The day began with Frieder Weiss’s workshop at Chisenhale Dance Space, looking at the use of sensing and video technology in performance on stage. Frieder’s range of accomplishments echoed through the workshop as participants got to see his custom software and his approach to making work.

A panel discussion kicked off the afternoon, featuring Sarah Rubidge, Andy Lavender and Adrienne Hart. All three approach technology to provide an additional richness or sensual experience to performance and allow for a reflection of the inside of performers or movement. The conversation with the audience formed around topics such as audience perception of work and the use of social networking within performative works.

The last talk of the festival was Sally Jane Norman giving a historical perspective on technology on stage – really tracing where these ideas had come from, looking back to the Greeks and Medieval performance technologies as well as more current interpretations of digital stages. One of her messages of technology as tools for existing performance spaces as well as tools for carving out new performance spaces summed up many of the discussions over the past two days.

The final performance of the festival was another run of Chameleons 5: Brain Holiday. Again Steve performed with intense energy to provide a view into another world, and showing us the inside of his character with digital video tools.

At Queen Mary University London we started the day with Maria X and her philosophical discussion of performance space within a networked context. This exploration was a great way to begin our discussions of the digital stage and layed the theoretical ground upon which were able to view the festival. Following Maria, was Katie Day, representing Theatre Sandbox, who discussed the bringing together of theatre makers and technologists to produce various performative works with pervasive media. The idea pushing Theatre Sandbox was the use of media as a tool to create work, as well as to explore methodologies of working with such tools. The final talk was Alex Haw, whose work with space and interactivity uses themes of networks, surveillance and light to create digital stages and unique sites of performance within architecture and urban spaces.

Throughout the day Mark Coniglio ran a workshop around his software package Isadora. Many of the pieces in the festival actually utilized this technology (including the work by collective(gulp), Kate Sicchio and of course Mark’s collaboration with Anna Abalikhina). Camille Baker also ran a workshop around mobile phone technology and video, encouraging participants to communicate non-verbally through their technology.

And Tuesday also saw two performance works. First was Good Actor by Lightworks at Hoxton Hall. The space was the perfect setting for the exploration of a melodrama, as both have roots in the Victorian era. The piece lets the participants become part of a crowd scene as well as become part of a digital installation. The work blurs boundaries between actors, audience and the creative process. The other performance on Tuesday (and also ran Wednesday) at Queen Mary’s Pinter Studio was Chameleons 5: Brain Holiday devised by Steve Dixon. This surreal work incorporated acting both live and on screen to bring the audience on a journey or rather ‘Pyscho Steve’s’ holiday.

Again the day really highlighted the various disciplines this festival investigates and all the events showed the range of technology within performance contexts.

On Saturday was a double bill of collective (gulp) and Kate Sicchio (myself) at the Pinter Studio at Queen Mary University. While the two pieces used the same software (Isadora) to execute the work, the pieces really contrasted each other to provide a great night of dance. First was my work which used real-time video to create abstract imagery on moveable screens. A special thank you to Naomi Allen for performing the piece along side me. collective (gulp), which is comprised of Elizabth MacKinnon and Alexis Andrew, provided a light-hearted look at randomness, likelihood and probability. The audience described the work as “stand-up comedy dance” and one even compared it to Charlie Chaplin.

Saturday and Sunday at Stratford Circus was a performance event led by Mark Coniglio. Due to various travel issues, Assymtrique Answer who was suppose to be joining Troika Ranch and the dancer from Troika Ranch, were unable to perform. But instead there was a very exciting presentation by Mark and Anna (choreographer from Assymtrique Answer). They created a beautiful improvisation which included Anna’s articulation of her body to create exciting dynamic gestures, along side real-time video projections which were manipulated by Mark. The piece was lovely to watch and as an improvisation was starting to create compositional decisions about focus and attention as well as aesthetic of both performer and video art.

This performance was followed by Mark presenting a discussion on previous work of Troika Ranch and the digital performance community, with a presentation of two conceptual processes that occur, particularly in dance-tech work. The idea of the technology “mirroring” the dancer or the technology “intervening” with the choreographic (and overall compositional) process. The intervention effects the dance, the sound, the video but also the way the dancers and collaborators approach the work. With the talking about looping and the process in which the dancers went through to learn this choreography, many dancers in the audience commented afterwards about how difficult this movement would be to learn and keep within the body. This again demonstrates how the loop intervenes rather than mirrors the dancers.

The evening at Stratford Circus ended with a video presentation of Loop Diver Study 1, which demonstrated the technological intervention of creating computer loops within a live dance performance. This piece performed by JJ Kovacevich shows the violent beauty of repetition and being trapped by habit.

The work by the emerging artists was on display and saw lovely digital processing within artwork. A special thank you to Mohammad, Eugenia and Kira for installing their work. The evening continued with a performance owing itself to Foucaultian views on technology and the body with work by Florencia and Maria Guerberof with accompaniment by Adam Bohman.

It was a great event to start the week and a chance for all involved to meet and being the exploration of performing arts and technology that the week ahead will provide.

This piece is based on a looping process that has also been used for an evening length performance. Looping movement and extending or shortening these loops finds interesting dynamics and energies within movement.

You can see more about their process of looping here: http://www.netnebraska.org/extras/loopdiver/

And of course you can see the solo study at Stratford Circus on Saturday April 23rd - http://digitalstagesfestival.co.uk/troika-ranch/

My name is Kate Sicchio and I will be blogging throughout the Digital Stages Festival April 22-27, 2011. I am also one of the curators of the festival and an artist performing work on April 23rd. I am very excited for the events this year – some highlight for me include the panel discussion, Wed 27 Apr 1pm, at Queen Mary University of London and the many workshops including Frieder Weiss, Mark Coniglio and Camille Baker. And of course, all the performances!

Right now I am preparing my own work Naya Mara which has being evolving and growing. For Digital Stages I have expanded the piece from a solo to a duet and I am using moveable set pieces for the first time. Looking forward to premiering the piece in its new form.

So until soon…