Blog

Becoming Hybrid

Becoming Hybrid

Posted on by admin

Over 92% of UK adults own a smartphone, and around 171 million people worldwide are using VR, with this appetite for new tech growing exponentially. Performing Arts is an early-adopting sector, due to the seemingly infinite creative possibilities offered by embracing and combining new technologies.

At this exciting time in performing arts, when emerging technologies are offering new ways to share ideas and really involve audiences, we invite you (artists,  producers, technologists, curators, academics) to join us in discussion and experimentation at this fast-growing intersection.

What is hybrid performance?

‘Hybrid’ is generally used to describe a performance experienced by both live and remote audiences, but at IJAD we see it more as the potential to interweave a variety of innovative digital options within the creative process. 

This offers a huge evolution of the ways narratives and artistic ideas can be developed and shared, leading to new forms and areas of experimentation: audience interaction in VR or by phone app, motion-capture, infrared tracking, with visuals and sound activated by movement, and more. 

Work with hybridity embedded into it from the outset considers the multitude of possible audience experiences: people using different devices, in different types of location, the level of WiFi connectivity, and the fact that people may be dipping in and out of the performance, behaving in ways unlike traditional theatre viewing.

Audience co-creation

The hybrid artist’s journey with audiences can start with co-creation, where artists employ various methods to engage audiences in creative, artistic activities, such as creative games, feedback, and giving artistic prompts. These lead to rich communication and unpredicted artistic outcomes, while offering audiences a creative opportunity. Online co-creation sessions between artist and audiences can inform a work’s trajectory at the R&D stage and also live, during performances.

In hybrid performance, audiences may be able to interact with performers, and with one another; in VR, either remotely or while in the physical audience; via phone apps, locally, nationally and globally; and affect outcomes and narratives, co-creating work as it happens. 

For example, in our latest festival of hybrid performing arts, OOTFest22, Pierre Engelhard’s Synchronicity used social media to request audience movement ideas. These recorded movements were then replicated by dancers in a live performance, in which the choreographies each generated a unique soundscape via the dancers’ body-worn motion-sensors in conjunction with generative music software. 

What are the benefits for audiences?

Hybrid performances offer something new and challenging, but it can be difficult for artists to connect with audiences while the use of creative technologies in performance remains outside the mainstream. If we want to bring our audiences along with us on the creative journey, we must consider what the benefits of hybrid performance are for them.

Democratisation of the arts

Co-creation using technologies can take many forms. This democratisation within the arts invites audiences to be actively engaged in choice-making, meaning ‘the artist’ is no longer sole creator of the work.

Remote connectedness

Hybridity can give audiences multiple ways to engage in the same performance. OOTFest22 saw Unwired Dance Theatre’s DISCORDANCE offer a choice of levels of immersion and participation, so remote and physically present audiences could either co-exist with the artists in the virtual environment, interacting there with live dancers in London and a dancer in New York, be virtually present in the VR space without interacting, or be physically in the audience, yet experiencing the results of other audience members’ interactions in VR.

Even audiences watching a hybrid performance live in a venue in the traditional way gain a sense of connection with the global others who may be virtually present in their various remote environments. At OOTFest22, the audience at London’s Rich Mix were in a sense remotely connected to the live audiences watching the livestream collectively at the Atelier de Melusine Gallery in France, and other remote viewers worldwide watching from home.

Becoming Post-Human?

Tech hybridity is already an accepted part of our daily life. We can pop into a VR playspace for a one hour game and go back to work, or put a headset on to experience a dance class, an immersive film, or have a meeting with colleagues across the globe. 

Is recording your thoughts and ideas on a tablet or a smartphone a hybrid act? Using an electronic hearing aid? A self-drive car? AI? It can be said that interactions between human and tech are merging us into post-human, hybrid beings.

By working with hybrid performing arts, we’re adding to this fascinating evolution, rethinking and re-imagining how technology can improve lives, in terms of health and access as well as entertainment. There are many people with difficulties of access due to physical, geographical, emotional or financial reasons, or caring responsibilities, who may not be able to attend physical performances and for whom hybrid work can open up creative and engagement possibilities.

Who knows, these hybrid explorations might help us push forward to new concepts of reality, new dimensions and understandings of time, space and matter! 

We invite you to join our journey into hybridity where access is open, lines are blurred between artist and audience, and we can be a global, mutually supporting network. 

Sign up to our newsletter and join the discussion, to evolve the performing arts via our upcoming Ideation Day, (Date TBC) round table and panel discussions, or joining our hands-on tech artist residency, or . . . . we are open to your suggestions. Let’s talk!

Let’s Talk!

We’re excited about where the combined possibilities can lead, and want to open up the conversation by sharing our ideas and experiences, and hearing about yours. 

Through our Open Online Theatre (OOT) artist residencies and Connective Matrix discussion forum, we’re exploring what hybridity offers in terms of creation, imagination and collaboration, and of course ways to keep the human aspect relevant.

Stats from:  Annual Survey on Consumer Attitudes Towards Technology

and             https://www.insiderintelligence.com/content/us-virtual-augmented-reality-users-2021

Poster:Lionel Avignon

Photograher: Michelle Rose

Dancers: Nadine Elise, Phoebe Higgins, Gabby Sanders, Ed Elford.

Reflecting on the TEDinArabic conference in Qatar

Reflecting on the TEDinArabic conference in Qatar

Posted on by admin

Recently, I was invited to attend the first ever TEDinArabic in Doha, Qatar, and deliver a talk and workshop on creative technology, hybrid performance and sensography. It was a fascinating experience and I was able to meet so many interesting people from all kinds of backgrounds.

As a participant and an audience member, I realised that providing a space for individuals to express their stories is crucial for a healthy democracy and for promoting artistic expression. 

We witnessed female scientists, a Palestinian graffiti artist who believes in peace, physicist poets, a dance company working in hybrid, architects with a strong cause to save and support important buildings. I am still thinking about the world that I witnessed and took part in.

I will talk about two out of many sessions that left a trace on me.

First, a session led by a physicist and poet Mahdi Mansour who asked: why can’t we put equal emphasis on physics and poetry in our educational system? Why choose expression over facts? Don’t we need to understand how to express a logical thought?

Both involve the exploration of the world around us, and both require creativity and imagination.

In poetry, language is used to convey emotions, experiences, and ideas in a way that is often abstract and metaphorical. This can be a powerful tool for exploring complex ideas and expressing things that may be difficult to put into words.

In physics, scientists use mathematical models and experiments to understand the physical world and how it works. This involves a lot of creativity and imagination, as scientists must come up with new ideas and theories to explain phenomena that may not be immediately obvious.

When poetry and physics are combined, they can offer a unique and fascinating perspective on the world around us. Poets can use scientific concepts to explore deeper themes and ideas, while physicists can use poetry to communicate their discoveries in a more accessible and engaging way.

When people are able to share their stories, they are able to connect with others and build a sense of community. This can lead to greater understanding, empathy, and respect for different perspectives and experiences.

Artistic expression can also play a key role in this process. Art has the power to convey emotions and experiences in a way that can be more powerful than words alone. It can bring people together and create a shared experience that transcends language, culture, and other barriers.

In addition to promoting individual expression, offering a platform for personal stories and artistic expression can also help to highlight important social and political issues. When people are able to share their stories and experiences, it can bring attention to issues that may have been overlooked or ignored in the past.

The second session that left a mark on me was about architects who become cause holders, Mona Al Hallak.

When an architect becomes a cause driver for a historical building that symbolises war, they are taking on an important role as a steward of history and cultural heritage. Historical buildings are more than just physical structures: they are living symbols of the people, events, and values that shaped our world.

Archives found

By preserving and restoring historical buildings, architects can help to keep the memories of the past alive and ensure that future generations have the opportunity to learn from and appreciate the achievements and sacrifices of those who came before them.

When an architect approaches the restoration of a historical building as if it were a living being, they are acknowledging the history and significance of the building and treating it with the care and respect it deserves. This can involve extensive research into the building’s history, careful analysis of its structural integrity, and the use of materials and techniques that are appropriate for its age and style.

The design of the building, is it put to a good use?

By treating these buildings as living beings, they can help to ensure that they remain a vital and meaningful part of our shared history for generations to come.

Both of these sessions will leave me thinking about the stories raised for a long time to come.

Performing Arts and the Pandemic: Delivering the Open Online Theatre Festival during COVID-19

Performing Arts and the Pandemic: Delivering the Open Online Theatre Festival during COVID-19

Posted on by admin

Image credit Katerina Sfaellou.

During the pandemic, IJAD Dance focused on Open Online Theatre,which allowed them to recreate and rethink how the performing arts sector could support young to midscale artists nationally during the closure of cultural venues and beyond.

We are not big, not an Amazon, or a Google…but we managed to deliver an ambitious programme for artists, beginning in September 2020 and culminating in a week-long live-streamed festival in February 2021, which involved work from 49 professionals.

We used five strategies to keep our approach fluid:

  • Whatever’s happening, carry on!
  • Build a space for process, questions, trust and support
  • Be fluid and adaptable, be agile, nothing is personal, it’s ok not to be sure
  • Always remember your North Star
  • Know your team, and your collaborators

Whatever’s happening, carry on!

“The pandemic lockdown scenario(s) demand reflexive and immediate responses to explore and negotiate the physical chasm that has opened up between performer and audience, between lecturer and student, and between space and place.” 

                                                                                                                             Paul Sadot

For a year now, the stories have been about empty: empty theatres, cinemas, schools, streets and community spaces. 

And the question has been ‘how do we transform our habitats into spaces conducive to work?’

30 March 2020:We worked at full power while venues were working at 11 to 33% capacity. Email correspondences became a waiting game, like Dumas’ book, L’Attente. 

The suspense was in waiting to see how directors would negotiate the absurdity of our new reality. 

Immediate reflective responses were what we at IJAD were planning at the time; our momentum was ‘all systems go’ with Open Online Theatre, a virtual venue developing and showcasing new work at the intersection of performing arts and technology; training artists to rethink their practice to make work specifically for live-streaming, via the art of sensography.

IJAD wanted to create a system for artists to monetise their process and performances, and gain training in business and social media, as tools for sustainable careers. 

March to June 2020:The first three months of the pandemic were about using our creativity, our listening ears and our communicative nature to work out how to create and supply what the market needed. 

Yes, it took a lotof energy; it was very hard to find alternative spaces to perform and to devise methodologies to create between spaces, between times and between bodies.

The narratives, be they abstract or linear, are what we deliver through whispers, poems, words, visuals, movements, touches, and that is what we do as artists.

COVID-19 forced us to pause and to analyse, while we also faced living in fear, and the grief of knowing that friends and family members were contracting the virus or dying from it, while we were unable to visit the hospital to lift their spirits, or support the deceased family, or rejoice for a newborn baby.

Everything quickly became screen-based, and for this our emotions needed to adjust and learn a new way of existing. 

Lockdown rules had imposed new spaces, new sensitivities and fears that were challenging both existentially and physically. This newly-pressed existence suddenly became a multitude of isolated existences. 

As creators and performers that have been working in the telematic arena, we found ways to invite others to engage with the potentialities of this new performance architecture, this new spatiality. 

Alexa: Choreography Lauren Tucker, collaborator/performer Nicolette Whitley, Image credit Katerina Sfaellou.

OOT:Building a space for process, questions, trust and support

“I feel that as I move forwards as an artist, my thought processes will align with the

marriage of each of these components to push the boundaries of the art form. 

I really feelthat a process like OOT at the time OOT came about, the different modes of thinking andmy own creative enquiry sitting in science tech and dance, resulted in a process that was very special to me.

Creating a space that reflects on invigorating our practice by using technology within the artwork we are creating, hence the hybridicity, this is a place where we are growing the community of intersection where tech and performing arts are pushing with the new. Hybrid is in the way we integrate the tech and science in the work and where the audiences receive the work.

This was muchmore than a professional artist development programme, but more of a supportmechanism to prepare me for all of the creative processes that I experience movingforwards.” 

                                                                                                         Lauren Tucker, OOT Artist

Rewind to January 2018:Five international artists trialled the Open Online Theatreprogramme, in its beta version; the programme ran for eight weeks, including three days of workshops in sensography, social media, editing, and film.

At the end of eight weeks, we had a sharing. The programme went well with no major issues; we had an international audience of 600, with 50 people present in the theatre. Artists had great freedom of choice, and live streaming happened as a natural flow.

March 2020:Two years on we faced completely new parameters: in terms of space, digital space, technological incapacity, human interactions, audiences with digital overload, and venues running at reduced capacity.

Fast forward to February 2021: The Open Online Theatre Festival reached 16 countries and 59 cities, hosted online, and from a gallery in France! 

‘Be fluid and adaptable, nothing is personal, it’s ok not to be sure’

                                                                                                            Joumana Mourad

It’s true,we had system that was successful in 2017-2018, but 2020 came along with entirely new demands: audiences had a ‘Zoom habit’ and digital fatigue, we had more easily accessible Facebook, Instagram, etc. and the artists had different needs.

February 2020:After looking for 10 talented artists to join the programme, we now had artists from Manchester, Birmingham, Devon, Greenwich, London, Brighton….

March 2020:We found ourselves in limbo, between two places, negotiating the space between home and studio, and re-imagining the home asthe studio.

Where are the choreographers, dancers, dramaturgs, performers, engineers, sound people, lighting people, set designers, curators? Where are they creating? Are they forced to pause? What happened to this abundant sector?

Creating art, performances, theatre, dance is what we are born with. It’s our breath – it asserts our existence. 

For centuries, these representations have metamorphosed; creators became alchemists and kept on creating magic. In the last few years, through telematics, streaming, interactive design, games, street performances . . . the myriad of potentials has grown even more!

Rehearsal, London Joumana Mourad Lebanon Reem Naamani  
Image credit Katerina Sfaellou.

Always remember your North Star 

“I really valued the opportunity to grow as an artist in directions I hadn’t expected while overcoming challenges with the support of dedicated mentors and discovering a new network of creative artists.” 

                                                                                                            O. Pen Be, OOT Artist

Our objective was to create a space where all the artists could be together, and share the experience of all the elements of the programme.

August 2020: The Beirut explosion prompted IJAD to subsidise a Lebanese dance artist to join the programme. There were issues with wi-fi connectivity, but we managed by purchasing a 4G installation at the artist’s studio.

November 2020:We embedded in the programme was a two-day mid-point meeting to go over elements of sensography, and have a sharing of the artists’ works in progress. It coincided with the beginning of the second lockdown, so we quickly adapted it – and our marketing and communications – to be held online. 

Our festival date at the end of November was looking questionable; in fact, everything we had planned soon became impossible and the uncertainty of a longer lockdown took its toll on the whole team. The theatres we were working with had less and less flexibility; some had bookings that we were unable to compete with cost-wise.

All the participants and IJAD’s team made a joint decision to postpone the festival until the beginning of February 2021.

OOT artists were offering workshops and co-creation sessions, IJAD was hosting roundtable discussions, there were artists’ Zoom meetings, all of which kept the mood positive. 

The glimpse of the New Year ahead came with some optimism. Our plans for the festival in February were taking shape. We’d decided to host some panel discussions, and everything was looking good as momentum built.

Remote intimacy, choreography Clemence deBag, collaborator/performer Kristia Morabito
Image credit Katerina Sfaellou.

Know your team, and your collaborators

“I am very grateful for the opportunity; I have learnt a lot about my creative practice and

developed as a person along the course of this programme.”

                                                                                                Daisy Harrison, OOT Artist

4 January 2021:After a day filled with incredible meetings to make plans for the festival, Boris Johnson announced longer strict lockdown measures. Monday night became another sleepless night filled with new plans and strategies. And deciding whether to deliver the festival or not!

5 January 2021: We spent time waiting for government website updates, talking to colleagues in our industry and to dance bodies, with everything and everyone telling us to wait. This was heavy going as there was still a lot to put in place should we decide to go ahead. 

We decided internally that we would keep on preparing, and only in the worst-case scenario would we cancel. By 3pm, we had taken on a Covid health and safety production manager, to navigate the complex safety rules. This was a brilliant investment, as we had someone on board who would act diligently and professionally, giving us accurate information, enabling the team to make informed decisions together.

6 January 2021:After more meetings, and clearer guidance from the government, we decided – with the support of our artists – to definitely go ahead with the festival. 

6-8 January 2021:Looking for a festival venue with all the health and safety strictures in place took time and endless emails, many of which went nowhere. 

Finally we identified one and loved it! We had a date, we had a theatre, and we still had the uncertainty of lockdown. 

11 January:A meeting with the artists. Six hours of sharing narratives, performances, choices around continuing to create, finances, ethics, payments for all the artists, lockdown, lockdown and more lockdown.

Two artists chose to be physically present in the theatre for the festival, another from her kitchen, the rest from their living rooms.

We had until 1 February to pull the festival together, which included six performances and four panel discussions.

It goes without saying our team was dedicated, focused, and more than anything committed to the arts. There was somuch wisdom, kindness and 100% support.

Covid taught us: Be kind, sensitive, grounded and elastic.

If you’d like to stay up-to-date with our work,sign up to our newsletter.

Image credit Katerina Sfaellou.

Thanks to

Embracing the Future of the Body: A Tribute to Performing Arts

Embracing the Future of the Body: A Tribute to Performing Arts

Posted on by admin


Embracing the Future of the Body: A Tribute to Performing Arts

In 2019, I embarked on a creative journey with “Future Proof Your Body,” a multidisciplinary performance that celebrated the essence of the human form, soma and embodiment physicality. Set in both real life and virtual reality realms, it was a homage to the beauty and vitality of the dancing body. Through this experience, I sought to invite audiences and artists alike to immerse themselves in the dimensions of the body, while embracing the confidence that comes with exploring new visual and auditory landscapes in the headset. The objective was an invitation to the audiences to embrace the poetry of the body and explore it. Covid, the wars and our relationship with our planet  accentuated this need even more…..Fast forward to April 2024 ,  at the Elixir Festival at Sadler’s Wells, I encountered a profoundly moving experience that reaffirmed the power of the body in performance art. Witnessing a dancer transcend age with every graceful movement was nothing short of poetic. As they leaped, pirouetted, and embraced their partner with effortless elegance, time seemed to stand still. The synergy of lighting, sound, and movement created a timeless spectacle that defied the constraints of ageism.

In that moment, I was reminded of the importance of pushing the boundaries of art and performance. Sadler’s Wells continues to be at the forefront of innovation, consistently challenging conventional notions and inviting us to explore the depths of our humanity through the arts.

As we navigate the ever-evolving landscape of performance art, let us remember the profound impact it has on shaping our understanding of the human experience. Let us continue to celebrate the body in all its forms, recognizing its capacity to transcend boundaries and inspire infinite possibilities.

Thank you, Sadler’s Wells, for your unwavering dedication to the arts and for reminding us of the timeless beauty of the human body in motion.

Let us continue to honor our arts, our performances, and ultimately, our shared humanity. Elixir.

ART WILL GO ON

ART WILL GO ON

Posted on by admin

The new opportunities for creative expression offered by Hybrid Performance are exciting and myriad! How can we give artists access to the many platforms becoming available through emerging technologies as innovative ways of story sharing, interactivity and creativity?

IJAD is well-positioned as an innovation conduit between organisations, tech companies and artists, through its Connective Matrix forum and its artist residencies and creative outputs. The aim is to open up discussions and opportunities, and evolve this new sector to benefit all of us.

In 2022, through Open Online Theatre and OOTFest22, we redefined Hybrid Performance as the seamless integration of narrative and technology, where each element is indispensable to the other. This approach ensures that both in-person and online audiences experience the richness of liveness, regardless of physical location, and gives artists access to a diverse array of tools and platforms as part of the creative process.

After OOTFest22, our successful hybrid festival – which we believe was the first of its kind in the UK –   we felt the need to connect and interact with more artists, venues, and researchers, to position ourselves in context, and see what needed to be done to share the rapid learning that resulted from our work.

We fulfilled a dedicated six weeks’ briefing with OOTFest22 artists, partners and venues, which clarified that the infrastructure for collaboration between new technologies and art is in its infancy, even though these new formats originated in the 1950s with Fluxus and Gutei,  two international 1960s avant-garde movements that attempted to establish new artistic vocabularies. How have we progressed since the 1950s. And why the delay?

IJAD then embarked on a far-reaching UK exploration including discussions with academics, tech companies, artists and venues, and combining this with a healthy curiosity, we came up with an action plan: an Innovation Lab Day, Jan 2024, as part of an NCACE Ideas Pool  3, supported by City University AI Research Department.

This dynamic initiative was conceived as a proactive strategic forum and meeting of minds. The event brought together a diverse array of stakeholders invested in the dance/theatre hybrid sector. The concept was simple yet profound: to foster creative experimentation and collaboration at the intersection of performing arts and technology.

Participants immersed themselves in four presentations led by Lucy Bayliss (Dance East) Rachel Drury (Collusion) and Neil Maiden (City A.I.) and included many discussions and exchanges, delving deep into the current state of the sector both locally and nationally.

The aim was clear: to identify challenges, unearth opportunities, and chart a course towards a thriving cultural ecosystem. From shaping the future of hybrid performances to navigating new audience structures, from fostering community building to addressing the needs of artists and venues, the conversations were rich with insights and possibilities.

One of the key objectives of the Innovation Lab was to discuss whether sharing production costs can contribute to sector development? How can we share the load to make things happen?

Our evaluation of the event revealed the following insights:

  • Over 30% expressed a strong desire for a repeat of the event, underscoring the genuine interest in the innovation-driven initiatives spearheaded by IJAD.
  • Approximately 32% expressed keen interest in the development of connective networks, (such as IJAD’s connective matrix initiative) highlighting a tangible demand for sustained connections and collaborative opportunities within the community, as well as opportunities to create opportunities to share their productions
  • The rest of the percentage questioned the funding system available at the moment, and if it needs to be redesigned,
  • Inquired around the methods of knowledge exchange between makers, researchers, tech companies and the venues.

As we reflect on the outcomes of the Innovation Lab Day and OOTFest22, (with sold out performances at Rich Mix and ticket-buying virtual audiences from 58 cities) and we contemplate the next steps in our innovation journey, one thing is clear: the potential is immense, and the offer to audiences is abundant with imagination, immersion, interactions and many as-yet-unimagined possibilities.

These conversations are at an early stage. We invite you to join us in shaping the future of Hybrid Performance, whether through participating in Connective Matrix round table discussions, sharing your experiences, sending us info about your work, contributing to the development of connective networks, or suggesting a theme for our next discussion.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Our next Connective Matrix event is a lunchtime online round table discussion:

Save-the-date! March 25th 13:00 – 14:00 on the Open Online Theatre platform.

There will be provocations and opportunity-sharing from guest speakers, names to be announced.

We will

·     inquire how the intersections of technology and performing arts can more successfully centralise the human element, fostering deeper connections, nurturing creativity and inclusivity.

·     discuss ways to facilitate knowledge-sharing and creative opportunities in the hybrid landscape.

·     grow our collective understanding of what needs to be done to foster innovations that can evolve the sector as a whole.

Upcoming events and news

GLoW: Illuminating Innovation 8 March – 20 April

Arts Council England has supported many XR works, as well as its new ‘Immersive Arts’ scheme: a £6m, three year, UK-wide scheme that will offer an inclusive and accessible programme of research, training, funding opportunities and events for over 200 artists.

In the spirit of collaboration and innovation, let’s come together to explore the possibilities at the intersection of art and technology. Your input and perspective are invaluable as we navigate the next phase of our journey. So, let’s connect over coffee and delve deeper into the insights gleaned from the Innovation Lab Day, and together chart a course towards a future where creativity knows no bounds!

Art Will Go on!

The Evolution of IJAD Dance

Posted on by admin

First sparks ignited!

It all began as I took my first steps onto the stage after graduating from Laban. I was fortunate enough to perform with some really fun dance, theatre and circus companies, an experience that left me awed and inspired. However, beneath the shimmering lights and the applause, I carried with me a vision – a vision that became a strong urge to carve a unique path that blends all my ethnicities and curiosities with the world of performing arts.

I longed to be part of something profound, as well as fun and enjoyable. I wanted to explore, discover, and make works that would not just entertain, but also challenge and provoke, while igniting a fire of introspection in the audience! I wanted to create performances that dared to question the core foundations of our innate, socialised, and personal existence – unpacking our perceptions, our logic, our mundane and awe-filled experiences and also our all-pervading socio-economic structures.

My urge to express this multiplicity of ideas through the universal language of dance was fed by everything from the intricacies of marketing to explorations of contemporary societal values. It felt like expressing  this complexity demanded a multi-media setup.

As always, I am interested in exploring what lies beyond traditional conventions. My vision demands an interdisciplinary approach: film, projection, interactive design, and the newest digital technologies available to create a harmonious experience of immersion; a creative blend of artistic forms that transcends boundaries.

Yet there is so much more to my creative journey than the pursuit of innovation. I still work to dissolve the partitions that divide us within the theatre’s walls. I like to work between the lines and spaces that separate performance from audiences, the MA what is MA? that separates stage from audience.

Pas de Cinq

The multidisciplinary performance, Pas de Cinq offered an immersive experience where everyone present was an active participant in the unfolding narrative. The choreography called for a unique setup without traditional stages or seats, with the audience at the centre of an open space. Surrounding them, four walls displayed underwater dance films, while dancers performed in close proximity to the audience and a Butoh dancer descended from the ceiling on a Perspex table. Circus performers used aerial silks and cocoons in the vertical theatre spaces around the audience. This setup encouraged the audience to actively engage by walking around, exploring, and fully immersing themselves in the performance.

This mash-up of styles and format went further! I began to infuse neo-classical ballet and contemporary dance with the polycentrism, polyrhythmic and poly-architectural essence of Raqs Sharqi. Using the body’s geometry, I allowed this rich mixture of cultures to lead on the aesthetics and the dramaturgy of the narrative. 

The Poetry of Choreography

The poetry of choreography is whispered through every articulation of bones, and expressed through what is seen or felt from the linearity of muscles, all the way through to the spaces a performance inhabits. I longed for the sensuous sway of hips to be a brushstroke on the canvas of IJAD’s performances.

The stories IJAD collates are those of authenticity and communities. They are collected secrets, shared fairy tales and gathered dreams, from refugees, or small villages in Cambridge, Colchester, Ely, Taipei, Perugia, Dusseldorf  . . . I am still on the enriching journey of seeking new ways to gather and share stories and build communities in digital spaces.

This incredible journey has given me the opportunity to discover new narratives, not just from my own experiences but from the hearts and minds of the audiences who become part of the performance. Their stories are notes of authenticity, the hidden pens that inscribe the rich tapestry of human experience onto the stage.

So, what inspired me to create IJAD?

It was the relentless pursuit of the unexplored, the powerful creative energy for artistic evolution, and the innate desire to connect with humanity’s deepest emotions. IJAD became the vessel through which my thoughts, ideas, and challenges found their expression, and it continues to be the stage where the narratives of countless individuals and communities come to life through the mesmerising language of dance. It’s a journey that invites you to join in, to dance to the rhythm of authenticity, and to unlock the stories hidden within us all.

How about taking creative risks?

Posted on by admin

We are choreographers, dancers, theatre makers, technologists, academics, athletes, magicians, and world-makers! We invite you to dream, and together create the new.

We are creating hybrid performance that offers physical (in-person) and remote (online) audiences an equally valuable experience. Using new technologies allows us to invite more people to enjoy our live shows and opens up the discussion about what “live” means and how to create connection with audiences wherever they are in the world. We take into account how viewing remotely differs from being at the venue – our audience is not captive, maybe we don’t have their full attention or three bars of wifi? As for those inside the venue, seeing artists responding to, and playing with live streaming technology, gives our physical audience an awareness of those tuning in remotely from beyond the four walls of the venue. And understanding that this is a different kind of show. There are limitless possibilities

We can do digital hopping , blending physicality and digital spaces: the integration of physical movements in the digital environments through the use of mocap. By combining sensography with projection mapping or virtual reality, artists can create immersive experiences that transport audiences into fantastical worlds or engage them in interactive storytelling.

Building and delivering multi-user metaverse, like that created by Bianca li in her performance work, using virtual reality:  le Bal de Paris: Another example is the incorporation of live streaming technology, allowing remote viewers to actively participate in the performance. Artists can engage with virtual audiences through real-time chat or gaming, or even inviting them to influence the direction of the performance, like Home X. This interactivity bridges the gap between physical and remote audiences, creating a sense of shared presence and collective experience.

Be a part of the future of performing arts

This is a call to all hybrid artists, developers, venues, tech companies, academics – anyone who wants to be part of the growing sector of hybrid performing arts.

IJAD Dance is planning a new programme of panel discussions, training and artist residencies. If you’d like to be part of our programme as an artist, organisation, thinker, technologist – get in touch!

We’re aware there are challenges to producing experimental work in the arts, when it’s all about the bottom line, and at the most basic level, survival. We also know that risk-taking and experimentation are the cornerstone of creativity, and they are what keeps the arts vibrant, alive and relevant.

So, what’s the answer? You are, and we are, collectively.

Developing work, particularly with technologies involved, of course costs money. We believe that by embracing new partnerships and working together we can share that load, and let the new evolve.

At IJAD Dance, we have been creatively risk-taking since our inception, and we don’t plan to stop now. Through presenting hybrid work since 2010, we’ve learned there’s no progress without taking a chance on new ideas. Progress is our driving force and raison d’être. We like being on this edge. Each time we slip, we learn and grow, and so does the sector as a whole.

We’re exploring unchartered territories where virtual meets reality, and imagination can create worlds where audiences influence multiple possibilities of each story, to create infinite narratives. Let’s stretch ourselves physically, intellectually creatively, inviting audiences to be amazed and expand their imaginations.

While hybrid performance remains in its infancy, there is space for artists who want to take ownership and make their mark creatively. Could you be one of them?

Tell us about yourself and your approach to or thoughts about performing arts and technology via this questionnaire: https://forms.gle/gAT7rvidRJGXHyUg8 

OOT Artist Residency and OOTFest

Here at IJAD we offer a lab-style, collaborative environment to bring together artists, audiences, producers, programmers and technologists. In this space we foster experimentation, and experiential learning with a focus on the intersection of new technologies and performing arts.

Our aim is to nurture individual creativity and sectoral development by testing and sharing new approaches to hybrid performance, via training in digital technologies, to upskill creative practice and enhance audience participation and engagement. OOTFest is our global performance opportunity for risk takers at this exciting intersection.

For watch-on-demand tickets for OOTFest22 hybrid performances and panel discussions click here:  https://openonlinetheatre.org/whats-on/

Risk-taking!


This is an era driven by AI, ChatGPT, and all kinds of speedy technological advancements. Can the culture industry sail swiftly through this paradigm shift, or does it need to negotiate a pivotal crossroads?

The convergence of dance and performing arts with new technological spaces creates opportunities and challenges. Can they evolve in parallel to one another, or out of each other, in the way arts have evolved throughout creative history?  

Like any new sector, hybrid performance is risky; we’re still learning how to find a sweet spot that simultaneously entertains and engages remote audiences in VR headsets, and those sitting in a venue watching the show IRL. We’re also still looking into how virtual worlds can be rendered in high enough quality while being live streamed, and ways an artist can maintain contact with a physical audience while wearing a VR headset. Think about that! It’s tricky.

If you’re an artist interested in experimenting with hybrid forms, dare to dream, get in touch.

If you’re a venue or organisation interested in collaborating to programme exceptional works using emerging technologies then we would love to hear from you.

Let’s talk!

 [AL1]What does this mean?

Co-Creation

Co-Creation

Posted on by admin

Co-creation brings artists and audiences into a dynamic shared space where both explore new creative ideas, concepts and perspectives. These new discoveries can be ‘Ah ha’ moments, developmental moments and/or togetherness moments.

In live streamed co-creation sessions, artists offer their creative ideas to audiences to play with, respond to and throw back as something new: as collaboration. This is a fun and progressive way of developing concepts, methodologies and new work. It replaces old ideas of artist as sole creator with the freshness of everyone as artist. As well as broadening artists’ areas of engagement, working in the hybrid model is dissolving boundaries between artist and audience.

Co-creation in the performing arts has plenty of pre-digital precedents. Research techniques, verbatim dialogue, street performances where audiences interact with photography, and even heckling are ways audiences have had creative input in performances. Today, live streaming and interactive technology offer a new world of ways to engage, interact and include.

The more familiar we all get with this creative flow, the more audiences become creative in their engagement, the more smoothly and easily these exchanges evolve. It’s an open door to infinite possibilities, with a plethora of new potentials to re-design interactivity.  

In recent years, IJAD has used social media as creative media via audience use of text messaging, created interactive performances using sensors, and created Open Online Theatre (OOT), a digital playground and interactive streaming platform. These are all part of IJAD’s efforts towards democratising culture and bringing audiences into the creative process of arts collaboration.

Live streamed co-creation is a new skill-set for artists that requires flexibility, presence of mind, experience of the media through which creativity is being navigated, and sensitivity.

The OOT artist development programme offers artists the chance to interact with virtual audiences to inform the development of new work, creating a conceptual shared space and changing the status of the audience from passive observer to creative.

OOT artists enter the co-creation space with their experience and professional knowledge of their performance medium (theatre, dance, combined arts) alongside the subject matter and themes of their work in development. They guide participants through the collaborative methods and tools they’re using, balancing elements of creativity, inspiration and receptivity. 

Participants can see how their own creativity is informed by the process, and how the artists metamorphose their ideas into a performance. 

OOT is planning many more co-creation sessions from our current cohort of performing artists, to ensure we continue evolving this method of work.

See you in one of them soon.

The Five Things You Need to Know When Planning an Online Festival

The Five Things You Need to Know When Planning an Online Festival

Posted on by admin

The team at IJAD Dance spent the last few months developing and delivering a live-streamed festival as part of their Open Online Theatre programme.

OOT is a virtual venue developing and showcasing new work at the intersections of performing arts and technology; training artists to rethink their practice to make work specifically for live-streaming, via the art of sensography, which is the practice of choreographing work for live-streaming via multiple cameras to multiple devices. Artists receive training from professionals in film, editing, business, social media and sensography.

The programme culminates in the OOT Festival, where the participating artists can showcase their work live to audiences around the world.

Work from our most recent festival reached people in 16 countries and 59 cities!

Planning an online festival is a huge undertaking; it comes with a lot of challenges and requires dedication, cooperation and lots of love.

Here’s what we learned developing the OOT Festival during the pandemic.

  1. Build a space for process, questions, trust and support

Open Online Theatre began with the ambition to offer a programme that would support artists to bring them digitally alive in their work practice, aiming to create two concurrent existences: one for the digital realm; the other for their physical space.

The programme should provide:

  • Knowledge
  • Experience
  • Toolkits
  • Time
  • Community
  • Experts & Mentors

These tools and our respect for two golden rules – privacy and support – gave the artists a good grounding in what the programme was about. They soon started interacting, getting support from each other and the workshop leaders. We witnessed an outpouring of generosity and a boom in collaboration.

While the interpersonal nature of the programme was important in creating the right space, the other vital strand was technology: The Open Online Theatre programme includes the opportunity to deliver workshops and co-creation sessions as well as performances in our OOT Festival showcase.

These sessions are all delivered via our bespoke Open Online Theatre platform.

We could have chosen to use existing streaming and events technology, but we felt it was important that OOT had its own home and its own identity.

  • Be fluid and adaptable, nothing is personal, it’s ok to be unsure

Our objective for OOT was to create a space where all the artists could be together, and share their experience of all elements of the programme.

From day one this was challenging and challenged by the artists: For example, two of the participants were unable to meet for workshops in a space in London as we originally planned. We adapted to become online and geoplaced, making sure everyone received and understood the information and course exploration without being physically present. We were always available to answer questions and hear concerns.

We achieved this by making all the exercises and practical explorations fluid between the physical participants and the virtual ones; we had the project manager and the whole team involved by walking the space with their laptops, tablets and mobile phones. Quickly everyone in the room – and those that were many miles away – adapted to this with openness, flexibility and agility. 

  • Know your team and your collaborators

We had a team of 49 professionals working on the Open Online Theatre (OOT) Festival. They all brought something different to the project. We knew them all well and enjoyed working with them – we held each other in a safe space to work and communicate.

We even engaged a COVID-19 health and safety production manager to navigate the complex health and safety rules, which was a great investment, as we had someone on board who could act diligently and professionally and share accurate information with the team, enabling us to make an informed decision about the feasibility of going ahead with the festival.

That was also the time that I had to harness my enthusiastic and optimistic boundary-pushing nature, as putting on the festival involved a moral responsibility from a health and safety COVID-19 point of view!

  • Focus on your North Star 

Keep an eye on the objective, on the thing you have planned for, while keeping a finger on the pulse of what is happening around you. 

Throughout the autumn, OOT artists were offering workshops and co-creation sessions, IJAD was hosting roundtable discussions and there were artists’ Zoom meetings, all of which kept the mood positive.

The glimpse of the New Year ahead came with optimism. Our plans for the festival in February were taking shape. We’d decided to host panel discussions, and everything was looking good as momentum built.

When Boris Johnson announced stricter lockdown measures at the beginning of January, we questioned whether we could go ahead. We had already postponed the festival once from its original date in November, but we had a theatre and we had a very strong call of duty. We had momentum, we had engagement, we had support and – best of all – we had mutuality,  

We spent a lot of time waiting for government websites to publish updates, talking to colleagues in our industry and some dance bodies.

Everything and many were telling us to wait. Organising the festival was very heavy going as we needed to have a lot of things in place. But we decided internally that we would keep on preparing and only if the worst happened would we cancel.

  • Covid taught us: Be kind, be sensitive, be grounded and be flexible.

After many more meetings and clearer government guidance, we decided we could go ahead with the festival. However, it was not entirely our choice and we did speak to our artists to make sure they were happy.

But more problems soon arose.

  • One of the artists contracted Covid.
  • Two of the technical team were unable to return to the UK due to stricter laws around travel and quarantine.
  • One of the artists is over 70, so was unable to travel or be in the theatre.

With our North Star always in mind, we spent a week re-imagining how the festival would work, developing a whole new ecology where we could support all five artists from the theatre, whether or not they chose to be physically present.

The OOT ecosystem our hybrid tech sensography team – supported several different performances: One with two performers where one was in New York and one in London; another was collaborating with Amazon Alexa; another filmed from a kitchen in Milton Keynes, with different cameras editing live from the theatre; and one recorded and presented with live material from Lebanon.

It goes without saying our team was dedicated, focused, and more than anything committed to the arts. There was so much wisdom, kindness and 100% support involved in this project.

This was a collaborative team effort – we built a family, a family that will always be able to work together.

If you’d like to stay up-to-date with our work, sign up to our newsletter.

Image credit: Katerina Sfaellou

Part-time Fundraising and Marketing Officer

Part-time Fundraising and Marketing Officer

Posted on by admin

Job-Spec

Part-time General Manager:  12hours to two days a week. £17,290 -£21800 a year or  from £9.5 to £12/hour it has the potential in developing to a full time role.

Job Description

We have an exciting opportunity for a creative, motivated and well-organised individual to take on the job of IJAD DANCE COMPANY General Manager. We are looking for someone who is enthusiastic, reliable, an excellent communicator and has a good understanding of arts management and fundraising.

About IJAD

IJAD believes that when one is being creative it is impossible to being a state of conflict- and so we use contemporary dance to reach as many people as possible.

To further this aim we use social media within performances to open access but also to question what the art experience is.

We are currently applying for research grants to fund exploration of this as well as our work.  Recent performances include the AHRC Creative Economy Showcase, The Science Museum and The Victoria and Albert Museum.

Please see here for examples of our work:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__2JX8NdunU

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=IJAD+dance

The General Manager will work closely with the Artistic Director, Event Producer(s), Volunteer Coordinator Key Responsibilities include:

  • Working with IJAD’s team to develop partnerships and income-generating opportunities
  • Help create and action a long-term plan to sustainably grow the organisation
  • Fundraising: researching, applying for and administrating grants and other income-generating possibilities
  • Overseeing year-round running of the organisation
  • Carrying on building the companies profile within the dance venues/galleries/museums/festivals/virtual platforms for performing and commissioning opportunities.
  • Carrying on engaging with schools/universities/venues/galleries for engaging in workshops and receiving the toolkit.
  • Understands Social media and converse on it

 

The applicant should be experienced in arts management and/or managing a creative business and have a proven track record of fundraising and revenue development.

This position is part-time, 2 days per week.
This is initially a 3-month paid position to be reviewed with the possibility of becoming a permanent position.

Essential

  • The post requires an experienced Project Manager – a highly motivated and independent individual who has excellent written and verbal communication skills, and organisational and interpersonal skills. Applicants should demonstrate the ability to multi-task across a portfolio of projects and to work with close attention to detail in a moderate moving environment.
    • have experience writing successful fundraising applications and have solid understanding of the marketing process
    • This is a great opportunity for someone who is career focused who is interested in taking responsibility as there is growth within the role to diversify into other areas of management
    • You will be passionate about the arts and bringing then to a wide range of people
    • Excellent written and spoken English
    • Conversant with google docs and Microsoft office
    • Interested in social media and digital technology in the arts

Desirable

  • Experience of managing volunteers
  • Knowledge of the tour booking process
  • Experience in other areas of fundraising
  • Previous experience working within the dance world
  • Previous experience working within the digital world

IJAD has no political or religious affiliations and actively seeks opportunities to work with a wide range of cultures in the UK and abroad, achieving inter-cultural harmony through the highest quality contemporary dance events.

Applications due: May 29, 2014
Interviews will be held on June 2nd

If you need more info e-mail your questions to: hello@ijaddancecompany.com to receive a job description. Please note: You need to send a covering letter explaining why you want to work with IJAD and a C.V. The position is for self employed and legally allowed to work within the U.K.

This post interview is in two stages: First you meet the team than we ask you to submit a work plan based on the first meeting

Second stage is meeting the trustees.