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Transcript of DANCE 463 - Features
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IJAD Dance Company aims to integrate dance with
technology, from incorporating user-generated content
into their choreography to live streaming performances.
Frances Leak asks Artistic Director and choreographer,
Joumana Mourad, about the inspiration behind the
company and their future plans.
Who are IJAD Dance Company?
We are a fluid collective of people who collaborate to
take the latest technology and find ways of integrating it
into performance work. The word IJAD is Sufi and means
‘meant to be’ which is how we feel about the inevitability of
technology integrating with art, so if people find what we’re
doing odd – our latest project asks the audience to turn their
mobile phones on and tweet throughout the show – we just
say, ‘it’s meant to be’.
We’re primarily Contemporary dancers but we use a
wide range of dance styles in our work and get inspiration
from user-generated content as much as possible. The
core members are myself, with a Contemporary dance
background and strongly influenced by the work of Raqs
Sharqui, Neoclassical and Physical Theatre, a part-time
general manager, and the trustees. The In-Finite dancers are
Robert Shaun Mennear, Morgan Cloud, Viola Vicini, Alice
Gaspari, Helena Casari, Naomi Tadvossian, Emily Spiggs and
Sally Marie.
How and when did the company form?
I started the company in 1999 for a variety of reasons: I
wanted to use technology to achieve complete synthesis of
the real, virtual, visual and the physical and create a fully
The In-Finite Possibilities of Digital DanceHow one dance company is making the most of technology to create and share its work
DANCE FEATURES
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immersive experience and make contemporary dance more
accessible for all. The actual dance is just part of what we do;
how we communicate through film, design and visual media
is equally important. I felt it was important to set up the
company because of the lack of female choreographers in a
female-dominated profession. I feel that we still have a way to
go in creating gender equality in dance as well as role identity.
I’m also of Lebanese heritage and while the company
is not politically or religiously affiliated, I was keen to
represent the Middle Eastern people. This is because, at the
time, there were very few artists creating work in this area
on the international Contemporary dance scene and I felt
it important that the region has a voice – not only to be
representative, but because, even today, the only images the
West sees of the area are of violence and conflict, which is
only part of the story. We are culturally vibrant and creative,
intelligent and peaceful people. By creating high quality
work which is appreciated because of its artistic merit, I hope
to help the movement of artists who are practicing now to
change opinions.
What is ‘In-Finite’ all about?
In terms of the content, In-Finite is about secrets – not just
about revealing them, but exploring how they feel and what
effect keeping them has on your body. We wanted to create
something which was political, social and cultural. The
performance is interactive and site specific, which begins
inside a multi-layered building, where the performance
moves from one space to another, taking the audience
through a collage of sensorial journeys swarming with rich
experiences.
In-Finite is also a global conversation and experience
embedded in digital reality which we achieve by filming
on six cameras, broadcasting online and holding public
screenings in other countries. Then we ask the audience to
use social media to share their thoughts and interpretations
as they watch the performance.
The name In-Finite was chosen for the two clear meanings
each separate word has and also because it has infinite
“We ask the audience to use social media to share their thoughts and interpretations as they watch the performance”
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possibilities in terms of where it can be
explored with regard to location and where
it can be broadcast to. As well as the ‘outside’,
the infinite refers to the inside of the self
– the place we keep those things untold,
tucked away.
What inspired you to incorporate social
media in your show?
It’s already being used by the whole world!
If art is a reflection of life, then of course it
should be a part of it. I like the way social
media is making the world more democratic.
This is why I base my performances on
content from the public and ask people
to express what they think through social
media. I want to create a conversation which
happens around the world, simultaneously,
about meaningful issues. This way, we can
create art which resonates with everyone.
If you watch the rise of social networks you
start to see a ‘digital self’ being created. For
some, this is a conscious step, but not for
all, yet it still happens. Social media is a step
which helps to combine two realities.
How did you come up with the idea of
performing ‘secrets’ that were donated
online?
As with most of our work, we chose a theme
that was universal. Everyone has a secret and
it feels a certain way when you think about it.
Different secrets twinge or tingle at different
parts of your body. When you express them
– even if it is on a piece of paper you tear up –
you feel different. They are very, very private,
yet they interact with the outside world in
a very interesting way on the body, mind
and spirit. It was this internal/external flux,
which I found intriguing. It has been very
interesting working with social media, which
“I base my performances on content from the public and ask people to express what they think through social media”
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is all about sharing and promoting yourself – the opposite of
a secret if you like. It has been difficult at times getting people
to share. Some people will only do so if they have no contact
with you whatsoever, others will only share face-to-face.
I felt it was important to gather secrets online because
technology enhances everyone’s ability to participate.
How many secrets did you receive via Twitter and what
has the response to the project been like?
You say ‘secrets’ and people are intrigued and want to see
what the scandal is. You then ask people to explore the secret
inside them, even without sharing, and most people clam
up. For those who have had the bravery to share a secret,
anonymously or not, many have found unexpected results.
We’ve had about 160 secrets online in text format, but quite a
few more expressed through video and photograph.
Can a streamed performance be as powerful as a live
performance?
I think the importance here is not to try to recreate a live
experience. It will always be different. What we are trying to
achieve is a meaningful, powerful communication within
the digital realm. One of IJAD’s long-term initiatives is called
Sensography. In my mind a dancer and a performer are two
separate things. The former is about technical and artistic
merit; the latter is about interaction with an audience,
which I don’t think too many training academies focus on.
Sensography is the ability not just to form a connection with
the live audience, but to have a relationship with a viewer
through a camera, something not too many people have
trained in or even think about. We want to open up access
online to everyone, and hopefully those people will also come
and see it live for a different experience.
Do you think the arts are doing enough to capture the
creative possibilities of social media and technology?
On a creative level it suddenly opens the doors to amazing
collaborative opportunities. Artists no longer have to be in
the same country. Just think of the cross-cultural possibilities.
It is an amazing way to work together across nations and
cultures and to access and listen to stories of people who
are not represented and vocalise them through art. It is very
exciting and we want the fever to spread across the art world
for a new era of experimentation.
What other forms of technology have you used in
previous performances/projects or would you like to
use in the future?
We’re currently using Google Maps, leaving trails of art in
significant places and we’re actually holding a workshop at
the Artaud Forum 2013 on how social media can be used
in political protest as part of performance art. We’ve used
lots of film and sound interaction as well as tracking control
systems. We are keen to look at children and technology
as there are starting to be cameras and tablets designed
specifically for children. I’m interested in looking at how
happy we are for children to start interacting with technology,
and what their creative output is. It will also be interesting to
see what happens socially when we introduce these children
to performance online and to other children from around the
world in this way.
If you only had one Tweet to define yourself, what
would it say?
Curious, creative, communicator, excited to create interactive
physical and virtual performative worlds where audiences can
enter freely #worldinspiration!
“We want to open up access online to everyone, and hopefully those people will also come and see live performance for a different experience”
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As a hugely vibrant and diverse medium, dance lends
itself easily to the world of technology and social
media. Perhaps most importantly, it’s something
that everyone can take part in, watch and appreciate whatever
their age, location or background.
Emilia Spitz and Linda Uruchurtu, joint founders of website
The Ballet Bag and creative studio Lume Labs, have been
named among the ‘100 Best Arts Tweeters’ by The Times. They
told us, “Dance is an amazing medium, not only because of
the rich pool of content out there, but also for its potential for
true audience engagement. Most of the work we’ve been doing
in arts consultancy has been targeted at dance organisations
and dance individuals to help them connect with audiences
through social media, and we’re always amazed at the
synergies between dance and creative technology.”
There are many examples of how dance companies and
individual dancers and choreographers have embraced online
outlets such as Twitter, blogging and YouTube, from Sergei
Polunin’s tweets last year about his sudden exit from The
Royal Ballet, to Diablo Ballet’s mission to create a Ballet via
social media with The Web Ballet (more recently christened
Flight of the Dodo). Diablo Ballet has also adopted the growing
enthusiasm among US performance venues for ‘tweet seats’
by introducing live tweet nights at performances.
The Providence Performing Arts Center says the goal of
its tweet seats is to “engage theatergoers on social media, and
build extra excitement for shows,” while the Guthrie Theater
in Minneapolis aims to encourage deeper interaction with
their performances. A flurry of social media activity can also
help with ticket sales, as Andrew Goldberg from the Adrienne
Arsht Center says, “If you get a Tweet from a friend, ‘You’ve
got to check this out!’ you’re more likely to go check it out
than if we tell you.”1
The trend may be catching on in the UK with Norwich
venue, The Garage, announcing in February this year that it
has designated a section in its gallery for tweeters. However,
just 10% of participants in an online poll by The Guardian in
March 2012 indicated an acceptance of live tweeting at the
theatre.2 With the urge to instantly share experiences with the
wider world just too urgent for some to wait until the interval,
perhaps tweet seats are inevitable and do, at least, help to
minimize disturbance to other theater-goers by herding the
tweeters together. Although it doesn’t intend to introduce an
area for live tweeting, Boston’s Huffington Theater is planning
to introduce a ‘Twittermission’ where the performers and
production team conduct a Q&A during the interval and the
responses are projected onto screens in the lobby.
As a visual medium, dance is particularly suited to
YouTube and other video sharing sites, as well as Pinterest
where a quick search for ‘dance’ brings up an amazing array
of images. More than 250m photos are uploaded to Facebook
every day and over 829,000 videos are uploaded daily to
YouTube.3 As a specialist dance channel, DSI-London.TV allows
online viewers to see exclusive videos of Ballroom and Latin
events with interviews and profiles of leading lights in the
world of Dancesport. In March last year, the Royal Opera
House in London first streamed Royal Ballet Live, offering
a live fly-on-the-wall view of a full working day with their
dancers. It was shown on their YouTube channel and The
Guardian website and garnered 200,000 views.
A behind-the-scenes aspect can be a key element of a
company’s social media profile, allowing them to increase
the range of information they push out online. Rather than
a straight sales offering when tickets for a show go on sale,
Top: Diablo Ballet choreographer Robert Dekkers and dancer Hiromi
Yamazki creating The Web Ballet
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The Social Media DanceHow the dance world is developing digitally
issue no. 463 35
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anticipation builds through interviews with
principals in rehearsal, the latest photos of
costumes, and the public are able to gain
previously unheard of access to the key
players. Citing backstage tweets by New York
City Ballet’s Ashley Bouder in the New York
Times, Gia Kourlas argues that Twitter is
“starting to change the public face of ballet (…)
making ballet dancers human.”4
Tapping effectively into social media can
also bring dancers to a massive potential
audience, many of whom they would not be
able to reach through traditional methods.
San Francisco Ballet’s principal dancer,
Maria Kochetkova has more than 187,000
followers on Twitter and the company
estimates that 11% of their website traffic
comes via the 300,000 people who follow
them on social platforms.
Marrying dance and technology even
further are DanceDigital, a UK-based
company that seeks to “catalyse the
development of new choreographies in
digital environments” and offers support
to artists and technologists to create
and develop new performance work, and
Movement Media, a New York-based agency
that helps dance artists integrate digital
technology and create works for the screen.
Although resources need to be effectively
allocated to the use and expansion of social
media, outlets like Twitter and Facebook are
free and there are many sharing and tracking
tools that can help you make the most out
of your online activities. However, a recent
survey from the Pew Internet and American
Life Project recognised the all-important
need for arts organisations to allocate
resources to digital strategies, stating that,
“Organizations will continue to need to adapt
and incorporate digital technologies into
their programming.”5
This underlines the increasing tendency
for dance companies to do much more with
social media than just post news about ticket
offers or add a video preview to YouTube. A
growing desire to creatively merge digital
with dance has already revealed huge
possibilities and, with so many companies
jumping on board, it will be interesting to see
what the future holds.
Sarah Clarke
1. ‘“Tweet Seats” in Theaters Spark Battle Between
Technology and Tradition’ by Christine Dimattei,
WLRN.org, 1st March 2013.
2. ‘Would you welcome ‘tweet seats’ in theatres?’ The
Guardian, 6th March 2012.
3. 48 Significant Social Media Facts, Figures and
Statistics, www.jeffbullas.com
4. ’Ballet Stars Now Tweet as Well as Flutter‘ by Gia
Kourlas, New York Times, 29th March 2010.
5. ‘5 Things the Dance Field Should Be Talking About’ by
Marc Kirschner, Huffington Post, 10th January 2013.
“Organisations will continue to need to adapt and incorporate digital technologies into their programming”
TWITTER TIP‘MT’ at the start of a tweet does
not mean that someone has tried
to type ‘RT’ too quickly! It means
‘modified tweet’ and can be used
if you want to tweak something
in the tweet – perhaps you want
to add another hashtag or use a
link that you’ve created to track
click-throughs. It can be a good way
to share a tweet that lets you add a
little something of your own while
still acknowledging the original
authorship.
Don’t forget to follow us
on Twitter!
@ISTDdance
Left: The Twitter profile for dancer
Maria Kochetkova
36 issue no. 463
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The Euro Dance Festival – Germany
From 14th to 17th February, the Euro Dance
Festival took place at the Europa-Park
near Freiburg in Germany. Over four days,
the world’s best dancers ran numerous
workshops and courses in a range of styles
including Latin, Discofox, Salsa, West Coast
Swing, Tango Argentino, Lindy Hop, Hip Hop
and Breakdance.
Matthias Blattmann, Festival Director
says: “One of the main goals of the festival
is to allow dancers from all skill levels, styles
and ages to mix and share their passion for
dancing as well as their knowledge. After all,
dance is a universal language and we believe
it should be shared as freely as possible.”
Well-known trainers attending the festival
included Marcus Hilton, who holds 16
Ballroom World Championship titles, Arunas
Bizokas and Katusha Demidova, reigning
Ballroom World Champions, Franco Formica,
who holds three Latin World Championship
titles, Eider and Luisa from the world-
renowned BNF, Gonzalo Alonso and Mariel
Robles for Tango Argentino, and Jordan
Frisbee and Tatiana Mollmann, the manifold
US Open Champions and reigning Classic
Division Champions, amongst other leading
professionals in each dance genre.
In January 2014, as an ‘offspring’ festival,
International Dance FestivalsFrom youth dance in the UK to Street Dance in France – how dance is feted all over the world
Registration is open until 30th April for the
international celebration of dance that is Dance
Proms 2013 and, with Danza in Fiera in Florence
and MOVE IT in London taking place as we go to press, we
thought we would take a look at other international dance
festivals across a number of different dance genres.
“Dance is a universal language and we believe it should be shared as freely as possible”
Top: Kizombia workshop with
Cyméone Mopoa
Top right: Latin performance by
Franco Formica & Olga Müller-
Omeltcheito
Far right: After-show party –
Breakdance
Above: Latin workshop with Jürgen
Schlegel
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the ‘Ladies Only Festival’ will also offer three
days of fitness, dance, health, beauty and
well-being exclusively for women.
www.euro-dance-festival.de
Juste Debout – France
In France, the biggest celebration of Street
Dance takes place at Palais Omnisports de
Paris on 10th March. Juste Debout is an
international collaboration of Street dancers,
gathering more than 3,000 dancers selected
after a three-month international tour, who
then compete in seven different styles of
Street Dance: Breakdance, Locking, Popping,
Hip Hop New Style, House, Experimental
and Top Rock. The event itself was founded
by Bruce Ykanji, with the first competition
taking place in 2002, at which 330
participants took part. Today it is the largest
Street Dance event in the world.
Every year Juste Debout opens with a
spectacular show of various Street Dance
styles and this year the opening number
mixed light and dance. When not watching
the competitors battle, spectators are able to
dance alongside the biggest names in Street
Dance in one of Bercy’s largest studios. Juste
Debout’s jury includes Bruce Blanchard from
Belgium (Hip Hop), Hit Master Fish from the
USA (Popping), Mamson from France (House)
and Locking Woong from Korea (Locking).
The UK competitors who made it through to
this year’s final are: Badness Crew (Locking),
Young Soul (Hip Hop), Holistic & Shawn
(Popping), Mogwai & Neo (House) and Ed
Spoons (Top Rock).
www.juste-debout.com/fr_FR
Flamenco Festival London – UK
The Flamenco Festival London celebrates its
10th anniversary at Sadler’s Wells in March
this year. Proclaimed by The Daily Express as
“an eagerly anticipated annual fixture,” the
festival includes performances of Flamenco
in both its traditional and contemporary
forms and attracts a wide variety of
audiences, from Flamenco enthusiasts to
those who are new to the genre.
All top three photos are competitors
at Juste Debout
Middle: Ballet Flamenco Andalucia
Above: Ballet Flamenco, Traje Negro,
performed by Eva
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This year, eight productions feature in the
main house, including a special gala featuring
Antonio Canales, Carlos Rodríguez, Belén
López and Jesús Carmona. Eva Yerbabuena
performs the world premiere of !Ay! while
Farruquito, who is regarded as one of the
most faithful representatives of flamenco
puro, presents Abolengo with guest artist,
Karime Amaya, the grandniece of renowned
Flamenco master, Carmen Amaya. Rocío
Molina Company performs the magnificent
Danzaora while choreographer, Rocío Molina
collaborates with video artist, Yoav Segal and
two Hip Hop artists, Sébastien Ramirez and
Honji to produce choreography with a blend
of dance styles.
Ballet Flamenco de Andalucía’s Metáfora
is performed by 19 dancers with a contrast
of classical and folk elements of Flamenco,
featuring traditional castanets, fans and bata
de cola dresses. This year also sees the debut
of Tapeos, a series of short performances in
a range of dance styles and music, selected
from entries submitted via YouTube.
www.sadlerswells.com/show/Flamenco-
Festival-London-2013
Jacob’s Pillow – USA
15th June to 25th August sees the return of
America’s longest running dance festival
at Jacob’s Pillow, which includes 350 dance
performances, talks, classes and exhibits.
“‘An eagerly anticipated annual fixture’, the festival includes performances of Flamenco in both its traditional and contemporary forms”
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The 81st year of the festival will include the
world premiere of New York City Ballet star,
Wendy Whelan’s project Restless Creature,
as well as the premieres by Contemporary
Ballet choreographer, Jessica Lang, Tap
artist Michelle Dorrance and a new work
by European master choreographer, Nacho
Duato, performed by the Martha Graham
Dance Company amongst others. The
newly revived Dance Theatre of Harlem will
perform at the festival along with Compagnie
Käfig, whose performance last year was one
of the main highlights of the festival.
“If audiences dive into the range and
variety of Festival 2013, it will be an exciting
and incomparable dance experience,”
states Jacob’s Pillow’s Artistic Director and
Executive, Ella Baff. “The best part about a
festival is the opportunity to explore and see
new artists and dance styles as well as enjoy
beloved classics and favourites. I hope our
visitors will discover new companies such as
Sharon Eyal’s intense and provocative L-E-V
from Israel, and other new productions.
Each festival we strive to bring the best of
international dance, dedicated to presenting
companies and new works that will only be
seen at Jacob’s Pillow.”
A highlight of the festival will be
Compagnie Käfig’s performance at the Ted
Shawn Theatre between 26th and 30th June.
The all-male cast features self-taught Hip Hop
dancers from Brazil, with choreography by
Mourad Merzouki from France. AGWA uses
water as a symbol of precious resource and
their stage design features hundreds of plastic
cups for the dancers to find innovative ways to
dance around them. To close the festival, the
Martha Graham Dance Company will re-stage
Graham’s interpretation of The Rite of Spring,
in honour of its 100th anniversary.
www.jacobspillow.org
ImPulsTanz Festival – Vienna
For Contemporary dancers, there is also
ImPulsTanz festival, founded in 1984, which
has become one of the largest festivals of
Contemporary dance in the world. Over the
course of five weeks, more than 100,000
visitors and 500 renowned international
choreographers, dancers and artists met in
Vienna last year to celebrate Contemporary
dance at ImpulsTanz 2012. This year is the
30th year of the festival, taking place from
11th July to 11th August.
Programmes include the Choreographic
Platform Austria, which creates a platform to
present work from emerging Austrian artists,
and Prix Jardin d‘Europe, a European dance
prize awarded to emerging choreographers.
Below: Gabrielle Salvatto and
Anthony Savoy of Dance Theatre
Middle left: Ballet BC at Jacob’s
Pillow Festival
Bottom left: Workshops at
ImpulsTanz Festival
Bottom right: Shantala
Shivalingappa at Jacob’s Pillow
Festival
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“Each festival we strive to bring the best of international dance”
40 issue no. 463
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The festival brings newcomers as well as internationally
reputed choreographers and dancers such as Anne Teresa
De Keersmaeker, Akram Khran, Jan Fabre, Ismael Ivo, Marie
Chouinard, Wim Vandekeybus and many more.
www.impulstanz.com
U.Dance – UK
The UK’s National Youth Dance Festival, U.Dance 2013 takes
place from 19th to 21st July in Leeds. U.Dance is run by Youth
Dance England alongside Yorkshire Dance and a range of
other partners for young people aged 11 to 19 and disabled
young people up to the age of 24. Performers will be selected
to show their work at venues such as the West Yorkshire
Playhouse, the Stanley & Audrey Burton Theatre and the
Riley Theatre. Performances vary from group dances to duets
and solos with different length pieces and different styles of
dance and youth dance choreography.
This year there is a new performance strand for longer
and more developed pieces, called ‘New Dimensions’, which
allows dancers to have a more experimental approach to
choreography, with fewer limitations in terms of the number
of dancers and the length of the piece. The piece may include
up to 30 dancers and it may last up to 20 minutes long
(applications are now closed). Youth Dance England is also
looking for new dance films made by or featuring young
people, to be screened at U.Dance 2013. These films must be
less than seven minutes long and must have been filmed in
the past two years.
www.u-dance.org/main.cfm
With such a wide variety of dance festivals taking place
throughout the year in all corners of the world, there really
is no excuse to not attend one this year! Whatever dance
style you prefer, whatever level you are, there’s something for
everyone – even if it’s just as a spectator. If you would like to
take part yourself in an international celebration of dance at
the Royal Albert Hall, then don’t forget to register for Dance
Proms 2013 and submit your entry by 30th April. Please see
the Dance Proms advert on the inisde front cover for full
details. We hope to see you there!
Frances Leak
“‘New Dimensions’ allows dancers to have a more experimental approach to choreography”
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All photos are taken from U.Dance 2012. Photos feature
competitors from a range of different dance genres