meet during the Dansathon 2021.
This worked well enough to fool the jury and convey our idea. We were lucky to win one of the prizes, including a small project grant to develop the project further!
April 2022, first R&D at Goldsmiths University
About 6 months later, we self-organised a week-long R&D at Goldsmiths University in London. Our goal was to develop the concept further, including experimenting with the dramaturgy, the interactions and the tech to shape the full vision of the project.
We brought along Emma Nuttall (writer & dramaturg) and Rob Hall (Creative Technologist) to work with us onsite.
We made four main discoveries during that time:
Dramaturgy & mental health
The characters needed to be developed around specific themes and the mechanics of entering someone's inner world was a fantastic opportunity to address various mental health topics - challenges very dear to everyone in the team. Livia Massarelli, our choreographer, is also a holistic and wellbeing coach, with incredible expertise on the matter. This made a very natural link between what mattered to the team and the core concept of the piece.User experience
Interactions need to be simple (always). With only a simple "sound bubble" around each character. We had originally designed a more complex “ring system” around each character, with several layers as the audience was getting closer. By simplifying to a simple sound zone, we could create this light switch moment and remove a big part of the learning curve for the audience.
Audience behaviours and interactions
The piece has a lot of potential to create moments of interaction with the audience but everything needs to be designed to make them feel comfortable first. We noticed that people needed to be encouraged through onboarding and lighting design to get close enough to the dancers to hear the monologues in the first place. Especially with audiences who are theatre-goers and used to ‘not be in the way’ of the performers. Similarly, we had originally designed interactive projections that were embracing the audience and the dancer, but this worked better when the light remained on the dancer and always left the audience in the shadow.Tech
The most reliable (and affordable) tracking technology for our needs was HTC Vive Trackers. And we tested a LOT of options. But Vive Trackers could give us incredible reactivity and precision at a fraction of the cost compared to other mocap systems. And we could easily attach the tracker on top of the headphones, reducing any risks of occlusion between audience members.
Photos credits: Ella Judge Photography
Later in 2022, we started the real development and production of the piece. Involving other collaborators, such as Christina Karpodini (Music composition). Leading to a first preview in January 2023 at Maison de la Danse in Lyon. More in future articles!
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Curious about where the project is at now?
Join us on the 12th of August 2024 for Camden Fringe at Theatre Technis in London!