Dance Mapping - Arts Council England

Creative uses
Working in the virtual environment is the choice of only a few dance artists, but for those who
are involved, it enables them to internationalise their work and create new relationships. It
takes the debate about the work into an international context through online debates and the
curation of work. This draws attention to the interdisciplinary and durational nature of much
digital work, which can be developed over long periods of time, in multiple locations and
though periods of intensive collaboration.
The downside of this cyber-world is that access to live events such as film screenings, are
limited as organisations want premieres. The making of work does not sit comfortably with
traditional choreographic models. The issues of content, control and copyright are a
challenge, as are the costs of equipment and the need for support for the making process.
The outcomes of digital processes do not fit easily into the touring model, as the results are
often interactive, durational installations rather than ‘pieces’, which often need to be shown
over an extended period of time in a space with very specific technical requirements.
Consequently it is often difficult to find either performing arts or gallery spaces with the
technical or scheduling capacity to present this kind of work
Web and DVD-based resources can support longer-term relationships between companies’
education programmes and schools. Random Dance is developing its web-presence as a
multi-faceted resource for anyone seeking to engage with aspects of the company’s work.
The company highlights the importance of digitised resources as a way of sustaining
relationships with schools engaged in Random education programmes.
The Wayne McGregor and Random Dance 79 website shows high-quality excerpts from a
number of works by the choreographer. The design of the site gives a very strong feel about
the company’s commitment to working with technology.
Wayne McGregor | Random Dance
Founded in 1992, Random Dance became the instrument upon which McGregor evolved his
drastically fast and articulate choreographic style. The company became a byword for its
radical approach to new technology – incorporating animation, digital film, 3D-architecture,
electronic sound and virtual dancers into the live choreography. In Nemesis (2002), dancers
duelled with prosthetic steel arm extensions to a soundtrack incorporating mobile phone
conversations; in AtaXia (2004), McGregor's fellowship with the experimental psychology
department of Cambridge University fuelled the choreography; in Amu (2005), live heart
surgery fed in to the creative process; and in Entity (2008), choreographic agents are
imagined to a soundscape created by Coldplay collaborator Jon Hopkins and Joby Talbot
(Chroma).
Wayne McGregor | Random Dance is the resident company of Sadler's Wells, London.
www.randomdance.org
79 www.randomdance.org
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