Mme Pina's - a Dance Archive in VR & XR / 2022

Documentation of dance in 3D and VR as well as in virtual space

Documentation of dance in 3D and VR as well as in virtual space
We are always facing a documentation problem in dance, as dance cannot be fully captured by any medium: Video only has 2D, notation can never capture all aspects of a movement, and since it is never just about movement (how do I move? / technique) but also about the representation of a physical and emotional state (what moves me? / art / interpretation), we use mnemonic devices such as images, rhythmic speech, descriptions and emotions to take this representational and poetic aspect into account.
The 3D recording of dance and its exhibition in a dance archive in a virtual space would make it possible to document dance or movement material in 3D on the one hand and, on the other hand, to enrich the 3D material with all other memory mediums (notations, descriptions, notes, elements of inspiration...), which make tangible the artistic dimension of what is being danced – usually more difficult to grasp.

Virtual spaces enable this combination of different media: text, photos, audio files and videos in addition to 3D models. Since this includes visual, written as well as audio material, we would like to think about and consider inclusivity and accessibility from the very beginning in the conception of such an archive.
It would also be a wonderful opportunity to preserve dance, which is always intimately bound to a dancer's personality and lives from their plasticity and individual, unique body, for posterity beyond the death of a dancer. Like a moving virtual 'Madame Tussaud's' for dancers and choreographers.

Aims:
- Development of a methodology for dance documentation with all the technical means available today. Accessibility should be aimed for and taken into account from the outset.
- Creation of a prototype tool that enables this type of documentation in a dance archive in virtual space.
- The virtual space full of self-explanatory dancers should become a poetic world of experience.
- Long-term goal: open dance archive in virtual space, as a database that can be accessed globally and that promotes education and exchange, with a social media character. To this end, during the project we will network with dance archives and cultural practitioners who have already experimented with dance in virtual space.

• In cooperation with XR HUB Bavaria as part of the Project XR Stage - Leonardo Center Nürnberg
• Supported by the NATIONAL PERFORMANCE NETWORK - STEPPING OUT, funded by the Minister of State for Culture and Media within the framework of the initiative NEUSTART KULTUR. Assistance Program for Dance.