Falling Up (2001)
Cindy Cummings Performance/Choreography
Todd Winkler Sound/Video/Programming
Stunt Wind
“Stunt Flight” was inspired by a visual score of actual stunt-flight choreography (projected on the white screen). Audio and video processing are interactive with the overall speed of the dancer. The audio simulates the wind sounds associated large moving objects, with a filter that responds naturally to speed. At the same time, the dancer’s image fades away and finally disappears at faster speeds, only to re-materialize on a different part of the screen when she slows down (a simple effect caused by coupling speed to the amount of blurring).
Detailed Description
“Falling Up” is a multimedia dance/theatre/music/video collaboration featuring performer-controlled video and sound manipulation through the use of motion-sensing technology (The Very Nervous System). lessmore
This solo performance is the culmination of 4 years of research and development of a new choreographic language made possible by emerging digital technology, featuring interactive sound and audio processing (MAX/MSP), video playback, and real-time video processing (NATO), all influenced by the movement of a performer.
Falling Up explores concepts of gravity, flying and many of its related metaphors: the physical self, imagination, and how old beliefs hold us in place, limit and color our experiences. Inspired by inventors and pioneers, the first pilots, astronauts, and digital explorers, we examine moments in the 20th Century where technology enabled us to do something previously impossible and changed how we think forever. We also speculate on future technologies, enabling the body to be transported, modified and projected. These concepts are illustrated through a new kinesthetic vocabulary refined and inspired by live video and sound processing. The choreography is enhanced through use of the Very Nervous System, which uses a video camera to report speed and location to a computer. Movements are identified and mapped in software to play various sounds, text, or alter a dancer's projected image.
