"Contradiction pushes me to improvise": Performer Expressivity and Engagement in Distanced Movement Performance Paradigms

Abstract

The virtualization of traditionally in-person experiences has altered the workflows of performing arts communities, resulting in modifications to performance venues and alterations to expressiveness and interaction. 25 professional movement-based performers who have participated in both live and online performances were interviewed in order to determine how virtualization processes affected their practices and how they adapted to these changes. We discovered that performers viewed online performances as time-limited, non-interactive film recordings. Instead of avoiding distant venues, performers adapted to new limitations, inventing improvisation strategies in distracting environments and using time and technological constraints as creative constraints. To investigate how a distanced paradigm affects the live-action workflow of dancers, we staged a performance in which a dancer interacted with a robot in a remote location. The case study demonstrated that the performer modified her rehearsal techniques to work with remote technology and adapted to live interaction with a remote audience by visualizing unseen interactions. This study provides guidance for the design of interactive technology for virtual performances, taking into account the adaptation strategies that performers are currently employing to circumvent limitations of time, location, and absence.