Todd Winkler, music, video and programming
Gerry Girouard, choreography and dance
Jennifer Holt, dance
Stephen Rueff, lighting design
Gerry Girouard, choreography and dance
Jennifer Holt, dance
Stephen Rueff, lighting design
Commissioned by the American Composers Forum
Songs for the Body Electric is an evening-length work for two dancers and video projections in which music is created in direct response to physical movement and changes in light. Two on-stage video cameras report changes to the Very Nervous System (VNS), a device created by David Rokeby, which sends analysis information of the video images to a computer. This technology transforms dancers into musicians, with spatial location and speed used to generate and process sound. Lighting changes and projected video are also made musical by the same system, with sudden changes triggering dramatic sonic effects.
Gerry Girouard’s acrobatic performances feature dancing on the floor, walls and ceiling, creating ambiguous perspectives with a specially designed box, suspended beams and other structures. These movements acts as the perfect input to Winkler’s software, with vertical and horizontal spaces influencing computer responses. The highly collaborative working process challenges the choreographer to discover movements that translate successfully into sound and requires the composer to work within the limitations of the system to capture the mood and physicality of the dance.
DESCRIPTION OF EXCERPTS
Evolution
A counterpoint of image, sound, and light. The space is divided into two areas, high and low. In the lower half, the dancers control the timbre of a low, rumbling sound, with a filter opening and closing according to their speed. In the space above, an ethereal processed video clip is projected (it is based on a previous section). The projection triggers longer, pitched sounds that are then processed by the dancers’ movements.
A counterpoint of image, sound, and light. The space is divided into two areas, high and low. In the lower half, the dancers control the timbre of a low, rumbling sound, with a filter opening and closing according to their speed. In the space above, an ethereal processed video clip is projected (it is based on a previous section). The projection triggers longer, pitched sounds that are then processed by the dancers’ movements.
Escher’s Dream
This begins with the imagined sounds of muscles and tendons under tension, with accompanying “ghost” voices chatting away. Girouard uses gravity defying movements to create optical illusions as to perspective and direction. Towards the end of the solo, the live performer is suddenly replaced by a “ghost” dancer, a video projection that is played back into the box, imitating the previous dance. The projected video creates the resulting sound.
This begins with the imagined sounds of muscles and tendons under tension, with accompanying “ghost” voices chatting away. Girouard uses gravity defying movements to create optical illusions as to perspective and direction. Towards the end of the solo, the live performer is suddenly replaced by a “ghost” dancer, a video projection that is played back into the box, imitating the previous dance. The projected video creates the resulting sound.
The Raft
The Raft has three simultaneous visual perspectives: the dancers walking on a wooden balance-beam structure; a live black and white projection of them shown on the back wall, shot from above their head; and huge shadows encased in orange light. There is a continuous, low musical accompaniment, with additional sounds triggered by the video projection and shadows of the dancers on the walls.
The Raft has three simultaneous visual perspectives: the dancers walking on a wooden balance-beam structure; a live black and white projection of them shown on the back wall, shot from above their head; and huge shadows encased in orange light. There is a continuous, low musical accompaniment, with additional sounds triggered by the video projection and shadows of the dancers on the walls.
Gazelles
In the opening of the work, the dancers’ use overall speed to influence filters and other sound processing, giving the timbre a sense of movement. The running average of overall speed and activity is also used to continuously alter frequency
