Parcival XX-XI Goes Digital: New Media as Part of a Gesamtkunstwerk
Symposium:
Session Title:
- Digital Dance
Presentation Title:
- Parcival XX-XI Goes Digital: New Media as Part of a Gesamtkunstwerk
Presenter(s):
Venue(s):
Abstract:
Parcival XX-XI (2010/2011) is a transdisciplinary political dance-theatre production by the Company urbanReflects. It interweaves elements of New Dance, Digital Media and socially relevant questions and unites them to a gesamtkunstwerk.
In Parcival XX-XI, we investigate possibilities and limitations of Digital Media in a participatory performance. We actively include the audience into the creation of the play. Passive spectators merge into active performers and can thus collaborate in designing the experience of Parcival XX-XI for oneself and the other spectators.
Possibilites:
First, we introduce how in our production a.) the dancer and b.) the audience can interact with digital content as they perform with and through responsive technology-based interfaces. Second, we discuss to what extent digital media can significantly support and enhance the performer’s ‘abilities’ in the context of aesthetic experience and narration / dramaturgy.Limitations:
On the one hand, we evaluate the rehearsal process of Parcival XX-XI and reflect on why we excluded certain digital media elements. On the other hand, we explore how the integration of selected digital media affects a) the performer / the production and b) the audience / reception during the performance. To do so, we focus on the following questions: What happens in case of failing technology? What happens if the user (performer or audience) is incapable of properly using the offered technology? What happens if the selected digital medium does not produce catchy moments?The presentation is planned as a dialogue. While Gesa Friederichs-Büttner exposes the possibilities of participatory digital media elements in performances, Johanna Meier reflects on the limitations.
