From 2023 to 2026, the EU Project MODINA (“Movement, Digital Intelligence and Interactive Audience”) aims to expand the creative possibilities for contemporary dance performances through digital technology, especially using artificial intelligence and audience interaction on-site and offline. Three academic institutions and five dance houses across six European countries are brought together to support international dance artists and creative technologists in creating new pieces, tools, installations and, most importantly, experience and knowledge.
On 12th and 13th October 2024 the MODINA Showcase, hosted by tanzhaus nrw under the title “Dancing in the Digital Age: Navigating Intersections of Dance, Digital Innovation, and Audience Engagement”, presented three interactive dance pieces developed in the framework of the MODINA artistic residencies. As one of the project partners, the MIREVI team of the University of Applied Sciences Düsseldorf presented two interactive installations and moderated an artist talk with the MODINA residents on the topic of interdisciplinary collaboration in the field of dance and technology.
On 12th October, an artist talk was held with MODINA residency artists John Sullivan, Sarah Fdili Alaoui, Simona Deaconescu, Grigore Burloiu, Célia Bétourné and Max Levy, moderated by Ivana Druzetic-Vogel and Charlotte Triebus. The talk delved into the relationship between artistic and technological elements in their work, examining how these aspects can sometimes conflict with or complement one another. Drawing examples from both the current pieces of the MODINA-Project as well as older pieces by the residency artists, they discussed how the growing cooperation between dance artists and technologists can benefit the art form itself, while also changing the way that audiences react to and interact with live-performances.
Oneironautica II by Laurenz Ulrich, Charlotte Triebus and MIREVI is an immersive VR Installation that brings visitors into a dreamlike, dissolving space modelled on the auditorium of the Theater an der Ruhr. As the user moves through the building, they encounter ghostly figures on stage and voices of performances past, engaging with the ephemeral nature of sensory experience. The piece includes a dance performance that deals with logic and control within the context of distorted and distorting lucid dreams and features excerpts from the play “Vom Licht” by Anselm Neft.
Proxemics – May I embrace? is a new installation that invites visitors to interact, approach, and even touch one another, regardless of whether they are initially strangers. Each participant controls an avatar on a large screen through their own body movements, allowing them to connect with other avatars. As the avatars draw closer, new sounds, visual effects, and structures are generated, symbolizing the emerging sense of closeness, connection, and mutual attentiveness.
The Project MODINA is co-founded by the program “Creative Europe” of the European Union.