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.
[AL1]What does this mean?