Distributed Choreography: A Video-Conferencing Environment

Lisa Marie Naugle
2002 PAJ : Journal of Performance and Art  
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more » ... INTRODUCTION In the last few years, a variety of computer-mediated tools have begun to expand the physical boundaries of where and how we interact with others. The rapidly evolving global network of interactive computer systems, known as the Internet, now provides unprecedented opportunities for connectivity and collaboration. The convergence of artistic practices with multimedia software, computer-mediated communication, distant education, multiple site performance, and collaboration, is bringing about dramatic change in many fields. Janus/Ghost Stories, which I choreographed, was a networked dance performance articulating the concept of "distributed choreography."' The piece was presented at the International Dance and Technology Conference in 1999, distributed between two performance locations in the United States: The Web Cafe at Arizona State University and the Videoconference Lab at the University of California, Irvine. It used the technology of a two-way video-conferencing system over broadband networks, rather than Web broadcasts (i.e., one-way streaming media). In its creation of choreography in a video-conferencing environment, Janus/Ghost Stories can serve as a model for future explorations in structuring distributed choreography using the Internet. WHAT IS A NETWORKED PERFORMANCE? Networked performance is a synchronous approach to communication; that is, a shared activity between two or more people who are collaborating at the same time. Collaborators may be located at the same place or in different places. Using videoconferencing systems, people at different locations can see and hear each other simultaneously. This can be a two-way or multipoint method of communication. The basic system consists of computer, monitor, video camera, microphone, and speakers at each site. Software such as CuSeeMe or iVisit provides video-conferencing capabilities over the Internet. The drawback of such systems is that image and sound quality can be 56 * PAJ 71 (2002), pp. 56-62.
doi:10.1162/152028102760049328 fatcat:54ugcof5ejaclp2c73fwmfxaa4