WORKS

Songs for the Body Electric (1998)

Commissioned by the American Composers Forum

Todd Winkler, music, video processing and programming
Gerry Girouard, choreography and dance
Jennifer Holt, dance

Uncertain Ground

Uncertain Ground allows a dancer to controls the phrasing and articulation of a predetermined melody, with several tracks accumulating over the course of the section.

Detailed Description

Songs for the Body Electric is an evening-length work for two dancers and video projections in which music is created in direct response to physical movement and changes in light. Two on-stage video cameras report changes to the Very Nervous System (VNS), a device created by David Rokeby, which sends analysis information of the video images to a computer. This technology transforms dancers into musicians, with spatial location and speed used to generate and process sound. Lighting changes and projected video are also made musical by the same system, with sudden changes triggering dramatic sonic effects. lessmore

Gerry Girouard’s acrobatic performances feature dancing on the floor, walls and ceiling, creating ambiguous perspectives with a specially designed box, suspended beams and other structures. These movements acts as the perfect input to Winkler’s software, with vertical and horizontal spaces influencing computer responses. The highly collaborative working process challenges the choreographer to discover movements that translate successfully into sound and requires the composer to work within the limitations of the system to capture the mood and physicality of the dance.

GERRY GIROUARD – BIO
Gerry Girouard is a Minneapolis-based dancer and choreographer. He danced with the Nancy Hauser Dance Company for eight years, performing in the U.S. and Asia. Since 1992, he has independently produced several of his own shows. He has been awarded two Minnesota Choreographers Fellowships and, most recently, funding from the Jerome Foundation. His aesthetic combines acrobatics, dancing on unconventional surfaces such as walls and ceilings, and the use of props. He is also a dance instructor and practitioner of the Afro-Brazilian martial art know as capoeira.