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Social Movements: A Case Study in Dramaturgically-Driven Sound Design for Contemporary Dance Performance to Mediate Human-Human Interaction

We present the iterative design and final implementation of a real-time full-body control system of the sound score by performers in an immersive contemporary dance performance. Digital musical instruments for dance require different considerations than for music, particularly in contemporary, non-proscenium and participatory audience contexts. Arising from dramaturgical research around social movement and civic participation in the digital age, this case study presents a fusion of design choices that consider artistic themes, performer interaction and audience experience. Three generations of sound and technical design are presented, with intermittent performances, challenges and learnings at each stage. We believe that the collaborative evolution of compositional choices, computer vision techniques, sound mapping, performer interaction and staging reveals important insights into developing interaction systems for kinesthetic empathy. Rather than placing the focus on human-computer interaction, our final production employed technology as a bridge to encourage human-human interaction around themes of occupation, resistance and resilience.